Western Afghan City Calm Following Sectarian Clashes
February 10, 2006
Six people were reported killed in the clashes (epa)
Two mosques also were set ablaze in the city amid the sectarian violence.
A Defense Ministry spokesman, General Mohammad Zahir Aziz, said calm was restored to Herat overnight when hundreds of troop reinforcements were deployed across the city.
Mohammad Ismail Khan, the powerful former governor of Herat who took a cabinet post in Kabul last year, returned to Herat late on 9 February. He is heading a government delegation that is trying to calm tensions between Shi'a and Sunnis.
"We ask all people of dear Herat that, God willing, from this moment they will increase security measures for the sake of a better life and peaceful co-existence -- and stop any attempted conspiracies aimed at disrupting peace and stability in Herat," Ismail Khan said.
Herat's current governor, Sayyed Hosayn Anwari, told RFE/RL that authorities are investigating evidence that suggests the violence in Herat was incited by an organized group of foreigners, possibly from Iran or Pakistan.