September 22, 1998

Intl. Mission Led By UN To Investigate The Reported Massacre Of Civilians By The Taleban
INTRO: AN INTERNATIONAL MISSION LED BY THE UNITED NATIONS IS TO INVESTIGATE THE REPORTED MASSACRE OF CIVILIANS DURING A TALEBAN OFFENSIVE LAST MONTH IN NORTHERN
Afghan opposition vows to keep fighting Taliban advance
Tue 22 Sep 98 - 19:26 GMT

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 22 (AFP) - The Afghan opposition vowed Tuesday to continue fighting the Taliban even if the ruling fundamentalist militia captures their last strongholds.

Saudi Arabia Expels Afghan Diplomat

Tuesday, September 22, 1998; 4:19 p.m. EDT

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi Arabia expelled the Afghan charge d'affaires Tuesday and recalled its representative from Kabul, the official news agency reported.
Iranian minister says Tehran trying to control growing anger
Tue 22 Sep 98 - 22:59 GMT

SANAA, Sept 22 (AFP) - An Iranian minister said on Tuesday that Tehran was trying to control the growing anger of the Iranian people over the fundamentalist Islamic Taliban militia in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Afghanistan poses threat to Central Asian stability, Uzbek minister says
Tue 22 Sep 98 - 21:46 GMT

MOSCOW, Sept 22 (AFP) - An Uzbek official voiced concern Tuesday that violence in nearby Afghanistan could threaten stability in the Central Asian region, ITAR-TASS reported.
Iran seeks diplomatic solution to Afghan crisis
Tue 22 Sep 98 - 15:33 GMT

TEHRAN, Sept 22 (AFP) - Iran reaffirmed Tuesday that it was trying to avoid a war with the Taliban in Afghanistan and had made finding a peaceful solution to its conflict with the fundamentalist Islamic militia a "priority."
Taliban to cooperate with UN efforts to defuse crisis with Iran
Tue 22 Sep 98 - 15:14 GMT

ISLAMABAD, Sept 22 (AFP) - The Afghan Taliban Tuesday expressed their willingness to cooperate with UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi being sent to the region to defuse tension between Afghanistan and Iran.
Bodies of 47 Afghan refugees arrive in Afghanistan from Iran: report
Tue 22 Sep 98 - 13:38 GMT

ISLAMABAD, Sept 22 (AFP) - Afghanistan has received the bodies of 47 Afghan refugees allegedly killed in clashes with locals in Iran, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported Tuesday.
Masood denies involvement in rocket attacks on Kabul
Mon 21 Sep 98 - 18:23 GMT

KABUL, Sept 21 (AFP) - A spokesman for former Afghan defence minister Ahmad Shah Masood on Monday denied his opposition forces were responsible for a series of deadly rocket attacks on residential areas of Kabul.
Iranian parliament meets to discuss Afghanistan
Tue 22 Sep 98 - 12:49 GMT

TEHRAN, Sept 22 (AFP) - Iran's parliament met behind closed doors on Tuesday to discuss the crisis with the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan, the official IRNA news agency said.
Taliban no match for Iran's military might: defense minister
Tue 22 Sep 98 - 10:47 GMT

TEHRAN, Sept 22 (AFP) - Afghanistan's Taliban militia are no match for the Iranian armed forces and do not pose a serious military threat to the Islamic Republic, Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said in remarks published Tuesday.
Religious scholars meet in Kabul amid Iranian border tensions
Tue 22 Sep 98 - 10:09 GMT

KABUL, Sept 22 (AFP) - Islamic scholars met here Tuesday to consider a response to border tensions with Iran as the ruling Taliban militia and the opposition traded accusations over deadly rocket attacks on the capital.
Army chief denies Pakistani troops involved in Afghanistan
Tue 22 Sep 98 - 08:41 GMT

ISLAMABAD, Sept 22 (AFP) - Army chief General Jehangir Karamat has denied accusations that the Pakistani military is aiding Afghanistan's Taliban and praised Iran for showing maturity in handling disputes with the hardline Islamic militia.

US Calls for Afghanistan Cease-Fire

By Anwar Faruqi
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, September 22, 1998; 7:44 a.m. EDT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The United States, Russia and China joined the five countries neighboring Afghanistan in calling for a cease-fire among warring factions there.

Afghanistan's Taliban deploy missiles on border with Iran

Tue 22 Sep 98 - 08:33 GMT

DUBAI, Sept 22 (AFP) - Afghanistan's Taliban militia on Tuesday said it had deployed missiles on the border with Iran and warned that they would be used if Tehran orders an attack.

Voice of America

INTRO: THE UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND, UNICEF, SAYS IT IS EAGER TO RESUME FULL-SCALE HUMANITARIAN ACTIVITIES IN AFGHANISTAN. BUT, AS LISA SCHLEIN REPORTS FROM

Dancing in the minefield Comment
Afrasiab Khattak

Frontier Post

The West Asian pot is overflowing, as an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation between Taliban and the Iranian religious establishment continues unabated. Each one of the politico-ideological and geo-strategic factors, such as regional rivalry

Carpet business affected by US strikes on Afghanistan

PESHAWAR: The August 20 US strike on Afghanistan have adversely affected the carpet and handicraft business in Peshawar and elsewhere in the country, a report in daily The News says.