October 22, 2001

Afghan media background 10/18/2001 BBC Monitoring

Why we fear Afghanistan and why we shouldn't by Michael Radu

Afghanistan--and Beyond  A long-term U.S. strategy for Central Asia.

Rebuilding What War Has Destroyed By JOSEPH KAHN

U.S. attacks Taliban frontline force again
By Alan Elsner and Sayed Salahuddin
Tuesday October 23, 4:38 AM
WASHINGTON/KABUL (Reuters) - The United States attacked northern front-line positions of the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan on Monday as new anthrax cases, including two possibly related deaths

U.S. Air Strikes Backing Afghan Opposition
Monday October 22 5:29 PM ET
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. warplanes have begun pounding Taliban troops protecting the Afghan capital of Kabul and the key crossroads of Mazar-i-Sharif in direct support

U.S. hits Taliban front for a second day
Cruise missiles reported north of Jalalabad- October 23, 2001
(CNN) -- U.S.-led coalition warplanes targeted Taliban tank and troop positions near the front with the opposition Northern Alliance on Monday. Cruise missiles reportedly slammed

Brahimi: Finding an Afghan answer
October 23, 2001 - By CNN's Avril Stephens
LONDON, England (CNN) -- The U.N. envoy to Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, knows he faces an uphill struggle in trying to bring peace and aid to the stricken country.

Afghan Alliance mourns slain commander
By CNN's Satinder Bindra
in Khoja Bahauddin, Afghanistan
KHOJA BAHAUDDIN, Afghanistan (CNN) -- On Sunday in his hometown of Khoja Bahauddin in northeastern Afghanistan they gathered to mourn and to remember Commander Ahmed Shah Massood.

Russia bolsters Northern Alliance
Anti-Taleban troika: Russia is cementing an old alliance
Russia, the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan and the Afghan opposition Northern Alliance have signed a joint statement pledging to find a political solution in Afghanistan.

Taleban deny leader's son killed
Monday, 22 October, 2001, 15:49 GMT 16:49 UK BBC News
The Kandahar raids have prompted a refugee exodus
The Taleban have denied a report that the 10-year-old son of their spiritual leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, was killed at the start of the US-led air strikes against Afghanistan.

Taliban Fighter Captured While Buying Cigarettes
Monday October 22 11:45 AM ET
DESHITIQALA (Reuters) - Taliban soldier Mahabub popped out to buy some cigarettes and ended up a prisoner of war.

Rumsfeld Criticizes Media Leak About Afghan Entry
Monday October 22 5:22 PM ET
By Tabassum Zakaria
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Monday lashed out at leaks to journalists about a special forces operation while troops were still in Afghanistan.

Taliban Arrest Japanese National, Agency Says
Monday October 22 2:59 PM ET
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Taliban authorities, who are holding a French reporter on charges of spying, arrested a Japanese national inside Afghanistan Monday, the Pakistan-based

Pakistan Won't Take More Afghan Refugees
Monday October 22 10:38 AM ET
By Raja Asghar
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan said Monday it would not open its border to allow in more Afghan refugees although thousands fleeing U.S.-led military strikes on their country

US signals pre-winter push
BBC News
The United States says it wants to see anti-Taleban forces make progress on the ground before winter as it steps up its air raids on parts of Afghanistan. Residents of Kabul reported

Taliban leader says looks to God for victory
ISLAMABAD, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The spiritual leader of the ruling Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, said on Monday that with God's help, the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan

Powell weighs Afghan peacekeeping options, says no "Marshall plan" required
WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (AFP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday that he and others were still weighing options for a peacekeeping force to restore and keep order in Afghanistan

Putin signs declaration with ex-Afghan president Rabbani
DUSHANBE, Oct 22 (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement here Monday with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rakhmonov and deposed Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani

Putin pledges more military aid to Afghan opposition
By Sergei Yakovlev
Monday October 22, 12:07 PM
DUSHANBE (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged more military assistance for Afghanistan's opposition Northern Alliance on Monday and said he saw no role for members

Russia to join forces with Iran and Tajikistan against Taliban
DUSHANBE, Oct 21 (AFP) - Russia is to forge closer links with with Iran and Tajikistan to form a common front against the ruling Taliban regime in Afghanistan

