Afghan opposition commander joins Taliban

November 14, 2000
Web posted at: 7:43 AM HKT (2343 GMT)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) -- An opposition commander and about 1,000 fighters switched sides by joining Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement on Monday, a Pakistan-based Afghan news service reported.

Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said Paydel Pahlwan, a well-known opposition commander in Samangan province in central Afghanistan, joined the Taliban with 150 fighters.

It said a total of 1,000 fighters, 300 of them armed, had switched sides to the Taliban since Sunday night, making the Taliban the dominant force in the area.

Pahlwan was part of the resistance of the northern opposition alliance that Ahmed Shah Masood is leading against the Taleban in the central Hazarajat region of Afghanistan.

AIP said Pahlwan was based in Dare-e-Suf, a key opposition district in Samangan province.

The northern opposition alliance and the Taliban both have parts of the Hazarajat region under their control though there has been little fighting there recently.

Fighting these days is mostly confined to northeastern Afghanistan where Masood hopes to retake territory lost in battles in September. The Taliban control most of the war-ravaged country.

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