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Taliban to give up hold-out city in north

(CNN) -- All Taliban fighters in the northern Afghanistan city of Konduz have agreed to surrender by Sunday, a top Northern Alliance commander said Thursday.

The surrender, when complete, will give the Northern Alliance control of all of northern Afghanistan. (Full story)

But even while Northern Alliance commander Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum and Gen. Mullah Faizal, the Taliban assistant defense minister in Konduz, met in Mazar-e Sharif, chaotic fighting broke out in eastern Konduz province when Northern Alliance forces began a push west.

CNN Producer Ryan Chilcote reported fire from tanks, small arms, rockets and grenade rocket launchers in and around villages in the area. CNN's Satinder Bindra reported massive artillery gunfire on the front lines about 15 kilometers west of Taloqan in eastern Konduz province.

In Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, coalition military jets were heard and four loud explosions were seen in a village to the southeast, an indication of bombing in the area.

Many Northern Alliance fighters there, Bindra said, were skeptical of the surrender agreement and feared the Taliban -- particularly the hard-core fighters -- would not give up.

But Dostum said both the Afghan fighters and the non-Afghan fighters in Konduz -- mostly Arabs, Chechens, Pakistanis and Uzbeks -- will surrender. Afghan fighters will be allowed to return home and the foreign fighters will be arrested and tried according the laws of the Islamic state of Afghanistan.

Dostum also said he is negotiating with other officials about other Taliban- controlled areas in Afghanistan, including the southern stronghold of Kandahar, the Taliban's religious headquarters.

QUICKVOTE Are Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda still capable of carrying out an attack on the U.S.? Yes No View Results    VIDEO CNN's Alessio Vinci reports via videophone on the Taliban surrender of Konduz (November 22) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Spokesman Syed Tayyad Agha denies the Taliban have contact with Osama bin Laden and says Afghanistan has no ties to the September 11 attacks (November 21) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) The U.S. is targeting Afghan fuel tankers that it claims are aiding the Taliban war effort. CNN's Jim Clancy reports (November 21) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    CNN.COM SPECIAL REPORT  CNN NewsPass Video  Agencies reportedly got hijack tips in 1998  MORE STORIES Intelligence intercept led to Buffalo suspects Report cites warnings before 9/11  EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: Who Knew What and When? Interactive: Terror Investigation Terror Warnings System Most wanted terrorists What looks suspicious? In-Depth: America Remembers In-Depth: Terror on Tape In-Depth: How prepared is your city?  RESOURCES On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands? On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

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CNN Correspondent Alessio Vinci contributed to this report.