January 29, 1999

Under global pressure, Pakistan dumping Taliban?
Frontier Post
From DR JASSIM TAQUI
ISLAMABAD - Under intense foreign and domestic pressure, the government seems to have made up its mind to dump Taliban. Diplomatic circles have noticed that in the just concluded visit of Turkmen Foreign Minister Boris

Taleban order all men to perform daily prayers
02:30 a.m. Jan 29, 1999 Eastern
KABUL, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's purist Islamic Taleban movement has threatened to punish any male resident of Kabul who does not attend the five daily prayers, residents said on Friday.

Taliban hire services of former communists
TEHRAN (NNI): Taliban have appointed a number of former communists on key posts in Nangarhar province, reports Radio Tehran.

US Congressman slams Pakistan-Taliban nexus
NEW YORK (NNI): A member of the US House of Representatives has come down heavily on what he described as an unrelenting Pakistan-Afghanistan nexus in promoting international terrorism and has nailed the State Department for failing to distinguish between friends and foes.

Taliban terms rights abuse reports as 'Western 'propaganda'
NEW YORK (NNI): The Taliban's ambassador to the United Nations has described as "propaganda" Western media reports of human rights abuses by his militia in Afghanistan, claiming a woman could drive a car full of gold around Kabul and not fear being robbed.

Peace platitudes
The News: Jang (Editorial)
Though diplomatic activity on Afghanistan continues virtually without a break, even a mechanism to address various aspects of the problem and find a durable solution to the troubles of the Afghan people has yet to be agreed upon by

ISLAMIC MILITANTS, ONCE ENCOURAGED BY THE UNITED STATES, NOW THREATEN IT.
The Cost of an Afghan 'Victory'
by DILIP HIRO
The Nation: Article
February 15, 1999
Ten years ago, on February 15, 1989, as the last of the 115,000 Soviet soldiers crossed over from Afghanistan into Soviet Tajikistan, there was quiet celebration in Washington as well as Riyadh and Islamabad. Officials in these