Afghan Oppn forces retake Charikar

8220;A lot of people had written us off,8221; Abdullah told AF P. 8220;The Taliban were taken by total surprise.8221; According to him, nobody, least of all the Taliban, thought that they would actually launch an offensiveOpposition commander Ahmad Shah Masood orchestrated the assault and his fighting strength had been bolstered by men who had sought refuge in the valley after the Taliban launched their summer offensive eight days ago, Abdullah said.

The Opposition has said 200,000 people had sought refugee in the valley, but independent sources put the figure at100,000.

Independent conformation of the Opposition offensive was not immediately available and spokesmen for the Taliban were not available for comment.Abdullah said 250 Taliban fighters were killed in the battle.