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

To: greenspirit who wrote (202209)	11/13/2001 11:18:44 AM
From: greenspirit	Respond to of 769670

Joyous Soldiers Make Chaotic Entrance to Kabul November 13, 2001 08:16 AM ET KABUL (Reuters) - Under orders to halt within spitting distance of the Afghan capital, Northern Alliance soldiers in pickups and trucks revved their engines and jostled for position, desperate to be the first to Kabul. When their own leaders broke a promise to stay out of the city, they knew it was time to move. Accelerators to the floor, a plume of dust flew into the air as they raced each other through the narrow mountain pass and past the bodies of dead Taliban sprawled on the roadside and into the capital. "Kabul! Kabul!" they screamed as the sprawling city many had not seen for years came into view. Opposition supporters lined the streets as green-uniformed military police, soldiers and mujahideen swept by, honking their horns and firing their Kalashnikovs in the air when they spotted old friends on the roadside. Next came soldiers on foot, followed by tanks, overflowing with troops. Through the industrial outskirts of the capital, past long-destroyed factories, butchers' stands and derelict petrol stations, the soldiers fanned out into the city, seemingly without any orders on what to do next. CHECKPOINTS SEARCH FOR TALIBAN By early afternoon, they had set up checkpoints at most road junctions, searching cars for the remnants of Taliban forces who had fled overnight. Other soldiers appeared to be confiscating goods looted from government buildings in the brief hours when Kabul had no ruler. Many among Kabul's Tajik and Uzbek population were delighted to see their ethnic brethren march into town. "We are so happy, we are free," said 65-year-old Mohammed Akram, tears in his pale green eyes. "For five years we lived under the Taliban and we were afraid. All the time we were afraid." But others may have more to fear from the triumphant Northern Alliance. The majority Pashtun population has traumatic memories of its treatment at the hands of Alliance forces in the early 1990s when a bloody internecine mujahideen battle for war killed 50,000 innocent civilians. Many shops and businesses were closed and only a few pedestrians and cyclists ventured out downtown. On one street corner, an aggressive young soldier with a rocket propelled grenade under his arm flagged down a car and appeared to be threatening those inside. After sweeping battlefield victories in northern Afghanistan at the weekend, the Northern Alliance backed by U.S. air power broke through Taliban lines north of Kabul on Monday. At first its leaders said they would respect international calls to stay outside the city. But by Tuesday morning the temptation of the capital proved too much. Northern Alliance military commander Muhammed Fahim and Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah raced into the city in the back of a black landcruiser -- marking the beginning of another uncertain future for battered Kabul. reuters.com