The United Nations says Taleban police have clashed with a group of armed fighters who broke into the offices of a British-based aid agency in the southern city of Kandahar last week.
U-N spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker said some 20 armed non-Afghans forced their way into the office of the Islamic Relief agency. She said fighting broke out when the Taleban police intervened. She described the non-Afghans as Arabs living in Afghanistan.
There are thousands of Arabs in Afghanistan who volunteered to help the Taleban in their pursuit of a pure Islamic state or to link-up with other followers of Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden.
The U-N spokeswoman is quoted as saying that following the launch of U-S-led air strikes on Afghanistan on October seventh, some of the non-Afghans living on the outskirts of Kandahar began moving into residential areas and taking over other people's houses.