DATE=7/30/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=AFGHAN FIGHTING (L UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-252339
BYLINE=SARAH HORNER
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Fighting in Afghanistan has continued for the
third day as Taleban forces try to oust the last
remaining opposition force in the country. As Sarah
Horner reports from Islamabad, a Pakistan-based news
agency says the opposition has retreated from a vital
air-base.
TEXT: The Afghan Islamic Press (A-I-P) says forces
loyal to opposition commander Ahmad Shah Massood have
pulled back from Bagram air-base in Kapisa province,
50-kilometers north of Afghanistan's capital, Kabul.
The agency says Commander Massood's fighters have
taken positions north and west of the air-base.
A-I-P says Taleban fighters are also attacking Mahmud-
i-Raqi, the provincial capital of Kapisa, just east of
Bagram.
A-I-P quotes a Taleban spokesman who says more than
100 injured Taleban soldiers have been taken to
hospitals in Kabul. The agency quotes other sources
who say both sides are suffering heavy casualties.
Since capturing Kabul three years ago, the Taleban
have tried to take the areas just north of the capital
on several occasions. Each time, Commander Massood
has conceded some ground but has then fought back and
pushed the Taleban out. For the past two years, the
front-lines north of Kabul have changed little. The
Taleban concentrated its energies on capturing most of
northern and central Afghanistan and now has 90-
percent of the country under its control.
Commander Massood and remnants of the opposition
Northern Alliance have hung on to the rest and managed
to defeat Taleban attempts to take all Afghanistan.
The Taleban's current offensive, launched earlier this
week, is a concerted effort to finally achieve its
aim. Commander Massood, meanwhile, will be fighting
hard to hold onto one of his last areas of control.
The United Nations Security Council and the human
rights group Amnesty International have appealed to
both sides to stop fighting. U-N sponsored peace
talks held between the Taleban and the Northern
Alliance last week ended with little result. (SIGNED)
NEB/SLH/KL
30-Jul-1999 12:09 PM LOC (30-Jul-1999 1609 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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