Talks on Kunduz surrender continue

Talks between Taliban commander for the northern zone, Mullah Dadullah and the Uzbek warlord now in control of the key city of Mazar-i-Sharif Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum continued yesterday over the surrender of Kunduz by Taliban fighters as the U.S, forces stepped up their bombing of the besieged northern outpost.

The northern Kunduz province of Afghanistan witnessed one of the severest bombardments by U.S.-led forces yesterday killing hundreds of civilians and Taliban fighters as talks between the Taliban military commanders and Northern Alliance forces for a negotiated solution failed to make any headway.

A Taliban source, while quoting Mullah Dadullah, said that leaders of the students' militia did not trust Dostum or other leaders of Northern Alliance because of their bitter experience in Mazar-i-Sharif in the past.

Thousands of Taliban soldiers were invited and later massacred in Mazar in 1997, when Gen. Abdul Malik entered into an agreement with the students' militia to hand over control of the city and other provinces to Taliban.

More than 300 Taliban fighters, mostly Persian-speaking Afghans hailing the Takhar province and Pakistani nationals have been arrested by Gen. Dostum's forces while trying to flee from Kunduz last night, Taliban sources said.

A number of Kandahari Pashtuns and Pakistani tribesmen part of Sufi Mohammad's Jihadi lashkar are trapped in Kunduz after the Taliban withdrawal from Mazar and other parts of northern Afghanistan.

Taliban military commander Dadullah has admitted that some Arab as well as Chechen fighters were also present in Kunduz at the moment.

Dadullah and other Taliban leaders have offered to surrender arms and control of the province to UN force to end fighting, but they have balked at laying down arms before the Northern Alliance.

Taliban sources said that the Pushtun population has been subjected to revenge killing and hate related crimes in Mazar and other parts in the north of Afghanistan while claims were also being made, of killing and intimidation of civilians and non-combatant pro-Taliban. None of these reports could be confirmed from independent sources.

Taliban also blamed commander Ismail Khan for punishing Pashtuns in Herat.

In telephone conversations with pro-Taliban residents in Kunduz and from other reports reaching Peshawar, it was clear that the homes of civilians in the lush green Khanabad district of the province had been turned to rubble due to carpet bombing and ground attacks by forces loyal to Northern Alliance.

"As many as 600 people, the majority of them women and children, have been killed because of severe bombardment in Khanabad district alone," Taliban sources claimed. No independent confirmation of the claims was immediately available.

Armed robbers have looted and plundered shops and houses in Niaziano and Mohmand Dara districts of Nangarhar, locals informed.