November 15, 2001

Eyewitness: The Taliban Undone TIME MAGAZINE

Oil Diplomacy Muddled U.S. Pursuit of bin Laden, New Book Contends By ETHAN BRONNER

'My door was forced open and I was grabbed' Sunday Telegraph

Taliban Withdrawal Was Strategy, Not Rout Strategic Forecasting LLC

 


Senior Taliban leaders may have been captured
By Charles Aldinger
Friday November 16, 9:44 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a potential intelligence coup, Northern Alliance opposition forces on Thursday apparently captured some senior Taliban leaders in war-torn Afghanistan, a senior U.S.

U.S. envoy starts key Afghan talks with Pakistan
By Tahir Ikram
Friday November 16, 9:07 AM
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The U.S. envoy for Afghanistan began talks with Pakistani officials and Afghan politicians on Thursday to help push forward urgent international efforts to build

Cheney sees fight beyond Afghanistan's borders
Friday November 16, 8:41 AM
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney indicated on Thursday that the United States was prepared to pursue its war against Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network beyond Afghanistan's borders.

Northern Alliance has no claim to prominence at conference table: UN
Friday November 16, 8:04 AM AFP
The Northern Alliance, whose forces overran most of Afghanistan, has no claim to prominence at a UN-sponsored conference on the country's political future, the United Nations said.

First Lady to Promote Afghan Women's Rights
By Patricia Wilson
Thursday November 15 8:56 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In an unprecedented move for a first lady, Laura Bush will deliver the weekly presidential radio address on Saturday, using the airwaves to launch an international

Weakened Taliban face choices as winter nears
Regrouping in Pakistan is one alternative to fighting a guerrilla war from caves
Carl Nolte, San Francisco Chronicle  Staff Writer    Thursday, November 15, 2001
Washington -- Unless the Taliban can somehow regain the upper hand in Afghanistan, they face three alternatives in the days ahead -- and all of them are bleak.

Blair calls on Afghan people to finish the job
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 15 2001
BY PHILIP WEBSTER, POLITICAL EDITOR
The Sunday Times (UK)
TONY BLAIR called on the Afghan people yesterday to rise up against the Taleban and complete the rout of the regime.

Out of Taliban hell and into the sunshine
Sydney Morning Herald (Nov 15, 2001)
As a battle raged outside their freezing shipping container prison, the Australians could only pray. Christopher Kremmer reports from Islamabad.

Jay Leno to Entertain U.S. Troops Fighting Taliban
Thursday, November 15, 2001 6:52 PM EST
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - As studio moguls and network executives brainstorm about how they might back the U.S. war effort, one of Hollywood's most powerful forces is being

Eyewitness: The Taliban Undone
TIME MAGAZINE  Exclusive: TIME's  Alex Perry was the first journalist into Mazar-i-Sharif. Its Northern Alliance commander told him how the city fell   BY ALEX PERRY/MAZAR-I-SHARIF
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2001
When the Taliban lost this capital of northern Afghanistan, they set the pattern for the war. After days of relentless pounding by American bombers, the Islamic militia simply had no stomach for a fight.

Oil Diplomacy Muddled U.S. Pursuit of bin Laden, New Book Contends
By ETHAN BRONNER
NYT / November 12, 2001
A former F.B.I. antiterror official who was killed at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 complained bitterly last summer that the United States was unwilling to confront Saudi Arabia over

'My door was forced open and I was grabbed'
Sunday Telegraph (Filed: 11/11/2001)
Christina Lamb was in Quetta investigating a story that agents of the ISI - Pakistan's feared intelligence agency - were sending arms to the Taliban when a group of men and two women burst

Taliban Withdrawal Was Strategy, Not Rout
Strategic Forecasting LLC 11/13/2001
Summary
In less than a week, Taliban fighters have been swept from most of northern Afghanistan, including the key cities of Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, Kunduz, Taloqan, Bamiyan, Jalalabad and the capital Kabul.

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Taliban Vow Fight to the Death, Aid Workers Rescued
Thursday November 15 4:47 PM ET
By Sayed Salahuddin and Rosalind Russell
KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban fighters stood defiant in their southern Afghan stronghold on Thursday, their leader vowing to destroy America as U.S. jets bombed from the sky,

US, Japan Chair Afghan Reconstruction Talks
Thursday November 15 4:22 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Japan will chair Afghan reconstruction talks in Washington on Nov. 20, the State Department said on Thursday.

