Afghan Taleban, foes engage in heavy fighting

By Sayed Salahuddin

KHAIR KHANA PASS, Afghanistan, March 1 (Reuters) - Taleban and opposition troops clashed north of Kabul and on the border with Tajikistan on Wednesday in the heaviest Afghan fighting in seven months, witnesses and western sources said.

The clashes near Kabul started early in the morning on the so-called Old Road, close to the Bagram airport junction some 45 km (30 miles) north of the capital, and involved artillery duels and mortar and canon fire.

By midday the fighting appeared to have eased and there was no sign that the clashes marked the start of a spring offensive which diplomats in the region believe is imminent after the winter snows thaw on fighting ground north of the capital.

Western sources in Kabul said the forces of the ruling Taleban movement on Wednesday staged an offensive against those of opposition commander Ahmad Shah Masood on the border with Tajikistan.

They said the Taleban attack concentrated on Sher Khan Bandar, a strategic township held by Masood on his only land supply line with the outside world through Tajikistan.

The township is close to Takhar province, a key stronghold of Masood, the military chief of the government that the Taleban drove from Kabul more than three years ago.

The report of the attack on Sher Khan Bandar came hours after the heavy clashes erupted north of Kabul.

Unconfirmed reports in the region said both sides had taken advantage of the winter lull to regroup and re-supply ahead of an expected spring or summer offensive.

Several attempts by the United Nations to broker peace talks have collapsed and the Taleban says Masood should surrender and join its Islamic government, which says it is on a mission to build the world's purest Moslem state.

The new fighting comes as the warring sides were set to meet in Saudi Arabia for a meeting on Monday called by the Organisation of Islamic Conference.

TALEBAN JETS

The defunct Bagram air base near the site of Wednesday's fighting is held by Masood, a veteran guerrilla leader fighting to reverse the Islamic movement's 90 percent control of the country from a stronghold in the Panjsher valley, to the northeast of Bagram.

Taleban fighters prevented journalists from visiting the frontline and accused Masood's troops of starting the fighting with an early morning attack.

``We are at the earliest stage of the fighting and the information coming from the front is not clear whether we have lost ground or gained any,'' a Taleban fighter told Reuters at Khair Khana pass, which leads to the frontlines.

By midday Taleban jet fighters were seen taking off from Kabul airport, apparently heading to pound Masood's bases.

Masood's main stronghold is the Panjsher valley, some 90 km (55 miles) north of the capital. He was forced to retreat to the Panjsher during a major Taleban offensive last summer, when he lost the whole of Shomali valley north of the capital.

But Masood rolled back the Taleban and regained most of the area.