Northern Alliance commander on poss surrender of Kunduz

(18 Nov 2001)

1. Mid shot of mountains near Kunduz (20 miles east of the city) and Northern Alliance soldiers running towards Kunduz
2. Long shot of tank on mountain directly overlooking Kunduz - AUDIO firing
3. Close shot of Northern Alliance fighters walking with rocket launchers
4. Mid shot of commander holding radio
5. Northern Alliance soldiers walking with rocket launchers
6. Soldiers at camp preparing food
7. Close shot of rice being prepared
8. Mid shot of soldiers sitting against wall (waiting for sunset so they can eat because of Ramadan)
9. Mid shot of soldiers standing and waiting
10. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Commander Abdul Basir, Northern Alliance:
"We are waiting for an order from our command. If the order comes, we are ready for battle."
11. Cutaway close shot of hand holding radio
12. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Commander Abdul Basir, Northern Alliance:
"Some Afghan Taliban commanders are negotiating with us about surrendering - but there are also foreign Taliban and they are going to put up a fight, but they will die."
13. Various of troops sitting at camp

STORYLINE:

Defenders of the last Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan made a conditional offer of surrender on Sunday after a day of devastating U-S air strikes, the opposition northern alliance said.

U-S B-52s led a day of intense bombing on Taliban positions outside the city of Kunduz, sending huge fireballs skyward.

On Sunday evening, the northern alliance said the Taliban had offered to give up provided there was a guarantee of safety for foreign fighters loyal to Osama bin Laden.

In this northern alliance camp outside Kunduz, commander Abdul Basir said "some Afghan Taliban commanders are negotiating with us about surrendering."

The Taliban said they would surrender if the alliance guaranteed that non-Afghans fighting alongside them would not be killed and if the surrender were witnessed by United Nations representatives.

There are an estimated three-thousand non-Afghans fighting with the Taliban in Kunduz, including Arabs believed to be affiliated with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network as well as Pakistanis.

There was no immediate word as to whether the opposition alliance has accepted the offer.

But this commander warned that if foreign Taliban put up a fight "they will die."

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