October 19, 2001

U.S. special forces in Afghanistan as Taliban stand firm
By Alan Elsner and Sayed Salahuddin
Saturday October 20, 2:00 AM
WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - The United States on Friday widened its efforts to stir up a revolt in Afghanistan, sending elite commandos into the south of the country, but the ruling Taliban vowed

U.S. Aiding Anti-Taliban Groups, Rumsfeld Says
Friday, October 19, 2001 6:47 PM EST
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Friday the United States has provided anti-Taliban groups in Afghanistan with assistance

Anti-Taliban General Gets U.S. Help
Friday, October 19, 2001 1:53 PM EDT
MAHMOUD-E-RAQI, Afghanistan (AP) -- A general fighting with the northern alliance to rid his country of the ruling Taliban said Friday his forces spent the last week with American military officials

UN Says Afghans Flee Air Strikes, Rush for Pakistan
By John Fullerton
Friday October 19 4:12 PM ET
QUETTA (Reuters) - About 3,500 Afghans fled across the border to Pakistan Friday after heavy overnight strikes on targets in and around Kandahar city caused panic among civilians, U.N. officials said.

Eyewitnesses: Civilian death toll much lower
October 19, 2001 P - By Christiane Amanpour
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Local Afghan employees of an international aid agency claimed that a total of 10 civilians had been killed as a result of the U.S. bombing campaign in Kabul.

U.S. 'Snake Eaters' to Spearhead Ground Assault
Friday, October 19, 2001 4:38 PM EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Special operations forces -- the so-called ``snake eaters'' of the U.S. military -- are trained and equipped for clandestine combat ranging from nighttime snatch-and-grabs

UK, Pakistan agree on future Afghan govt London writes off 20 million pound debt Operation to be completed soon: Short
Updated on 10/19/2001 - F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: British Secretary of State for International Development (DFID), Ms Clare Short has confirmed the reports regarding split in the Taliban's ranks and files on the issue of handing

Short clashes with aid agencies
BBC News
International Development Secretary Clare Short has outraged aid agencies by claiming their "spin doctors" are exaggerating the difficulty of getting supplies into Afghanistan.

'Panic' as Afghans enter Pakistan
BBC News
The United Nations refugee agency says more than 3,500 Afghans fled into Pakistan on Friday - the heaviest influx since the US began bombing Afghanistan.

Herat Governor summoned to Kandahar
Frontier Post Report
PESHAWAR: The Taliban Supreme leader Mullah Muhammad Omar has conveyed a special meeting of his close aides at his headquarter Kandahar.

Babar questions Leghari's credibility for any role on Afghanistan
Raja Assad Hameed - FP
Islamabad: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Major General (Retd) Naseerullah Khan Babar has expressed his intense amusement as well as astonishment over reports regarding chief

Increased U.S. Activity Said to Aid Afghan Rebels
By THOM SHANKER and STEVEN LEE MYERS - NY Times
ASHINGTON, Oct. 18 -- American Special Forces troops have been operating inside Afghanistan to support armed groups opposing the Taliban there, according to a senior military officer.

In Quiet Corners, the Roots of Afghan Rebellion
By DOUGLAS FRANTZ - NY Times
UETTA, Pakistan, Oct. 17 ¯ While bombs fall in Afghanistan, a quieter war is being waged in the dusty border city of Quetta and, farther north, in the mud-brick city of Peshawar.

Afghan Exiles Plan Strategy to Oust Taliban
By RONE TEMPEST - LA TIMES STAFF WRITER
October 19 2001
PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- In a heavily guarded walled compound here, Haji Mohammed Zaman presided Thursday over a war council of 100 black-bearded Pushtun commanders who

Hijack jet crew 'tortured by Taleban'
BBC News
Crew members of an Afghan airliner which was hijacked and flown to Britain were tortured by the Taleban on their return home, an Old Bailey jury heard on Friday.

