Time November 12, 2001
CITADELS UNDER SIEGE
By David Tarrant
Targeting two strategic linchpins, Mazar-i-Sharif and the front north of Kabul, the U.S. deployed B-52s for heavy bombing of Taliban positions--but the results were said to be mixed
TARGET: MAZAR-I-SHARIF Pounding has started along the front lines south of the city where General Rashid Dostum's and Mohammed Atta's Northern Alliance forces have been stalled for more than a week. The U.S. is airlifting much needed ammo and supplies. Taliban troops are positioned in and around civilian sites at the city, moving almost daily
TERMEZ Near Termez, 130 Taliban fighters lie in wait to block or confiscate humanitarian aid slated to be ferried across the river
TARGET: KABUL U.S. commandos are helping to pinpoint targets for American bombers. Air strikes intensified with both precision and "dumb" bombs aiming for troops and armor north of the capital--but many Taliban soldiers went underground to survive the blasts. The big challenge will be to take out those forces hiding in hillside caves
OTHER FIGHTING
Dar-i-Suf: As opposition leader Dostum fights in the north, his followers are left to fend off the Taliban with guerrilla raids
The West: Sporadic fighting between opposition groups and the Taliban has intensified here
BAMIAN Here the country's worst humanitarian crisis is unfolding. Refugees fleeing the Taliban are camped on the sides of surrounding mountains; victims of a three-year drought, they are starving and freezing as winter bears down
JSTARS (Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System) This surveillance aircraft, now being moved into the region, tracks enemy movements on the ground so U.S. and allied ground forces can target them
B-52 Stratofortress The high-altitude bomber began clobbering Taliban positions last week, especially around Mazar-i-Sharif and on hillsides north of Kabul
Sources: Department of Defense, GlobalSecurity.org
Copyright 2001 Time Inc.
