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Taliban surrender in northern town

By Robert Pelton
CNN

BALKH, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Taliban and Northern Alliance commanders have negotiated the surrender of some 3,000 Taliban fighters holed up in this historic northern city northwest of Mazar-e Sharif, alliance sources told CNN on Monday.

The surrender is to begin Tuesday, with the possible exception of 300 non-Afghan fighters, under the control of Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah, who were refusing to give up.

Because the town has a large number of Pashtuns, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, a top Northern Alliance commander, asked local Pashtun commanders to try to persuade the Taliban holdouts to change their minds.

Dostum's forces had encircled the town and were planning an assault, but the commander decided to meet with Taliban leaders instead to preserve the historic metropolis.

U.S. Special Forces were advising the commander to adopt a more aggressive approach.

Balkh was the ancient city of Bactra -- destroyed by Genghis Khan, the Mongol conqueror in the 13th century, and rebuilt by Timur, the Turkic ruler in the 15th century. The town was once a center of the religion Zoroastrianism.

Negotiations were carried out in a white minivan behind the wall of an ancient fort on the road leading to Balkh. Commanders of the Taliban and the Northern Alliance discussed the surrender in the eight-passenger van during cold, snowy weather.

There is concern that the resources of a prison 120 kilometers (75 miles) away in Sheberghan will be strained as a result of the new prisoners. The Russian-built facility is designed to hold up to 4,000 people. It now houses 2,500.