Скачать или смотреть INDIA: DELHI: OPPOSITION & TALIBAN FORCES CONTINUE TO FIGHT

(1 Jun 1997) English/Nat

Fighting continued on Saturday, as opposition forces fought off Taliban fighters, who were trying to recapture Jebul Siraj, a strategic town north of Kabul.

Forces led by General Ahmed Shah Massood took the city on Friday.

In New Delhi, the Afghan Ambassador for India, Massood Khalili confirmed Massood's forces were now moving south towards the capital Kabul.

Addressing the press formally for the first time since fighting broke out in Afghanistan, the Afghan Ambassador to India confirmed that General Massood's opposition forces had retaken Jebul Siraj.

The town, 55 miles north of Kabul, was the former headquarters of the forces of former defence chief Ahmed Shah Massood.

The Afghan Ambassador to India said that opposition forces had successfully re-captured Afghanistan's northern belt, driving the Taliban out.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"All the provinces of North, which I mentioned before, are in the hands of the defence council of Afghanistan - mainly led by General Massood, General Malik, Karim Khalili and others."
SUPER CAPTION: Massood Khalili, Afghan Ambassador to India

The Taliban also retreated from Mazar-e-Sharif, only four days after pouring their troops into the city, regarded as the key to the north, in an attempt to complete the conquest of the war-torn nation.

Two-thirds of the country is currently held by the Taliban.

The Taliban captured northern Afghanistan a week ago after forming an alliance with former enemies - ethnic Uzbek soldiers led by Malik Pahlawan.

But the shaky coalition collapsed when the Taliban tried to disarm its new friends.

Khalili said that General Massood's forces were advancing south to the capital.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"In Kabul, which is the capital, very important for all, they have created a kind of suffocating situation. But based on very recent information, the common people, the civilians, just want a chance or time to take advantage and resist against the Taliban. Fighting is going on in northern Kabul."
SUPER CAPTION: Massood Khalili, Afghan Ambassador to India

The Afghan Ambassador said his country could never be won by force, and urged diplomatic measures.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Afghanistan cannot be conquered militarily. Afghanistan cannot be conquered through the barrel of the gun. Maybe the capital of Afghanistan could be conquered. The capital of Afghanistan has gone through one hand to another hand many times. But not Afghanistan. Afghanistan should be conquered by negotiations, by talks within the country, by their own people."
SUPER CAPTION: Massood Khalili, Afghan Ambassador to India

Latest reports claim opposition forces advanced to within half a mile of the Taliban held city of Charikar, about 35 miles north of Kabul.

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