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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: greenspirit who wrote (201877)	11/10/2001 2:11:12 PM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Northern Alliance brace for Kabul attack Rabat, Nov 10 news.sify.com@@@@1131250378.1005457054@@@@&BV_EngineID=dadcchggmkmlbemgcfkmcgedni.0&article_oid=8695464&page_no=1 The Northern Alliance, bolstered by their success in winning the key town of Mazar-i-Sharif, Saturday moved troops and tanks into position for an attack on Taliban forces defending Kabul. A commander of the Afghan opposition coalition confirmed that the long-awaited push towards the capital, held by the Taliban since 1996, was imminent. "We are getting ready for a battle to move towards Kabul," the commander, Amanaulah Gozar, told AFP in Jabal Seraj, around 30 kilometres behind the front lines. As he was speaking, his troops were fuelling three tanks and two armoured personnel carriers. The commander has a total of around 1,000 men under his command, seven tanks and 30 armoured vehicles. "With the help of God we will start the fight as soon as possible," he said. He later begun moving his forces towards the front lines but said that they had received orders to remain in slightly withdrawn positions. Rumours, which frequently turn out to be true, suggested the offensive could begin as early as Sunday. At least 10 tanks were already positioned less than one kilometre from the frontlines near Rabat in the southwest of the Shomali plains north of Kabul. "We arrived yesterday evening from Jabal Seraj with sufficient fuel and ammunition to mount an attack," Sher Dil, a tank commander, told AFP. The tank was hidden behind a farm wall with its cannon pointed towards clearly visible Taliban positions. "If we need more fuel and ammunition we will take them (from the Taliban)," the officer said. "I am ready to go as soon as I get the order." Overnight, an AFP photographer saw about 30 ageing Soviet-made tanks, each carrying around 10 men, crossing the River Kokcha at Dash-i-Qalah in northeastern Afghanistan. Opposition commander Issuf Khan told AFP the Alliance was sending several hundred soldiers to the Bagram area although he said no decision had been taken on the time of any attack. "Some groups of soldiers have left for the frontline because we are preparing for an attack, but we haven't decided when to attack," he said. Two other front-line commanders had said Friday there would be an attack within two or three days. The ground for a Northern Alliance push towards Kabul has been prepared by intensive US bombing of the front lines. In the latest wave of attacks on Saturday, a B-52 bomber carried out at least three carpet-bombing raids to the north of the disused airbase at Bagram in an area where the Taliban controls one of the main routes to Kabul. Despite the US attacks, there had until Saturday been no clear sign from the Northern Alliance that they were preparing for an assault on the Taliban forces defending Kabul. The Taliban are dug into solid defensive positions in the hills about 50 kilometres north of Kabul and are estimated to number at least 6,000 men. It is not clear how much their fighting capacity and firepower have been degraded by the US bombing. But even if the Northern Alliance can overcome their battle-hardened enemies, they have been warned by the United States not to march into Kabul. US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday made it clear that Washington believed that would complicate the creation of a stable and broad-based post-Taliban regime. "To be frank, there would probably be a lot of tension within the city if the Northern Alliance were to come in force with a population in Kabul that may not at the moment be friendly to (them)," he said. The Northern Alliance is made up mainly of ethnic Tajiks and Uzbeks while the population of Kabul is predominantly Pashtun, like the Taliban. When the opposition ruled the city from 1992 to 1996 it was accused of numerous human rights abuses. The Alliance, also known as the United Front, on Friday claimed its biggest success since US attacks began on October 7 by seizing the strategically important city of Mazar-i-Sharif. It followed that up on Saturday by taking an important river port just to the north and also claimed to have won all of the neighbouring province of Samangan. The victory at Mazar-i-Sharif gives US forces in nearby Uzbekistan easy access to Afghanistan, both by land and through a major airport.