DATE=8/3/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=AFGHAN FIGHTING (L)
NUMBER=2-252423
BYLINE=SARAH HORNER
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: An Afghan news agency says Afghanistan's
Taleban movement has pushed its forces to the mouth of
the opposition's stronghold as
fighting continues in the country. As Sarah Horner
reports from Islamabad, the Taleban are trying to take
control of all Afghanistan.
Text: The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (A-I-P)
says Taleban fighters have captured the town of
Gulbahar, which lies at the entrance
to the Panjshir Valley, 90 kilometers north of
Afghanistan's capital, Kabul. Opposition forces
retreated there Monday.
A-I-P quotes an opposition spokesman (Dr Abdullah) who
says the retreat to the Panjshir was a tactical
maneuver.
The Panjshir is the headquarters of opposition
commander Ahmad Shah Massood and has many natural
defenses. Commander Massood is reported to
have blown up the narrow gorge which forms the
entrance to the valley and the area is said to be
heavily mined.
Taleban troops have made a rapid advance since
launching a three-pronged offensive one week ago,
pushing back frontlines which had largely
remained static for the past two years. Commander
Massood's fighters had held positions 25-kilometers
from Kabul which allowed them to rocket the Taleban-
held capital.
The Taleban's sweep through the Shomali plains north
of Kabul was easier than the task now facing them. The
territory taken so far was mostly flat and quite hard
to defend. The Panjshir, however, is a different
matter.
During the ten-year Soviet occupation of Afghanistan,
which ended in 1989, Commander Massood repelled
repeated Soviet attempts to capture the Panjshir.
The Taleban, which controls 90-percent of Afghanistan,
have also not been able to penetrate the valley but
its fighters will be making a
determined bid to finally defeat the opposition.
Likewise, Commander Massood will be fighting hard to
hold onto one of the last areas under opposition
control.
Repeated peace talks brokered by the United Nations
between the Taleban and the Northern Alliance have
yielded little result in the past two years. The
Taleban's latest offensive came one week after both
sides attended a U-N sponsored meeting aimed at
finding an end to the ten year Afghan civil war.
(SIGNED)
NEB/SLH/PLM
03-Aug-1999 05:57 AM LOC (03-Aug-1999 0957 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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