KHOJA BAHAWUDDIN, Afghanistan (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Correspondents say accounts of gains by opposition commanders in Afghanistan are impossible to confirm, but they are starting to paint a picture of Taliban forces under pressure -- at least in the north where their grip is weakest.
Thursday, forces loyal to Afghan warlord Ismail Khan said they had captured the town of Chaghcharan in Ghowr province, straddling a vital road linking Kabul to the western city of Herat and from there to strongholds in the north. (Read photo caption below)
Two days earlier, other forces in the opposition Northern Alliance of which Khan is a member, said the defections of 40 Taliban commanders and their 1,200 fighters had given them control of the only remaining highway linking the Taliban in Kabul with their northern fighters.
Such a loss would deal a severe blow to the Taliban, who came to power in Kabul in 1996 and are now under attack from inside and out.
The Taliban dismissed the claims.
But Northern Alliance General Baryalai, a deputy to military chief General Muhammad Fahim, described as crucial the defections on the road between the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif -- captured by the Taliban in 1998 only after the bloodiest battle in its seven-year history -- and Kabul.
``For years we have fought the Taliban, but now that Pakistan and other Arab states have ceased their support, we can take some new positions and carry on the fight,'' he said in the frontline town of Deshitiqala Wednesday.
The north of Afghanistan, where Taliban troops would now be trapped if both those roads have fallen to the opposition, is also where their forces are weakest.
``If the air strikes cause weakness and damage, it will be easier for us to attack and capture the territory of the Taliban,'' the 37-year-old general said.
Amid confusion about what the Northern Alliance would do to capitalize on U.S. attacks on its enemy, Baryalai said a ground offensive should come in the north first.
Some Western defense analysts have argued that an assault on the key northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif would be a good way of opening supply routes south toward Kabul for foreign forces.
Others expect an assault on the capital first.
``In my view it would not be a good idea to go straight for Kabul,'' Baryalai said. ``This could cause a negative reaction among the ethnic Pashtun living there, whereas we want Kabul to be demilitarized.''
PHOTO CAPTION:
Opposition Northern Alliance soldiers return from a frontline position after a battle near the town of Charatoy in northern Afghanistan October 10, 2001. Afghanistan's ruling Taliban gave Osama bin Laden free rein to wage holy war on the United States as Washington said its war planes had the run of the Afghan skies. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)