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DATE=9/25/98
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-239249
TITLE=AFGHAN FIGHTING (L)
BYLINE=SARAH HORNER
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 
INTRO:  TALEBAN AUTHORITIES SAY THEY HAVE CAPTURED THE LAST 
AIRSTRIP IN CENTRAL AFGHANISTAN REMAINING IN OPPOSITION HANDS, 
BUT THE NORTHERN ALLIANCE SAYS THE AIRSTRIP IS STILL UNDER ITS 
CONTROL.  SARAH HORNER HAS THE DETAILS FROM ISLAMABAD. 
TEXT: THE PAKISTAN-BASED AFGHAN ISLAMIC PRESS (A-I-P) TELLS V-O-A
THERE ARE DISPUTED REPORTS ABOUT THE CENTRAL AFGHAN TOWN OF 
YAWKALANG AND ITS NEARBY AIRSTRIP.  THE AREA IS 80 KILOMETERS 
WEST OF THE CENTRAL AFGHAN CITY OF BAMIYAN, WHICH FELL TO TALEBAN
FORCES TWO WEEKS AGO. 
MEMBERS OF THE HEZB-WAHDAT GROUP, PART OF THE OPPOSITION NORTHERN
ALLIANCE, SAY THEY STILL CONTROL THE TOWN AND AIRSTRIP.  BUT 
TALEBAN SOURCES SAY THEY HAVE CAPTURED YAWKALANG IN SHORT AND 
FIERCE FIGHTING.  THERE IS NO INDEPENDENT CONFIRMATION. 
THE TALEBAN CONTROL NEARLY ALL OF AFGHANISTAN. IN THE PAST TWO 
MONTHS, THEY HAVE SWEPT THROUGH THE NORTHERN THIRD OF THE COUNTRY
WHICH HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE NORTHERN 
ALLIANCE. 
ASIDE FROM THE TALEBAN'S  MOPPING-UP OPERATION IN CENTRAL 
AFGHANISTAN, ONLY TWO ISOLATED POCKETS REMAIN IN OPPOSITION 
HANDS. 
// OPT // ONE OF THESE IS AN AREA 20 KILOMETERS NORTH OF THE 
AFGHAN CAPITAL, KABUL, CONTROLLED BY LEADING COMMANDER, AHMAD 
SHAH MASSOOD, WHO HAS HELD THIS FRONT LINE AGAINST THE TALEBAN 
FOR MORE THAN ONE YEAR.  // END OPT // 
// OPT // THE AFGHAN ISLAMIC PRESS SAYS A TALEBAN AMMUNITION 
DUMP,  JUST NORTH OF KABUL WAS BLOWN-UP LATE THURSDAY NIGHT IN A 
SUSPECTED ACT OF SABOTAGE BY COMMANDER MASSOOD. A-I-P SAYS 
EXPLOSIONS WERE STILL GOING OFF EARLY FRIDAY MORNING AT THE 
MILITARY BASE.  TALEBAN SOURCES DENY THE DUMP WAS ATTACKED.  // 
END OPT // 
PREVIOUSLY, NORTHERN ALLIANCE SOURCES HAVE TOLD V-O-A IF THE 
ALLIANCE LOST CONTROL OF URBAN CENTERS IN AFGHANISTAN, THEN IT 
WOULD SWITCH TO GUERRILLA-STYLE ATTACKS AGAINST TALEBAN 
POSITIONS. THIS WAS A TACTIC USED SUCCESSFULLY AGAINST SOVIET 
UNION FORCES DURING THE TEN YEAR SOVIET OCCUPATION OF 
AFGHANISTAN, WHICH PRECEDED THE AFGHAN CIVIL WAR. (SIGNED)
NEB/SLH/WDC/JO
25-Sep-98 10:47 AM EDT (1447 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.