Death before dishonour: Tribal feuds test Taliban writ

For decades, the neighbouring Afghan tribes agreed on only two things: the high ground between them was unremarkable, but it was a hill worth dying on.

The Balkhel and the Sabari had blamed each other for violence spasming back and forth, year after year, as the Pashtun tribesmen turned heavy weapons on each other in eastern Khost and Paktia provinces.

Now the twin tribes have been made to agree the fighting must stop. Afghanistan's Taliban government has established its writ over the age-long conflict.