Military

DATE=11/09/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-282908

TITLE=AFGHAN ATTACKS (L)

BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE

DATELINE=ISLAMABAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: U-S warplanes carried out some of their heaviest strikes of the month-long air campaign against terrorist and military targets in Afghanistan on Friday. V-O-A's Jim Teeple in Islamabad reports Taleban authorities say they believe the heavy strikes are designed to help speed the Northern Alliance offensive aimed at capturing the

strategic northern town of Mazar-e-Sharif.

TEXT: There are conflicting reports about the extent of the Northern Alliance advance on Mazar-e-Sharif, with alliance commanders saying they are making slow but steady progress, capturing posts several kilometers

from the city's airport and several other Taleban posts about 30 kilometers south of the city center.

But, Taleban authorities say they beat back a Northern Alliance offensive 100 kilometers south of the city. Northern Alliance commanders say Taleban forces have reinforced their lines with two-thousand fresh fighters. Neither side's claims can be independently confirmed.

One thing on which both sides agree is the intensity of U-S bombing in the area around Mazar-e-Sharif. The Afghan Islamic Press, which has close ties to the Taleban, says Taleban commanders report U-S intense bombing 22

kilometers west of Mazar-e-Sharif on Friday. The report quotes Taleban commanders as saying the strikes were "harsh" and were clearly aimed at helping the Northern Alliance make a final push towards Mazar-e-Sharif.

U-N de-mining officials say they are now receiving information from U-S officials about unexploded ordinance that could pose a hazard to civilians. Dan Kelley who heads the U-N de-mining effort in Afghanistan spoke to reporters at the daily U-N briefing in Islamabad on Friday.

/// KELLEY ACT ///

The coalition force is being cooperative at this point and they are telling us some information about what is being used and they are giving us some information about where there is a belief that there is unexploded ordinance meaning that they knew that the munitions did not go off.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Kelley says of particular concern to U-N officials are so-called "cluster bombs" which can spray shrapnel up to 200 meters and which have extremely delicate fuses -- which tend to detonate when a cluster bomblet is moved even slightly. He says the last reported use of a cluster bomb by U-S forces was on October 22nd.

The United Nations says it has cleared over one-million-700-thousand mines in Afghanistan, but there are at least 732 square kilometers of territory in Afghanistan that cannot be used because of the danger of unexploded mines. (Signed)

NEB/JLT/JWH