November 30, 2001	Friday	Ramazan 14, 1422

WASHINGTON, Nov 29: The Pentagon said on Thursday it was looking into reports that anti-Taliban Pakhtoon forces in southern Afghanistan last week executed 160 captured Taliban fighters.

“I have read the reports and we will continue to push” for information on the alleged shootings, spokeswoman Victoria Clarke told reporters.

In Quetta, a senior commander said on Wednesday the captured Taliban fighters were executed before the eyes of US troops.

“We tried our best to persuade (the Taliban) to surrender before we attacked. We asked them many times, quoted the Quran and even offered them money,” said the commander from forces loyal to Gul Agha, a former mujahideen governor of Kandahar.

“But they replied with abuse so we had no choice. We executed around 160 Taliban that were captured. They were made to stand in a long line and five or six of our fighters used light machine guns on them,” he said, adding that some of those killed were Pakistani.

The commander said seven or eight US military personnel who had been filming the fighting tried unsuccessfully to prevent the executions on Friday.—Reuters