December 20, 1999

Afghan Taliban and opposition swap prisoners
BARIKAU FRONTLINES, Afghanistan, Dec 20 (AFP) - Sitting cross-legged on a sunny hilltop, the Afghan Taliban commander surrounded by his armed soldiers was talking with his opposition counterpart on the radio.

Afghanistan's mindless war
BBC
By World Affairs Editor John Simpson in Afghanistan
There can be few more dreadful places on earth to work than the brick fields on the outskirts of the Pakistani city of Peshawar.

Balkh and Sarre Pul
Despite pledges to honour a Ramadan cease-fire, the Taleban militia has continued to launch a number of offensives in Balkh and Sarre Pul Provinces in an attempt to remove United Front troops from their bases in the North.

Taleban plan to replace poppy fields with fruit farms
Business Recorder
..KABUL (December 20) : The Taleban have launched a major drive to replace the opium crop in the country with fruit trees to improve the beleaguered domestic economy.

Crackdown on Afghans continues
Frontier Post
ISLAMABAD (NNI) - The capital police on Sunday continued raids on Afghan residents' fats in different areas in Islamabad and arrested more Afghan refugees, Afghan refugees said.

War-weary Afghans face hostilities, displacements in 1999
ISLAMABAD (NNI): The war-weary Afghans are stepping into new millennium with little hopes for peace and stability in their war-ravaged country.

UN yet to permit Afghan Umra, Haj flights
ISLAMABAD (NNI): The United Nations has not yet permitted the war-torn Afghanistan to allow the countrys national airlines Ariana to airlift Afghans to Saudi Arabia for Umra and the upcoming Hajj, sources said Sunday.

Paris conference condemned Pakistan for interfering in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Paris conference on "Terrorism in Afghanistan" has strongly condemned Pakistan for interfering in the war-ravaged Afghanistan.

Rabbani arrives in Tehran
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Deposed Afghan President Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani Sunday arrived in Tehran on three-day visit for talks on Afghan conflict.