November 18, 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

U.N. negotiator sees Afghan elections in three years
Monday November 19, 9:35 AM
LONDON (Reuters) - Top U.N. negotiator Francesc Vendrell sees elections taking place in Afghanistan within three years.

Afghan alliance agrees to join talks on new government
By Anton Ferreira and Rosalind Russell
Monday November 19, 7:15 AM
WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. officials on Sunday welcomed moves towards setting up a broad-based post-Taliban government in Afghanistan but said the top priority was still to

U.S. Says Afghan Alliance Sees Need for Broad Govt.
Sunday November 18 12:08 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. officials said on Sunday that the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance understands the need for a broad-based coalition to rule Afghanistan and hailed the group's decision

Pashtun warlords seek Taliban pullout from Kandahar
By Michael Christie
Monday November 19, 6:50 AM
QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - A faction of southern Afghan leaders seeking the peaceful surrender of the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar said on Sunday talks were under way with the fundamentalist militia

Afghans face elusive peace as internal arguments build
By Jane Macartney
Monday November 19, 12:40 AM
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - While the butchers were arguing, the cow dropped dead, goes an old Afghan proverb. It's a saying these days on the lips of many ordinary Afghans

The rout of the Taliban. Part one
For part two click here
Six weeks of bombing. A week of battles across Afghanistan. Now the Taliban appear crushed, brutally swept from their prized strongholds. Here we reveal the secret US and British plans that led to last week's astonishing military campaign

Foreigners Allied With Taliban Cling to a Surrounded Stronghold
The New York Times November 18, 2001
By DEXTER FILKINS
BANGI, Afghanistan, Nov. 17 — Refugees fleeing the besieged Taliban stronghold of Kunduz said today that large groups of Arabs and Pakistanis fighting alongside the Taliban had taken

Pakistan seals Afghan border
Sunday, 18 November, 2001, 15:53 GMT BBC News
There is fear that Taleban fighters will escape
By Adam Brookes on the Afghan border
Pakistani army officers say they have completely sealed their border with southern Afghanistan to prevent Taleban fighters escaping into Pakistan.

Waiting game for Kunduz
Sunday, 18 November, 2001, 21:29 GMT
The Northern Alliance are poised to attack
By the BBC's Jon Sopel at the frontline near Kunduz
From first light, the tell-tale twin vapour trails arced across the clear blue Afghan sky, signifying another bombing run by American B-52 bombers.

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Konduz elders: Governor, commander offer surrender to U.N.
November 18, 2001 Posted: 10:07 a.m. EST (1507 GMT)
(CNN) -- The Taliban commander of Afghanistan's northern zone and the governor of Konduz agreed to surrender control of the northern Afghan city to the United Nations after meeting with a group

In Kunduz, Foreign Fighters Chose Afghan Death
By Rosalind Russell
Sunday November 18 9:46 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - The siege of Kunduz has descended into a bloodbath with hard-line Taliban choosing death over defeat, fearsome Arabs loyal to Osama bin Laden turning their guns on the frightened

Taliban suicides in besieged city: Report
 Islamabad, Nov 18, IRNA -- Taliban fighters in the besieged Afghan city of Konduz are killing themselves rather than give themselves up to Northern Alliance troops, CNN has reported.

US bombers pound Kunduz
Sunday, 18 November, 2001, 14:45 GMT BBC News
Alliance soldiers watch US bombs drop near Kunduz
US forces have stepped up their bombardment around the town of Kunduz, the last northern Afghan stronghold of Taleban resistance.

Afghan Girl, 16, Brings Kabul TV Back on Air
By Rosalind Russell
Sunday November 18 10:38 AM ET
KABUL (Reuters) - After a five-year blackout ordered by the Taliban, Kabul Television came back on air Sunday with a three-hour program introduced by a 16-year-old Afghan girl.

U.S. to Press Afghan Rebels Not to Form Government
By DAVID E. SANGER The New York Times
Sunday November 18 09:12 AM EST
The Bush administration said that it would apply intense pressure on the Northern Alliance to let the United Nations put together a broad coalition to rule Afghanistan.

Afghan Alliance Agrees to Talks Outside Afghanistan
Sunday November 18 7:34 AM ET
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (Reuters) - The anti-Taliban Northern Alliance in control of Kabul will take part in a meeting on the shape of a future government at a venue in Europe as early as this week

Alliance says bin Laden near Kandahar, Taliban confirm Atef's death
Sunday November 18, 5:59 PM
AFP
The Taliban confirmed the death in a US bombing raid of Mohammad Atef, number two to prime terror suspect Osama bin Laden, who has been localized in southern Afghanistan

Defiant Taliban say bin Laden no longer their guest
By Sayed Salahuddin and Rosalind Russell
Sunday November 18, 8:07 PM
KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. bombs pounded Afghanistan again on Sunday but the beleaguered Taliban held on in their southern bastion of Kandahar, dismissing reports they would retreat to fight a guerrilla