Pak-US intelligence cooperation delivers results
By Kamran Khan The News: Jang (Pakistan) October 19, 2001
KARACHI: The secret services of Pakistan have reported an initial breakthrough in their efforts to minimise support for Mulla Omar and Osama Bin Laden within the Taliban administration

France Stresses Political Efforts on Afghan Issue
Friday, October 19, 2001 12:40 PM EST
PARIS, Oct 19, 2001 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- France attaches importance to efforts to reach a political solution of the Afghan issue together with Afghanistan's neighboring countries

U.S. Special Forces on Afghan Soil
Friday, October 19, 2001 9:13 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. special forces are operating in southern Afghanistan, a government official said Friday, opening a significant new phase in America's

US move to ground strategy gathers pace, Taliban says it is ready
Friday October 19, 4:00 PM
KABUL, Oct 19 (AFP) - A US switch from airstrikes on Afghanistan to action on the ground accelerated Friday with Washington pledging more support for the opposition Northern Alliance

Various Scenarios for Post-Taliban
Friday, October 19, 2001 3:35 AM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- If the Taliban lose power in Afghanistan, there is little guarantee that the country wouldn't once again face civil war, perhaps among ethnic

Iran wants Afghan coalition with no Taliban
By Rosalind Russell
DUSHANBE, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi issued a fresh call on Friday for the creation of an ethnically-mixed coalition government in Afghanistan

Taliban envoy says back from Afghanistan with plan
By Zeeshan Haider
Friday October 19, 9:27 PM
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, said on Friday he had returned from a visit to Afghanistan, carrying a plan to try to resolve the

Pakistan says ready to hear new Taliban proposal
ISLAMABAD, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Friday it was prepared to listen to any new proposals that Afghanistan's ruling Taliban might put forward to put an end to the Afghan crisis.

EU leaders to urge overthrow of Taliban -- draft
GHENT, Belgium, Oct 19 (Reuters) - European Union leaders were preparing on Friday to declare the overthrow of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban a "legitimate objective" of the global fight against

As many options as Afghans for Zahir Shah's return
By Tom Heneghan
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Oct 19 (Reuters) - In the planning to return ex-king Zahir Shah to Afghanistan and usher in a post-Taliban era, there seem to be almost as many options as Afghans.

U.S. Beams Its Message to Afghans
Impact of Pentagon's Airborne Broadcast Operation Is Unclear
By Bradley Graham Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, October 19, 2001
For 10 hours a day, a specially equipped Air Force plane is beaming radio messages into Afghanistan that portray U.S. forces as liberating the country from an oppressive regime without

Afghan opposition aims to surround Mazar-i-Sharif
By Mike Collett-White
JABAL-US-SARAJ, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan's opposition forces plan to surround the key northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and squeeze the Taliban militia that control it into surrender

Mutawakil back after Islamabad secret visit: Local daily
Islamabad, Oct. 19, IRNA -- Taliban Foreign Minister Wakeel Ahmed Mutawakil returned to Afghanistan after discussing in Islamabad a minus-Mullah Omar formula of broad-based

U.S. ground attack will not follow Soviet pattern
By Scott McDonald
Friday October 19, 6:36 PM
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Fear the winter, fear the Taliban warrior, fear the wrath of the Afghan. So run the refrains from Afghanistan's Taliban rulers.

U.S. bombs rain on war-weary Afghans
By Sayed Salahuddin
Friday October 19, 9:00 PM
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan cities shook under the force of a fresh U.S. aerial bombardment on Friday as Washington acknowledged that special forces had joined the military campaign

U.S. warplanes drop four bombs on Afghan capital
Friday October 19, 3:32 PM
KABUL (Reuters) - Ignoring the Muslim holy day, U.S. warplanes struck Afghanistan on Friday, screaming over the capital and dropping four bombs there.

Calm before the storm as US pledges support for opposition
Friday October 19, 12:53 PM
KABUL, Oct 19 (AFP) - US airstrikes against Afghanistan subsided Friday, the Muslim holy day, offering the country's shell-shocked people brief respite from nearly two weeks of bombing

Report says bin Laden aide killed by own grenade
By Tahir Ikram
Friday October 19, 2:14 PM
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - An aide to Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden was killed in Afghanistan when a grenade exploded in his hands, and did not die in a U.S. bomb attack, the private

Iran Calls for Formation of Broad-based Afghan Government
Friday, October 19, 2001 10:26 AM EST
TEHRAN, Oct 19, 2001 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Iran has called for the creation of a broad-based government in Afghanistan with the participation of all parties, the official IRNA news agency reported on Friday.

Taliban say up to 900 Afghans dead or missing after raids
Friday October 19, 8:28 AM
DUBAI (Reuters) - Senior Taliban spokesman Abdul Hai Mutmaen said in remarks broadcast on Thursday that between 600 and 900 people had so far been killed or were missing in the U.S.-led strikes on Afghanistan.

No support for Taliban in Afghan opposition jail
By Elizabeth Piper
Friday October 19, 6:32 AM
KHOJA BAHAWUDDIN, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Kamal's career as a fighter for the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan lasted just one night.