Taliban say U.S. bombs hospital, uses chemicals
By Sayed Salahuddin and Jill Serjeant
KABUL/WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban on Monday accused the United States of bombing a hospital and using chemical weapons as Britain

U.S. Cannot Confirm or Deny Bombs Hit Afghan Hospital
Monday October 22 8:56 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Defense Department said on Monday it could not immediately confirm or deny Taliban charges that American warplanes had bombed a hospital in Afghanistan

Taliban claim to kill 2 U.S. soldiers, down 2 aircraft
ISLAMABAD, Oct. 22 (Kyodo) Afghanistan's ruling Taliban have claimed to have killed two U.S. commandos and downed two U.S. aircraft in fighting over the weekend, Pakistani media reported Monday.

Taliban says anti-US deployment 60 percent complete
KABUL, Oct 22 (AFP) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said Monday its deployment of forces and weapons across the country to counter attacks by US commandoes was 60 percent complete.

Musharraf urges end to Afghan bombing by Ramadan
WASHINGTON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf warned on Monday that if U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan extended into the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan

Straw outlines Afghan vision
BBC News
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has outlined his vision for the future of Afghanistan, insisting that the UK and its allies would not walk away once military action was over.

Afghan refugees pelt stones and break into Pakistan
QUETTA, Pakistan, Oct 22 (AFP) - A group of 750 Afghan refugees forced their way into Pakistan at two sections near Chaman on Monday amid scuffles and chaotic scenes with border forces

High above Afghanistan, US airmen fly by night to drop food aid
ON BOARD A C17 OVER AFGHANISTAN, Oct 21 (AFP) - The black hole beneath us, that's Afghanistan, as seen by Bull, Ken, Jim and comrades in the US military from aboard a C17

U.S. Team Visits Rebel Commanders
Anti-Taliban Fighters Urge Vigorous Air Campaign Against Front-Line Troops
By William Branigin - Washington Post Foreign Service Monday, October 22, 2001
DALAN SANG, Afghanistan, Oct. 21 -- Afghan rebel commanders have urged a U.S. military delegation in secret meetings in northern Afghanistan to step up bombing of front-line Taliban positions

Soldiers of the Northern Alliance Prepare for a Ground Battle
By MICHAEL R. GORDON - NY Times
WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 - American warplanes carried out their first substantial attack on the Taliban's front-line troops north of Kabul today as Secretary of State Colin L. Powell indicated

Bombs Aim to Put Heat on Taliban and Pakistan
By JOHN F. BURNS - NY Times
SLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 21 - The American bombing of Taliban front-line defenses north of Kabul today appeared intended to put pressure not only on the Islamic extremist rulers

Afghan girl refugees rediscover the joy of learning
By Willis Witter - THE WASHINGTON TIMES
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Conditions are harsh in a makeshift tent school on a dusty field at the Shamshatoo refugee camp, an hour's drive from Peshawar. But for 9-year-old Farah Naz

Foreign journalists held hostage near Kabul
Islamabad, Oct 22, IRNA -- As many as 30 foreign war correspondents were taken hostage on Sunday by some unidentified tribesmen in the north of Kabul as they were trying to enter the Afghan capital.

Dostum says U.S. officials not military advisers Peshawar
By Rahimullah Yusufzai
Gulf News (United Arab Emirates)
October 22, 2001
Denying reports that the eight Americans now operating in area controlled by the Northern Alliance were military advisers, Uzbek warlord Abdul Rasheed Dostum stressed yesterday

Taliban execute five of their
own soldiers accused of being spies
By Patrick Cockburn in Jabal Saraj, Afghanistan
The Independent (UK)
22 October 2001
The Taliban have executed five of their own men as American spies, two of them local military commanders, in a sign of their determination to keep control of the key northern Afghan

Taliban blast Bush for signing Bin Laden's death warrant
Islamabad, Oct 22, IRNA -- Afghanistan's ruling Taliban Sunday condemned President Bush's instructions to what they denounce as the

PoW claims British Muslims are fighting for Taliban
London, Oct 22, IRNA -- A soldier captured by the Northern Alliance claims dozens of British Muslims are fighting for the Taliban.