Military

DATE=10/31/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-282479

TITLE= AFGHAN ATTACKS / L

BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE

DATELINE= ISLAMABAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: U-S war planes carried out heavy strikes against targets near

the southern Afghan city, Kandahar, Wednesday. Taleban authorities

say eight people were injured in the raids when a bomb fell near the

center of the city. The report cannot be independently confirmed.

V-O-A's Jim Teeple reports that U-N officials say their special envoy for Afghanistan will not meet with Taleban officials during his visit to Pakistan this week.

TEXT: Witnesses say the air raids on Kandahar were targeted against

Taleban military sites and suspected al-Qaida bases in and around the

city. Heavy bombing raids are also reported against Taleban front-line

positions north of Kabul. Other raids are reported Wednesday against

Taleban positions near the northern city, Mazar-e-Sharif.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the United Nations office in Pakistan says

U-N Special Envoy for Afghanistan Lakhdar Brahimi will not have time to

meet with Taleban officials during his visit to Islamabad.

The Taleban Ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salaam Zaeef, had requested a

meeting with Mr. Brahimi during his fact-finding mission. Mr. Brahimi

has met with Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf and is

holding discussions with a variety of key Afghan exile figures during

his visit. Aziz Khan -- a spokesman for the Pakistan Foreign Ministry -- says

the discussions are part of the process aimed at developing a future,

broad-based government for Afghanistan.

// KHAN ACTUALITY //

All this augers well for the peace process and we hope this will give

impetus to a peace process so that Afghans can find a political

dispensation which can insure durable peace inside Afghanistan.

// END ACTUALITY //

The Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press quotes Taleban sources as

saying U-S military authorities have electronically seized Taleban radio

frequencies near Taleban headquarters in Kandahar -- and have begun

broadcasting a variety of messages and music.

Meanwhile, U-N refugee officials are warning that conditions are

getting worse in a refugee camp inside Afghanistan run by the Taleban. The U-N

representatives describe conditions at the Spin Boldak Camp, near the

Chaman border post in southwestern Pakistan, as rapidly deteriorating.

(Signed)

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