No difference between US, UN over Afghanistan: Haass
Friday October 19, 2:04 AM
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 18 (AFP) - Richard Haass, the top US State Department official for Afghanistan, said Thursday that there were no differences between the United States

East Afghan commanders unite to challenge Taliban
By Tom Heneghan
Friday October 19, 4:53 PM
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - A group of veteran Afghan mujahideen, or holy warrior, commanders have challenged the ruling Taliban movement to give up power now or face attacks

Taliban claim advance near strategic northern city
Friday October 19, 4:29 PM
KABUL, Oct 19 (AFP) - The Taliban militia Friday claimed the capture of an important district on the outskirts of the strategic northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif despite a US pledge

Opium is the lifeblood of Taliban economy
Thursday October 18, 9:24 PM
PARIS, Oct 18 (AFP) - Afghanistan, extenuated by strife, has turned in recent years to the production of opium and heroine to shore up the economy although the Taliban leadership tried to curb the industry last year.

Ground troops needed in Afghanistan: British analysts
Thursday October 18, 9:07 PM
LONDON, Oct 18 (AFP) - After 12 days of aerial bombardment ground troops must be deployed in Afghanistan if the US-led coalition is to successfully win the first leg in its war against terrorism

Hazaras willing to work with moderate Taliban, despite massacres
Thursday October 18, 9:02 PM
ISLAMABAD, Oct 18 (AFP) - Afghanistan's Shiite Hazara community -- victims of several massacres under Taliban rule -- are willing to work with moderates within the Islamic militia, their leader said Thursday.

Afghan Plan Unravels: Northern Alliance Tells U.S. to Butt Out
By Camelia E. Fard Village Voice Writer
Thursday October 18 07:36 PM EDT
Ravam Farhadi, the Northern Alliance ambassador at the United Nations, said today that deciding who should take over in Afghanistan "is not the American business.''

Taleban 'take over' UN warehouses
Friday, 19 October, 2001, 13:36 GMT 14:36 UK
Many aid agencies say they have been harassed in Afghanistan
By the BBC's Emma Jane Kirby at IOM headquarters in Geneva
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has reported that that its office in Kunduz, in northern Afghanistan, has been occupied by the Taleban and its warehouses sealed.

Afghan leader fears Taliban hit men in Iran may kill him
Friday October 19, 11:48 AM
ZAHEDAN, Iran, Oct 19 (AFP) - Haji Mir Ahmed Jaafari, an Afghan opposition leader based here, says Afghanistan's Taliban militia wants him dead and fears it may hire hitmen from among

India launches bid for toehold in post-Taliban Afghanistan
Friday October 19, 10:15 AM
NEW DELHI, Oct 19 (AFP) - Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is set to visit Russia and the United States, stepping up an Indian diplomatic offensive to play a significant role in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

Afghan refugees: How to help
Afghan refugees queue for vital aid
In response to the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, many aid agencies have set up emergency funds to help those in need.

Afghan exile group to meet in Cyprus
Athens, Oct 19, IRNA -- The Cyprus group of Afghans in exile is having consultations this weekend in Cyprus ahead of a meeting on Monday in  Rome which will discuss the formation of

From Tribal Elders, a Call to Arms
Ethnic Pashtuns Begin to Build A Movement Against the
By Edward CodyWashington Post Foreign Service Friday, October 19, 2001; Page A01
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Oct. 18 -- Under a 40-foot mulberry tree in a walled garden down a back alley of Peshawar, Rostum Sherzad sat today with fellow Afghan militia commanders to begin

'Small Steps' for Afghan Women's Rights
In Rebel-Held Area, Freedom to Work Comes Despite Conservative Moral and Social Customs
By Lois Raimondo
Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, October 19, 2001
KHODJA BAJAHUDDIN, Afghanistan -- The silent shapes slide quickly and efficiently down the street, clothed from head to toe in bulky garments called burqas. They do not talk to strangers.

A Little Lesson in Afghanistan Life, Culture:
Couple Who Taught English in Afghanistan Educate Kids with Web Site
Thursday, October 18, 2001 10:38 PM EST
TEMPE, Ariz., Oct 18, 2001 (ASCRIBE NEWS via COMTEX) -- When Arizona State University English professors Don and Alleen Nilsen agreed to work in Afghanistan for two years in the late 1960s, they didn't know what awaited them in this faraway land.