Heavy fighting is reported continuing between rival factions in Aghanistan's eastern Paktia province.
News reports say U-S war planes this (Thursday) morning circled overhead but did not intervene in the fighting between Pashtun factions for control of the provincial capital, Gardez.
Explosions, mortar and machine gun fire were reported in the area. Local officials say many civilians have fled since the fighting broke out Wednesday, and reports indicate dozens of people have been killed.
Meanwhile, the U-S Defense Department announced Wednesday that it is investigating a U-S raid carried out last week north of Kandahar.
At least 15 people were killed and 27 others were detained during the raid, which the Pentagon described earlier as a military action against a legitimate target. But local villagers insist that the raid actually hit a compound used by supporters of Afghanistan's new interim government.
Some reports suggest that U-S forces may have been intentionally led to the target by one Afghan faction seeking to eliminate a rival group.
Elsewhere, police in Pakistan arrested two high ranking officials of the ousted Afghan Taleban regime. Police said former Taleban chief justice Noor Mohammad Saqib, and the Taleban's deputy foreign minister, Abdul Rehman Zahid, were arrested near the Pakistani city of Quetta.
The Taleban chief justice is the highest ranking member of the ousted regime in police custody in either Pakistan or Afghanistan. Most former top Taleban officials, including supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, remain at large.