At least 50 soldiers and civilians were killed in a battle between ethnic Tajiks and Pashtuns in western Afghanistan on Thursday, an Afghan news agency quoted one of the factions as saying

The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said Tajik-dominated forces of Governor Ismail Khan and forces loyal to local warlord Commander Mohammad Kareem Khan fought a pitched battle near Ghurian, some 40 miles west of Herat city.

The AIP quoted a spokesman of the Pashtun warlord as saying the Tajik forces had attacked Pashtun positions.

He accused Ismail Khan's forces of torching the houses of Pashtuns and said many people were burned alive.

The spokesman demanded President Hamid Karzai and the United Nations send a delegation to the area to observe the situation.

Forces loyal to another Pashtun warlord Amanullah Khan fought Ismail Khan's forces last month around Shindad, some 75 miles south of Herat.

AIP quoted Amanullah Khan as saying that the Tajik forces had failed to honor a pledge to release his men captured during the fighting under a Kabul-brokered cease-fire.

The ethnic clashes underline Afghanistan's continued vulnerability to infighting since a new government led by Hamid Karzai took power to succeed the Taliban defeated by U.S.-led forces last year.

Anger over the division of power after the fall of the Taliban --- mainly Pashtuns from the south --- is widespread. Karzai is himself a Pashtun, but his government is dominated by minority Tajiks from the north.

PHOTO CAPTION

A U.S. soldier of the 82nd Airborne Division secures the perimeter as a Chinook helicopter takes off in rear, Monday, July 29, 2002, in the village of Qiqay, 32 kilometers (20 miles) southeast of Khost, Afghanistan. Eight months into the war in Afghanistan, conventional soldiers continue to drop into small villages in search of hidden weapons and equipment left by retreating Taliban and al-Qaida forces. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)