Thousands flee ethnic violence in northern Afghanistan

Thousands of Afghans from the same ethnic group as the now-defunct Taliban regime are fleeing parts of northern Afghanistan, according to the United Nations.

Yusuf Hassan, a spokesman for the UN, said thousands of refugees have arrived in the south of country, where they told officials that the anti-Taliban warlords who now control the region are committing atrocities against ethnic Pashtuns. Mr Hassan said the UN has complained to the interim government led by Hamid Karzai, himself a Pashtun, but "many of those areas are areas where there is no national authority".