A powerful Afghan warlord launched a broad assault against two rivals in northern Afghanistan, the Defence Ministry said Wednesday, as the fighting threatened to further destabilize the fragile country.

Forces loyal to Abdul Rashid Dostum moved into Faryab province late Tuesday and were advancing toward the provincial capital along three fronts, Deputy Defence Minister Rahim Wardak told The Associated Press.

The Karzai government\ufffds weakness outside Kabul has allowed the remnants of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar\ufffds Hizb-i-Islami to reorganise. According to the current issue of South Asia Monitor, a publication of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), since January, there have been at least 32 attacks targeting foreign soldiers, aid workers, NGO representatives and Afghans working for them. The recent surge in guerrilla attacks following a US military offensive against insurgent elements in the mountainous regions of the southeast illustrates the problem.