Afghan Northern Alliance
ready to repel Taliban attacks

Tehran, Aug 16, IRNA -- In light of the threatening attacks of the Taliban in the northeast of Kabul, northern Afghanistan in Takhar province, Touriali Ghiassi, spokesman for the Afghan Mojahideen and aide-de-camp to Ahmad Shah Masood, said that the Islamic Government of Afghanistan as well as the Northern Alliance are preparing to resist the attacks. In an exclusive interview conducted by the English-language daily `Iran News' published on Thursday, Ghiassi added that fresh forces had joined the Taliban from Pakistan, although the latter must cease interfering in Afghanistan's affairs. He added that Pakistan must withdraw its military forces and militias from the country and leave the Afghan population to decide their own fate. Elsewhere, Ghiassi said that the Afghan people were preparing to withstand Taliban attacks in several regions of the country and there was a likelihood that the people would engage foreign forces.

The spokesman said that the resistance of the Afghan nation in view of the aggressors was a positive development of the United Northern Alliance; some of the Taliban commanders have joined the opponents of their former allies since they objected to foreign forces stationed in Afghanistan. Ghiassi said that either Pakistan would have to infiltrate into Afghanistan with all its forces and face the national Afghan resistance, or face a fate similar to the former Soviet Union. He urged the international community to urge Pakistan to withdraw honorably from Aghanistan and help the latter achieve lasting peace and stability. Ghiassi applauded U.N. efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan and thanked Iran's sincere commitment to peace in his country. He said that the Northern Alliance was ready to establish a temporary government with the Taliban in Afghanistan on condition that Pakistan withdraws from the country.

The spokesman said that the accommodation would be an interim measure to hold national elections inside Afghanistan, end the war and establish lasting peace. Ghiassi said that Ahmad Shah Masood, head of the Northern Alliance and commander of all resistance forces, has implemented plan to liberate Afghanistan. He said Ismael Khan and Abdul Karim Khalili are active and ready for this major achievement. Ghiassi concluded that 35 percent of the entire nation is in the hands of the combined resistance forces, objecting to allegations that movement