May 13, 2000

Taliban accused of massacring 90 youth
ISLAMABAD (NNI): Afghan opposition northern alliance Friday accused rival Taliban of massacring 90 young men in the northern Samangan province.

Afghan refugees resist return - BBC
The United Nations refugee agency says more than 10,000 Afghan refugees have been flocking to special screening centres in Iran to appeal against being sent back to Afghanistan.

Opium for sale by the tonne in Afghanistan
SANGIN, Afghanistan, May 13 (AFP) - Iranian and Pakistani drug smugglers can buy opium by the tonne in Sangin, a small desert community in southern Afghanistan that without doubt forms the world's biggest open market for the drug.

Earthquake rattles northern Afghanistan
KABUL, May 13 (Reuters) - An earthquake jolted northern Afghanistan on Saturday but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, witnesses from the area said.

Security Council hails U.N.'s Tajikistan ``success''
UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (Reuters) - The Security Council, beset by problems in Sierra Leone and many other trouble spots, expressed satisfaction on Friday that the United Nations had played ``a successful and important role''

Afghan crisis and role of the West
by Brigadier M. Sakhawat Hussain ndc,psc (Retd) The Independent (Bangladesh)
With the approach of summer in Afghanistan, the ruling Taliban renewed their offensive against troops loyal to Ahmed Shah Masood, holding northern region of the country in defiance of Taliban rule in Kabul. The Taliban have been in power for more