British Troops Fly Into Bagram Airbase
Thursday November 15 5:25 PM ET
By Paul Majendie
LONDON (Reuters) - Up to 100 British commandos have flown into Bagram airbase north of the Afghan capital Kabul, defense sources said Thursday.

Pakistan, Iran Say Agree on Broad Afghan Setup
Thursday November 15 2:22 PM ET
By Raja Asghar
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Afghan neighbors Pakistan and Iran, both eager to see a stable Afghanistan sandwiched between them, said Thursday they had agreed

Time Stands Still on the Hindu Kush
Thursday November 15 1:21 PM ET
By Rosalind Russell
ANJOMAN PASS, Afghanistan (Reuters) - As a caravan of horses wound its way slowly up the Anjoman pass, only the gentle songs of their Afghan masters broke the snow-muffled silence.

Britain Sends First Diplomat to Kabul since 1989
Thursday, November 15, 2001 4:53 PM EST
LONDON, Nov 15, 2001 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Britain said on Thursday that it is to send its first diplomat to Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, since 1989, following

Afghans Stream Home From Pakistan as Border Reopens
Thursday, November 15, 2001 11:25 AM EST
TORKHAM, Pakistan (Reuters) - The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan reopened Thursday afternoon after closing a day earlier in confusion over who controlled

Kabul Men Fling Off Trousers for Death-Free Soccer
Thursday, November 15, 2001 11:01 AM EST
KABUL (Reuters) - A group of Kabul men flung off their baggy trousers and tunics on Thursday for a game of post-Taliban soccer, free from the threat of interruption

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Pakistan moves troops, tanks to Afghan border
QUETTA, Pakistan, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Pakistan on Thursday moved troops and tanks to its southern border with Afghanistan, A Reuters witness said.

Afghan Alliance says won't cling to power
By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - The opposition Northern Alliance that has captured Kabul told Reuters on Thursday it had no desire to cling to power but would govern the capital until

Opposition encircle Taliban holdout in north
By Nino Ivanishvili
TALOQAN, Afghanistan, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Around 20,000 besieged Taliban fighters in the northern city of Kunduz engaged in fierce fighting on Thursday with troops

People rise against Taliban in Kandahar - Karzai
By Michael Christie
QUETTA, Pakistan, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The people of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar have risen up against the embattled fundamentalist Taliban and heavy fighting was raging in the city

Interview with Mullah Omar - transcript
The BBC's Pashto service has interviewed Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.
The BBC asked the questions through a Taleban intermediary over satellite phone. He passed them on to the Taleban leader

Pressure grows on Kandahar
BBC News11/15/2001
Fighting is reported from the Taleban stronghold of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan as the Northern Alliance continues its push to gain more territory.

Afghan tribal chiefs seek talks with the Taliban
QUETTA, Pakistan, Nov 15 (Reuters) - A group of tribal leaders from southern Afghanistan said on Thursday the Taliban were still holding the city of Kandahar and that they would

Northern Alliance's capture of Kabul not final step
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 15 (Kyodo) - Pakistan said Thursday the Northern Alliance's capture of Afghanistan's capital city Kabul is not the final step, referring to calls by the international community

France to send troops for Afghan mission
PARIS (Reuters) - France said Thursday it would send troops to Afghanistan to participate in an international aid mission there in coming days.

Turkey says to reopen North Afghanistan mission
ANKARA, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Muslim Turkey announced on Thursday it would reopen its diplomatic mission in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, recently seized

INTERVIEW-Muslims won't mourn downfall of Taliban
By Samia Nakhoul
BEIRUT, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Lebanon's most influential Shi'ite Muslim cleric said on Thursday the collapse of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which he described

Saudi asks clerics to avoid embarrassing kingdom
By Mariam Isa
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's crown prince has asked clerics to tone down their sermons to avoid embarrassing the kingdom or aggravating anti-Muslim sentiment

In Kabul, a Wide Wake of Destruction
Looting and Vandalism Mark Taliban's Retreat
By Keith B. Richburg - Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, November 15, 2001; Page A01
KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 14 -- They came to power five years ago as a highly disciplined movement aimed at cleansing Afghan society. They opposed corruption and factional

