Seven killed in Afghan fighting

At least seven people are dead and 50 are wounded after factional fighting in the Afghan city of Gardez.

A doctor at the city hospital says forces fired rockets into the city for four hours.

An assistant to Governor Taj Mohammed Wardak says he understands as many as 25 people were killed.

They included people in villages outside Gardez where the shelling started.

The forces of warlord Bacha Kahn Zardaran, who control nearby Khost, have been trying for several months to take control of Gardez from Governor Wardak, appointed by the interim government in Kabul.

At Bagram air base, Major Bryan Hilferty, a US military spokesman, says a small team of US soldiers stationed at Gardez had been involved in negotiating an end the fighting.