ISLAMABAD, Nov 8: Afghanistan’s Taliban militia denies opposition forces are close to the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and claims to have repulsed three attacks to the southwest, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said on Thursday.

The report by the agency comes amid claims by the opposition Northern Alliance that its troops have moved to within striking distance of Mazar-i-Sharif and were poised for a major attack.

“Opposition forces are far away from Mazar-i-Sharif and they are making false claims,” the AIP quoted a Taliban spokesman in Kabul as saying.

He said the Taliban had turned back three opposition attacks early on Thursday, about 100 kilometres southwest of Mazar-i-Sharif. There was no independent confirmation of the claim.

The Taliban spokesman said opposition reports of territorial gains south of Mazar-i-Sharif on Tuesday and Wednesday were exaggerated, according to the AIP. He acknowledged the Northern Alliance had captured the district of Zari, but said that its claim to have taken the districts of Keshendeh and then Sholgera just to the north were absolutely baseless.

The AIP said US warplanes overnight pounded Taliban front lines and military installations in the north-central provinces of Balkh and Samangan, in Kabul, and Paktia province further southeast.—AFP