Thailand to begin shipping donated rice for Afghanistan
Thursday November 15, 7:36 PM
BANGKOK, Nov 15 (AFP) -Thailand will begin delivering 3,000 tons of donated rice to the World Food Program for refugees who have fled the US-led strikes in Afghanistan

Aid Worker Recalls Horrors Before Afghan Escape
Thursday November 15 10:45 AM ET
By Tahir Ikram
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - They endured three months in captivity, a hasty evacuation from Kabul with fleeing Taliban forces, a freezing night locked in a metal container

Hunt Is on for Bin Laden Amid Afghan Turmoil
Thursday November 15 10:25 AM ET
By Alan Elsner and Sayed Salahuddin
WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. special forces hunted for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan on Thursday, as his beleaguered Taliban protectors tried to hold on

British Aid Minister Wants Quick Afghan Deployment
By Dominic Evans
Thursday November 15 10:33 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - British troops poised to go into Afghanistan will safeguard aid work in areas where Taliban rule has collapsed but need to be sent ``within days,'

Veil Lifts for Women of Afghan Capital
Thursday November 15 9:23 AM ET
By Rosalind Russell
KABUL (Reuters) - Leyla is 19 and ambitious.
Denied an education and the right to work because of the Taliban's strict interpretation of Islam, the young Afghan girl started her own business in secret two years ago.

Saddam Says Fighting in Afghanistan Will Continue
Thursday November 15 7:54 AM ET
By Hassan Hafidh
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was quoted on Thursday as saying fighting among various Afghan forces would continue even if a new government

Alliance gives civilians time to flee surrounded Taliban city
by Sylvie Briand
TALOQAN, Afghanistan, Nov 15 (AFP) - US warplanes bombed positions around the surrounded Taliban bastion of Kunduz on Thursday but an opposition general said

US raids 'kill terror group leaders'
Thursday, 15 November, 2001, 17:46 GMT
Pakistan is trying to stop Taleban fighters crossing the border
American warplanes have killed several leaders of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network and the Taleban regime in raids on the Afghan cities of Kabul and Kandaha

Hazaras march on Kabul
BBC  News 11/15/2001
By the BBC's World Affairs correspondent David Loyn and William Reeve in Kabul
A thousand-strong force from the Hazara region in the centre of Afghanistan is heading towards the Northern Alliance-controlled capital, Kabul.

Ethnic Pashtuns Welcome New Rulers
By STEVEN GUTKIN
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The unemployed Pashtun man pointed to houses on a hill that were gutted five years ago during bloody infighting among the ethnic Tajiks, Uzbeks and others who now rule Kabul.

U.S. envoy starts key Afghan talks with Pakistan
By Tahir Ikram
ISLAMABAD, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. envoy for Afghanistan began talks with Pakistani officials on Thursday to help push forward urgent international efforts

Security Council calls on Afghans to take part in UN conference
AFP
The Security Council called on the Northern Alliance and other Afghan factions to take part in a UN-sponsored conference on the future of their country without precondition.

U.N. sees regular aid shipments to N. Afghanistan
By Dmitry Solovyov
TERMEZ, Uzbekistan, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Thursday it might start regular aid deliveries within days to millions of hungry people in northern Afghanistan.

Amnesty condemns arms supply to Afghan Alliance
BRUSSELS, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Amnesty International castigated the international community on Thursday for supplying Afghanistan's main opposition Northern Alliance

Jubilation in 'free' Kabul
By John Simpson - BBC world affairs editor
BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson and a BBC team were greeted by jubilant scenes as they entered Kabul ahead of Northern Alliance troops. Travelling by foot, bicycle and taxi, Simpson

Pashtun leader to undermine Taleban
BBC News
Another leading Pashtun has begun an attempt to attract Pashtuns away from their support for the Taleban in Afghanistan. Gul Agha Sherzai, a former governor of the Taleban stronghold of Kandahar,

Analysis: Pakistani fears for Afghan future
By the BBC's Zaffar Abbas
As the Northern Alliance continues to consolidate its position in Afghanistan, Pakistan's worst nightmare unfolds. Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, returned to the country after a week-long foreign

Aid worker tells of 'miracle' escape
BBC News
One of the foreign aid workers freed after three months in Taleban captivity has spoken of their ordeal and their dramatic escape. "It's like a miracle that we've escaped unhurt", said a smiling Georg