Afghan opposition forces fortify positions to defend Bamiyan

KABUL, Feb 15 (AFP) - Afghan opposition forces strengthened their positions Thursday to defend the strategically-important central city of Bamiyan against a ruling Taliban militia counter-attack, resistance officials said.

Meanwhile anti-Taliban forces pounded the northeastern city of Taloqan with heavy artillery, the Afghan Islamic Press, based in Pakistan, reported. The shelling left three people killed and six injured, it quoted a senior Taliban official Qari Ahmadullah as saying.

Ahmadullah is acting governor of Takhar province, of which Taloqan is the capital. The Taliban took the city several months ago, depriving opposition military stalwart Ahmad Shah Masood of a key supply base.

Mohammad Muhaqeq, a senior official of the Shiite Muslim Hezb-e-Wahdat party, said opposition forces were securing their positions inside Bamiyan city which they captured in a dramatic escalation of fighting early Wednesday.

"The Taliban have massed troops in Tangi Bolola and Shahpul out of the city," Muhaqeq, speaking from within the embattled area, told AFP. "We hear they are gathering troops to launch a counterattack. They have preparations." Muhaqeq is considered second-in-command in the Wahdat, which spearheaded fighting for Bamiyan along with another opposition Shiite faction, Harakat-e-Islami.

He said the lightly-armed opposition loyalists were confident of defending Bamiyan against the better-equipped Taliban forces, which also enjoy air cover. "We are confident. Let's rely on God but nothing can be predicted in fighting," he said, adding the Bamiyan frontlines were quiet early Thursday.

Herat provincal governor Mullah Kairuolah Khair Khowa told AFP in Herat that the Taliban were massing forces on the outskirts of Bamiyan in preparation for a counterattack.