AFGHANISTAN: CEASEFIRE OFFER MADE TO FUNDAMENTALIST TALIBAN MILITIA (2)

(21 Oct 1996) English/Nat

A cease-fire agreement was hammered out on Monday to avert a bloody fight for the shattered Afghan capital of Kabul.

As Pakistani and U-N envoys tried to broker a peace pact at least eight rockets slammed into an airport on the northeastern edge of Kabul.

The rocket barrage came from several kilometres (miles) north of Kabul where ousted government soldiers are waging a ferocious battle with their Taliban rivals.

The battle continues north of the Afghan capital.

Taliban heavy artillery pound government positions around the strategic Baghram airbase.

The Taliban claim to have repulsed forces loyal to former Defence Minister, Ahmed Shah Massood, but neither side is budging despite an almost continuous exchange of rocket fire.

Meanwhile Pakistan appears to have brokered a cease-fire between the two factions.

No date has yet been set for its implementation, which would involve an exchange of prisoners followed by negotiations.

On Monday the U-N Special Envoy to Afghanistan Norbert Holl, said he believed the Taliban wanted to bring an end to the fighting.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
I think we have to go step by step in our analysis. What I say is simply that in my mind a cease-fire has highest priority and I think that in this point I am in agreement with the Taliban.
SUPER CAPTION: Norbert Holl, U-N Special Envoy to Afghanistan

The war aside, Holl claims to have had what he described as communication problems with the Taliban.

Since their takeover of Kabul over three weeks ago the Taliban have instituted a strict brand of Islamic law, banning most women from work.

The Ambassador said he cautioned them to abide by the U-N standards on Human Rights.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
They have a learning process, but do not think I have myself fooled. I discussed this very seriously and they know that it is serious, and they understand it is serious, particularly if in return they want something like recognition.
SUPER CAPTION: Norbert Holl, U-N Special Envoy to Afghanistan

But for now the Taliban have graver concerns.

Opposition forces are banging at the gates of Kabul firing rockets into the city airport.

The Taliban do appear eager to bring about an end to the fighting, but any cooperation between the two sides seems out of the question.

And with both forces eager for control of the capital any cease-fire is likely to be fragile.

In Mazar-e-Sharif, the stronghold of warlord Rashid Dostum in northern Afghanistan, the opposition were consolidating their forces.

Old rivals, Dostum and Massood formed an alliance last week against their common foe, the Taliban.

Since Muslim rebels threw out the communists in 1992, Dostum has held on to much of northern Afghanistan, while in Kabul and elsewhere rival Islamic factions battled each other.

Also on Sunday about 300 fresh soldiers from General Rashid Dostum's northern army arrived at the frontline, although they say they are not participating in the fighting.

Rather, they are there as a rear guard to be called upon should Massood need them.

The frontline between Taliban soldiers and troops loyal to Massood is barely 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the city limits.

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