WASHINGTON, Dec 3: Apart from Kandahar in the south, there are at least four pockets of Taliban resistance in the north of Afghanistan, a couple of them west of Mazar-i-Sharif and the others to the east.

Anti-Taliban forces are seeking to negotiate with the Taliban in these pockets to surrender, and while the bulk of the Taliban leadership is believed to be in Kandahar, Al-Qaeda leaders are said to be somewhere south of Jalalabad.

These points emerged from the Pentagon briefing here on Monday afternoon, when spokesman Rear Admiral John Stufflebeem described the overall situation around Kandahar as “fluid”. Despite reports that coalition and opposition forces are closing in on Kandahar, there was no indication in the Pentagon briefing that the city’s fall was imminent; nor was the spokesman ready to commit himself to a time line for the end of the battle for Kandahar or for the capture of Al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership.

Adm Stufflebeem indicated that no increase in the size of the US forces inside Afghanistan was anticipated right now, saying that the commander in charge of the operations there, General Tommy Franks, head of the Central Command, seemed comfortable with the number of troops he had at the present time.

It was also stated that southern (Pakhtoon) anti-Taliban forces had probed the outskirts of Kandahar to test the Taliban positions there. At the same time, however, these groups were also in negotiations with the Taliban.