November 23, 2001	Friday	Ramazan 7, 1422

MAIDAN SHAHR, Afghanistan, Nov 22: Heavily armed Northern Alliance troops launched an attack on Thursday on Taliban positions near the dusty township of Maidan Shahr some 30 km west of Kabul, witnesses said.

Later reports however said that the fighting was between rival Afghan factions, some of whom may have switched sides.

The Northern Alliance rained rocket, mortar and artillery fire on some 1,200 members of the Taliban militia defending a necklace of mounds and hills.

The Alliance had been seeking to persuade the Taliban to surrender Maidan Shahr since it captured Kabul, the capital, on November 13.

An unknown number of foreigners, including Pakistanis and Arabs, are fighting alongside Afghan Taliban in Maidan Shahr, according to local residents.

The outbreak of fighting contrasted with the news from Kunduz, the Taliban’s sole remaining redoubt in northern Afghanistan, where rival commanders said they had agreed on the surrender of several thousand encircled Taliban fighters.

OLD POLITICAL RIFTS OPENED?: Fighting between rival Afghan groups raged near Kabul, as old political rifts reopened.

The fighting appeared to involve the mainly Tajik and Uzbek Northern Alliance, their Shia allies, a hardline Sunni warlord and the Taliban — but it was unclear on which side each was fighting.

All involved in the complicated battle denied switching sides and insisted that others were involved in the fighting, which revived memories of the bitter 1992-96 civil war that killed 50,000 Kabul residents.

Around 1,500 Northern Alliance troops fired rockets, mortars and artillery at Taliban positions near the dusty township of Maidan Shahr.

Northern Alliance commanders and local residents said that further to the west of Maidan Shahr, Hazara fighters who had been battling the Taliban had now switched sides.

The Hazaras, a Shia minority said to be descended from the soldiers of Ghengis Khan, have been loosely affiliated to the Northern Alliance and have been victims of Taliban massacres in the past.

The leader of the Hazara Hezb-i-Wahdat faction, Karim Khalili, swiftly dismissed suggestions of a renewed bout of ethnic conflict.

The battles involved forces loyal to Sunni mujahideen commander Abdurrab Rasul Sayyaf ranged against former Taliban and now Northern Alliance commander Ustad Golam Mohammad, Khalili said.

He said no Hezb-i-Wadat fighters were positioned near Maidan Shahr.

“We have tried to stop this fighting. We have sent messages to (ousted President Burhanuddin) Rabbani, Sayyaf, Ustad Golam Mohammad and (Interior Minister) Yunus Qanuni to try to stop the fighting,” Khalili said.

The clashes cut the main road linking north and south Afghanistan.

“No traffic has gone through because of the fighting,” said Northern Alliance fighter Shah Mohammad.

The Alliance had been seeking to persuade the Taliban to surrender Maidan Shahr since it captured Kabul, the capital, on November 13.

Witnesses said Pakistani and Arab fighters linked to Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network were among the Taliban ranks.

Northern Alliance commanders said they planned to ask for US air strikes to help them dislodge the Taliban.

“We will ask the Americans to pound Taliban positions,” Alliance commander Sher Alam told Reuters.—Reuters