HIGHLIGTS: Fighting Between Ethnic Pashtun and Tajik Began in Western Province of Heart Monday||Ceasefire Reportedly Brokered||Battle Underlines Afghanistan's Continued Vulnerability to In-fighting|| STORY: At least 12 people have been killed in clashes between rival Afghan factions fighting for control of the Sheen Dend district in the western province of Herat, an Afghan official said on Tuesday.

Haji Hazrat, a local commander in Herat, told Reuters by telephone that the fighting between ethnic Pashtun and Tajik gunmen started on Monday following instructions from the Tajik governor of Herat, Ismail Khan.

"The fight is still continuing...we have confirmed information that at least seven Tajik and five Pashtun fighters were killed, while dozens were wounded in the gun battle between the two factions," he added.

But the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported separately that a cease-fire between the two sides had been brokered late on Monday.

According to Hazrat, Saleh Gul, a local commander in the southern city of Kandahar, had sent reinforcements to the Pashtun fighters overnight.

The clash along ethnic lines underlines Afghanistan's continued vulnerability to in-fighting and local governors or warlords who are reluctant to cede control to the new government. (Read photo caption)

While President Hamid Karzai is from the country's largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, key cabinet positions are held by members of the minority Tajik clan loyal to the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.

Anger over the division of power after the fall of the Pashtun-backed Taliban is widespread.

AIP reported that a team of government officials reached the area of fighting late on Monday and negotiated an end to the clashes.

A spokesman for Pashtun commander Amanullah Khan told AIP from Sheen Dend that the cease-fire was effective from Monday night.

"The cease-fire is in place from last night," AIP quoted him as saying.

AIP added that both factions blamed the other for starting the fighting

PHOTO CAPTION

Afghan President Hamid Karzai (R) smiles next to Defense Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim during the graduation of the first battalion of Afghan troops trained by U.S. special forces, at the Kabul military academy July 23, 2002. The battalion, of 350 soldiers and 36 officers, is drawn from all of Afghanistan's ethnic groups and will form the backbone of a new army of national unity. REUTERS/Zainal Abd Halim