Masood front line broken, says Taliban

HUSSEIN KOT, AUG 10: Heavy fighting erupted on the front lines north of the Afghan capital Kabul Sunday morning, with the Islamic Taliban a...

HUSSEIN KOT, AUG 10: Heavy fighting erupted on the front lines north of the Afghan capital Kabul Sunday morning, with the Islamic Taliban army claiming to have gained territory.

“We started our attack at 0300 hours this morning, we have moved up the road and our forces have also attacked from the west and are close to Mir Batcha Kot (27 km north of Kabul).

“There is a small pocket of opposition surrounded and they are still shooting at the road,” a Taliban front line commander said. He said the front line held by opposition forces loyal to former government military chief Ahmad Shah Masood had been broken, but skirmishes still continued.

One local resident said that “last night was the heaviest fighting I can remember in the last month”.

The young man was being pushed along the road to Kabul in wheelchair by his younger brothers from the Taliban-held village of Shakar Dara, some 25 km north of Kabul and near the front line. “It was raining rockets in Shakar Dara so I am going to spend two or three days in Kabul with my relatives.” he said.

The Taliban, who captured Kabul in September and control at least two-thirds of Afghanistan, took away at least five dead bodies from the battle zone near Mir Batcha Kot. The bodies were loaded into the back of pick-ups and covered with blankets.

Heavy exchanges of artillery and rocket fire were continuing, and opposition jets bombed Taliban positions close to the front line sending those nearby scurrying for cover. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the bombing.