Afghan Taliban said to seize opposition district

September 20, 2000
Web posted at: 10:00 AM HKT (0200 GMT)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) -- Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement captured a strategic northern district on the border with Tajikistan on Tuesday, blocking another supply route for the opposition alliance, a Pakistan-based Afghan news service said.

The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) quoted Taliban sources as saying that a 300-strong Taliban force, helped by tanks and artillery, entered the Imam Sahib district of the Kunduz province without facing much resistance and later captured the whole area.

There was no immediate independent confirmation of the fall of Imam Sahib, which follows Taliban's September 6 capture of the key opposition bastion of Taloqan in the northeastern province of Takhar. That success deprived the opposition forces of a major route of arms and food supplies from Tajikistan.

AIP, which is close to the Taliban, said Imam Sahib's capture had further strengthened the Taliban's position in the region and cut off those supply lines from Tajikistan that passed from there.

It said the district had been an important opposition frontline, but forces loyal to opposition commander Ahmad Shah Masood had largely vacated the area for fear of being besieged after the fall of Taloqan.

Some opposition forces were still there but there was not much fighting on Tuesday, AIP said.

The Taliban controls more than 90 percent of Afghanistan but its government is recognised by only three countries -- Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- while ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani, whose heads the opposition alliance, still holds the country's seat at the United Nations.

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