Taliban envoy says bin Laden is still in Afghanistan
Sunday November 18, 11:26 AM
CHAMAN, Pakistan (Reuters) - The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan said on Saturday that Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, being hunted by the United States

Secret CIA units reported playing key Afghanistan role
Sunday November 18, 12:54 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secret CIA paramilitary units have been operating inside Afghanistan since late September and have helped provide vital intelligence for U.S. airstrikes targeting the leaders

Taliban fight on as their enemies squabble
By Sayed Salahuddin and Rosalind Russell
Sunday November 18, 12:36 PM
KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban held on to the southern bastion of Kandahar on Sunday, dismissing reports they would retreat to fight a guerrilla campaign in the mountains, as their opponents

King Says New Government Must Represent All Afghans
Saturday November 17 8:05 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Former king Zahir Shah said in an interview published on Sunday there was no hope for peace in Afghanistan unless all its ethnic groups could be represented in a new government.

UK troops 'staying in Afghanistan'
Saturday, 17 November, 2001, 22:31 GMT BBC News
Royal Marines special forces are in Afghanistan
There are no plans to pull British soldiers out of Afghanistan despite Northern Alliance demands for the withdrawal of troops near Kabul, the Foreign Office has said.

Afghan Alliance happy with UK troops
18 November, 2001 04:04 GMT
Reuters Photo
By Jonathan Kent
LONDON (Reuters) - The government has insisted the foreign minister of the Northern Alliance is perfectly happy with the deployment of British special forces in Afghanistan.

Challenge of restoring order to a city ruled by warlords
By Andrea Catherwood in Mazar-i-Sharif
Daily Telegraph (UK) 11/18/2001
AN International military force led by the French will enter Mazar-i-Sharif, in northern Afghanistan, from Uzbekistan today to keep order and prevent tensions escalating.

Russians head for Kabul
Sunday, 18 November, 2001, 12:44 GMT BBC News
A Russian delegation is due to arrive in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Sunday for talks with the victorious Northern Alliance.

Ex-governor takes control in Jalalabad
Saturday, 17 November, 2001, 18:40 GMT
Qadir is from the dominant Pashtun ethnic group
Local militia commanders in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad have agreed to return the region's former governor to office.

Troop deployment divides aid agencies
Saturday, 17 November, 2001, 06:06 GMT BBC News
UN says enough food is getting in to stave off famine
There is disagreement among international aid agencies about the effect of the deployment of international troops in Afghanistan.

Bin Laden Probably Still in Afghanistan, Powell Says
Sunday, November 18, 2001 9:44 AM EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is probably still in Afghanistan with ever decreasing room to move, Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday.

Fierce Battle Waged Near Kabul
Saturday, November 17, 2001 8:06 PM EST
PAGHMAN, Afghanistan (AP) -- Several hundred Arab and Pakistani fighters waged a fierce battle with northern alliance soldiers in the rugged hills of Paghman, barely 12 miles outside the capital

Japanese writer freed in Afghanistan regrets 'trouble'
ISLAMABAD (Kyodo) A Japanese journalist who was released by Afghanistan's Taliban militia apologized at a news conference late Saturday night for any trouble he may have caused

Foreign Taliban fighters seize city
Refugees report lootings, beatings of collaborators
By Dexter Filkins
New York Times News Service
Published November 18, 2001
BANGI, Afghanistan -- Refugees fleeing the besieged Taliban stronghold of Kunduz said Saturday that large groups of Arabs and Pakistanis fighting alongside the Taliban had taken control of the city

'Excited' Simpson regrets Kabul claims
Sunday, 18 November, 2001, 14:18 GMT BBC News
John Simpson was greeted by crowds on his way to Kabul
The BBC's John Simpson said he is "very, very, very embarrassed" after his widely-reported remarks that he liberated Kabul.

Afghans face elusive peace as internal arguments build
By Jane Macartney
Sunday November 18, 10:26 PM
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - While the butchers were arguing, the cow dropped dead, goes an old Afghan proverb.

U.S. bombs kill 30 in eastern Afghanistan
18 November, 2001 06:26 GMT
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - At least 30 people have been killed in U.S.-led bombing of a village in an eastern Afghan province under the rule of local mujahideen commanders, the Pakistan-based

Talibs Taken Prisoner Languish in the Dark
Afghanistan: Red Cross says it hasn't been able to gain access to--and monitor--detainees crowded into small cells deprived of light.
By PAUL WATSON, LA TIMES STAFF WRITER
KOTAL-I-KHAIRKHANA, Afghanistan -- For five days now, Northern Alliance troops have held seven Taliban prisoners of war locked in a pitch-black room so small, they have to bend their legs when they lie down.