December 17, 2001	Monday	Shawwal 1, 1422

KABUL, Dec 16: Mujahideenn fired their guns as they joined the people of Kabul to celebrate the first Eid since the fall of the Taliban on Sunday.

Gunfire echoed through the night and prayers were said during the morning, followed by joyful family reunions and feasts.

Zabi Ullah, a soldier for nine of his 29 years, was among hundreds of fighters who spilled on to the streets soon after the new moon was spotted on Saturday night to spray the night sky with bursts from his Kalashnikov.

Last Eid he was also blazing away with his weapon, but in anger.

“I was at the front line, fighting the Taliban at Bagram,” he said, referring to the town, now a wasteland, about 50kms north of Kabul where some of the heaviest battles between the Northern Alliance and the Taliban militia took place.

“We were under rocket attack but we managed to take 10 minutes off and gather under a tree for prayer,” Ullah said while patrolling Kabul’s Eidga mosque during prayers Sunday morning.

“The rest of the time we were using this,” he said, pointing to the rifle he has been toting since becoming a mujahedin nine years ago.

With Kabul free and the Taliban toppled, this year’s Eid, he said, is “very, very special.”

“It is amazing and surprising,” he said. “Finally I can again come to the mosque at Eid for prayers.”

The Mujahideen, many dressed in battle fatigues or wearing Northern Alliance jackets and scarves, stood out at the mosque among the thousands of men who had opted for traditional blankets to ward off the cold.—AFP