More on battles around Mazar-i-Sharif and the need for a "humanitarian pathway"
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....Northern Alliance troops also claimed the death of Commander Gargarai, a senior Taliban commander, near the city. The report has not been verified. The casualties follow days of criticism by local opposition commanders that the air raids were ineffective.
Gen Franks confirmed that Mazar was coming under intense pressure. "Yes, we are interested in Mazar-i-Sharif," he said. "It would provide a land bridge up to Uzbekistan, which provides a humanitarian pathway for us to move supplies out of Central Asia."
Speaking of recent opposition advances towards the city, he added: "It's a bit early for us to characterise this as the success that will enable our establishment of the land bridge so I'm not prepared to do that right now. But yes, there is a big fight that's going on in the vicinity of Mazar-i-Sharif."
Mamur Hassan, a senior commander allied to Gen Abdul Rashid Dostum, the Uzbek warlord leading the battle for Mazar, said: "A very dangerous man, Taliban commander Gargarai, was killed near Mazar.
"He was killed by American bombing, or possibly by a shot from our own side. Three senior Taliban commanders were also captured."
Commander Hassan, the governor and military commander of Dasht-e-Qal'eh, a district on the north-eastern front line, said Gargarai was a notoriously merciless and bloodthirsty figure. "The man was a dog," he said.
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portal.telegraph.co.uk |
