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Militants clash in northern Afghanistan leaving 80 dead including 19 civilians
Fighting between the Taliban and the Hezb-e Islami militant group continued today, and around 60 of the fighters have been killed. Some 19 civilians were also killed as a result of the fighting.
Police said that around 40 Hezb-e Islami were killed and 20 Taliban. The fighting began, according to one Hezb commander, after the Taliban kidnapped some of their fighters and they retaliated.
The Hezb-e Islami faction in question had been pursuing tentative peace talks with the Karzai government and had reportedly agreed to surrender to them when the fighting with the Taliban broke out. NATO expressed hope that the clash marked the beginning of a larger split among militants, though the Taliban insisted that this was not the case.