September 20, 1998

Voice of America
INTRO: SIXTEEN PEOPLE ARE REPORTED DEAD AND SEVERAL INJURED BY A ROCKET ATTACK ON THE AFGHAN CAPITAL, KABUL. THE ATTACK (SUNDAY) COMES AMIDST

Voice of America

INTRO: ROCKETS FIRED BY AFGHAN OPPOSITION FORCES HAVE KILLED 16 PEOPLE IN THE AFGHAN CAPITAL, WHERE THERE ARE FEARS OF FRESH FIGHTING BETWEEN OPPOSITION
Dozens killed and injured in anti-Taliban rocket attack on Kabul
Sun 20 Sep 98 - 15:19 GMT

KABUL, Sept 20 (AFP) - The Afghan capital sustained a powerful rocket attack Sunday leaving dozens of civilians killed and injured, residents said.
Khatami working to avert war with Taliban
Sun 20 Sep 98 - 16:58 GMT

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 20 (AFP) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami on Sunday denounced Afghanistan's Taliban authorities as "backward" but promised to do everything possible to avert war.
Iran readies for war games as freed Iranians accuse Taliban of torture
Sun 20 Sep 98 - 16:42 GMT

TEHRAN, Sept 20 (AFP) - An estimated 200,000 Iranian troops massed on the border with Afghanistan on Sunday to prepare for war games as the fundamentalist Taliban regime called for peace with its neighbour.
Iranians released by Taliban return home amid charges of torture
Sun 20 Sep 98 - 11:03 GMT

TEHRAN, Sept 20 (AFP) - Five Iranian prisoners released by the Taliban in a bid to ease tensions between Afghanistan and Iran returned home on Sunday and some of them accused the militia of subjecting them to severe torture.
Iranian parliament to hold closed-door session on Afghanistan
Sun 20 Sep 98 - 11:17 GMT

TEHRAN, Sept 20 (AFP) - Iran's parliament will hold a closed-door session Tuesday on the crisis in relations with neighboring Afghanistan, the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported Sunday.
Iranian troops ready for war games on Afghan border
Sun 20 Sep 98 - 14:29 GMT

TEHRAN, Sept 20 (AFP) - Iranian troops have arrived near the border with Afghanistan in preparation for war games expected to go ahead in the next few days, an armed forces official said Sunday.
Taliban want improved ties with Tehran: spokesman
Sun 20 Sep 98 - 08:06 GMT

KABUL, Sept 20 (AFP) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban want peace with neighbouring Iran and will not impose any conditions on improving ties, an official told AFP Sunday, on the eve of an international meeting on the war-torn country.
Taliban leader rules out war with Iran
Sun 20 Sep 98 - 07:46 GMT

DUBAI, Sept 20 (AFP) - Mullah Mohammad Omar, supreme leader of the Taliban militia in Afghanistan, has ruled out the danger of war breaking out with Iran, in an interview published on Sunday.
Iran urges friendly nations to distance themselves from Taliban
Sun 20 Sep 98 - 07:44 GMT

TEHRAN, Sept 20 (AFP) - Iran's parliamentary Ali-Akbar Nateq-Nuri called on "friendly countries" on Sunday to distance themselves from the hardline Taliban militia in Afghanistan.

afghanistan-asharq al-awsat
 asharq al-awsat criticizes pakistan support for taliban beirut, sept 20, irna -- london-based arabic daily asharq al-awsat on sunday criticized pakistan's gross logistical support for taliban. the daily said certain countries including

Afghans Protest Iran Troop Buildup

Sunday, September 20, 1998; 5:35 a.m. EDT

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)-- An estimated 10,000 Afghans chanting anti-Iranian slogans staged a rally in the eastern town of Khost on Sunday to protest Tehran's massive troop buildup on the Afghan frontier, Kabul radio reported.

Bamiyan facing famine threat

Dawn
GENEVA, Sept 19: Over 3,00,000 people of Bamiyan province in Afghanistan are facing threat of starvation and famine and 60,000 are likely to die of starvation, according to the UN assessment.


Taming the Taliban

The News: Jang (Opinion)

Lt Gen (R) Asad Durrani

The Afghan resistance to the Soviet occupation did us proud. Many of us, whose ancestors had left that country for more comfort elsewhere, or were driven out in a power struggle, found reasons to brag about their heritage. After the Soviet withdrawal, we had a hard time defending the Afghans. We tried our best.

Re-thinking Afghan policy

The News: Jang (Opinion)

Dr Rifaat Hussain

In a belated attempt to prevent outbreak of war between Iran and Afghanistan Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz visited Iran last week as a special envoy of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Prompted by COAS General Jehangir Karamat's

Price of loyalty to Taliban

Dawn: Opinion

By Aziz Siddiqui
ISLAMABAD appeared until recently to be sleep-walking its way through the Iran-Afghan crisis. If there was worry at the souring of a long-cherished relationship, it did not much show. A couple of belated shuttles, a statement or two

Defusing the flashpoint

Dawn: Editorial

THE situation on the Iran-Afghan border continues to be grim. Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz's mission to Tehran has apparently failed to act as a softener. With the stand-off between Iran and the Taliban nowhere close to being