May 26, 2000

Blast at Taleban ammunition depot rocks Kabul
KABUL, May 26 (Reuters) - A huge explosion at an ammunition depot in a military base of the ruling Taleban movement shook the Afghan capital on Friday, but there were no reports of casualities, witnesses said.

Pakistan warns against Russian Afghan strikes
ISLAMABAD, May 25 (Reuters) - Military ruler General Pervez Musharraf said on Thursday Pakistan had a security interest in Afghanistan and any Russian strikes there would have ``very serious repercussions.''

Afghanistan adventure not to be repeated--Yastrzhembsky
MOSCOW, May 26 (Itar-Tass) - Sergei Yastrzhembsky, assistant to the Russian president, told journalists on Friday, commenting on various interpretations of his recent statement about a possibility of a preventive strike at Taliban bases in Afghanistan,

Russian military rule out land operation in Afghanistan
MOSCOW, May 25 (Itar-Tass) - First deputy chief of Russia's General Staff Valery Manilov has ruled out land operation in Afghanistan, saying if need be, preventive strikes against terrorists' bases there will be made from a distance, by land- or sea-based forces.

Taliban suggests unification for fighting Russia
ABU DHABI, May 26 (Itar-Tass) - Leaders of the Taliban movement of Afghanistan have urged their opponents from the Northern Alliance to unite for the purpose of jointly fighting Russia, "a common enemy."

Gorbachev Criticizes Russia Threats
MOSCOW (AP) - Mikhail Gorbachev criticized Russian officials Thursday for threatening airstrikes on Afghanistan, saying they should not follow the U.S. example of bombing to fight terrorism.

Uzbeks see only limited Russian military support
By Shamil Baigin
TASHKENT, May 25 (Reuters) - Uzbek President Islam Karimov said on Thursday that military cooperation with Russia would focus on air defence and repairs of ageing equipment and would not involve deployment of Russian troops on Uzbek soil.

Taleban shuts training camps
Strict border control has reduced smuggling - BBC
By Kate Clark in Kabul
Pakistan says the Taleban are now co-operating to end the military training of Pakistani nationals inside Afghanistan.
Pakistani interior minister, Moinuddin Haider said militants returning to Pakistan often worked to destabilise their own country.

Pakistan, U.S. open talks on bilateral, regional issues
ISLAMABAD, May 26 (Kyodo) - Visiting U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering began talks Friday with Pakistani officials on bilateral relations, Pakistan-India relations and issues of mutual interest, including the disputed

Pakistan-Iran-Gas Pipe-line
Pakistan for Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipe-Line, Says Pak Official Islamabad, May 25, IRNA- The Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Iftikhar Murshed said here Thursday that at present Iran is the only

UN condemns Taleban for killing its worker, 6 children
ISLAMABAD (May 26) : The United Nations on Thursday condemned the ruling Taleban in Afghanistan for a deadly bombing attack on the house of one its officials in north-east of the country last week in which seven persons were killed.

16 Pakistanis, Afghans detained by Kazakh authorities
MOSCOW, (NNI): The Kazakh immigration authorities have detained 16 Pakistani and Afghan nationals at Almaty airport.
The Pakistanis and Afghans had arrived at the airport Wednesday night from Karachi and they were on way

Frozen In Time
Consumed by the ceaseless war in the north, the Taliban have ignored the business of government, leaving Afghanistan in limbo
By MICHAEL FATHERS Kabul
A kitchen boy strolls out of Kabul's most popular restaurant carrying a bowl of slops and vegetable peelings. He passes a group of beggars: five women, each hidden behind an all-enveloping burka, and half a dozen children. Twenty meters down the street he tips the contents of the bowl

Still No Place for the Ladies
Facing global condemnation of their dismal record on women's rights, the Taliban are easing up--but only a little
By HANNAH BLOCH Kabul
The scene was extraordinary by Afghan standards: a crowd of 700 women gathered in a Kabul hospital courtyard, applauding speeches and poems about the importance of women in society.