Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 07:24:41 +0000 (GMT)
From: =?iso-8859-1?q?pierre=20guyotat?= <pierreguyotat-AT-yahoo.co.uk>



26 November 2001 07:17 GMT 
 Confusion in the Ranks--Justin Huggler at Bangi
Bridge, Afghanistan

 "To Kunduz," the soldiers shouted. The news had just
arrived
 that the road to the Taliban's last stronghold in the
north was
 clear and a convoy quickly formed, led by five old
Russian
 tanks belching great clouds of black smoke.

 Soldiers clung to the sides of trucks, or perched
precariously
 on top. One who looked no older than 14 swung a
rocket
 launcher carelessly above his head. Less than a mile
down the
 road, they ground to an ignominious halt, fearing
there might
 still be Taliban in the hills.

 This was the advance on Kunduz, the Taliban's last
stronghold
 in the north, under siege for the past 12 days. Last
night the
 pro-Taliban Afghan Islamic Press agency said some
2,500
 troops under General Abdul Rashid Dostum had captured
the
 centre of Kunduz, although other reports said the
Alliance
 would not enter the city until today. Khanabad, the
eastern
 gateway to Kunduz, 12 miles away, had fallen in the
meantime
 to the Tajik commander Mohammed Daud.

 Curiously, there was little sign yesterday of the
foreign
 volunteers believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden,
who were
 said to have vowed to fight to the death. There have
been
 widespread fears of a massacre since the United
States
 Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, said he would
prefer the
 foreigners to be killed than allowed to escape.

 In Khanabad, where foreign fighters were believed to
be
 manning the front lines, witnesses described a
gunfight in the
 main bazaar as retreating Taliban counter-attacked
Northern
 Alliance troops.

 "When we first arrived, the town was deserted," said
one young
 Afghan. "But then suddenly people started shouting
the Taliban
 were coming and running. There was shooting. I was so
scared
 I could feel my heart hitting against my ribs.'

 Another witness described hearing someone shout:
"Run! Run!
 The Taliban are coming!" The Alliance said it
captured
 Khanabad later in the day.

 Sarafaraz, a young Talib who had surrendered just
before the
 final advance started and who was in a long convoy of
trucks
 and jeeps smeared with mud to camouflage them from
 patrolling American planes, said he was dismayed by
what
 appeared to be the failure of the Taliban's last
stand in the
 north. He had no idea why the Americans had been
bombing
 him; he was not even aware of the 11 September
attacks. In
 fact, he seemed a little disbelieving when we told
him about
 them.

 As he spoke, another surrendering Talib behind him
stuck out
 his tongue and made faces at us.
-------------
The remainder of this very revealing article can be
found onthe pages of Independent
 

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