At least two security forces were injured as government forces exchanged fire with former local police commander Nizamuddin Qaisari and his guards and northern Mazar-i-Sharif city on Sunday, police said.
Government forces surrounded the home of Qaisari in Police District 5 of Mazar on 12:00a.m. in bid to arrest him.
Ajmal Fayez, the police chief of Balkh, said that Qaisari was accused of bullying and promiscuity.
He said that the operation was going slowly to avoid civilian casualties. On Sunday afternoon, aircraft carried out strikes on the target.
Qaisari, a former Local Police commander in Faryab’s Qaisar district, had been arrested in June last year, but was released later.
On Saturday, he told 1TV that some strongmen and members of parliament and Balkh provincial council were conspiring against him.
A number of Qaisari’s supporters took to the streets in Mazar-i-Sharif, calling for the issue to be resolved through talks not physical encounter.
Locals residents in Aziz Abad area left their homes as the clash began.
