-Caveat Lector- Die in battle or die in executions ... hmmm ...
From http://www.guardian.co.uk/waronterror/story/0,1361,593735,00.html }}}>Begin Stranded Arabs face hard choice Thousands trapped in city after sudden Taliban flight Luke Harding in Islamabad Thursday November 15, 2001 The Guardian Up to 20,000 Taliban fighters trapped in the northern city of Kunduz were deciding last night whether to surrender to encircling Northern Alliance troops or face almost certain death. The soldiers, who include large numbers of Arab fighters loyal to Osama bin Laden, found themselves cut off in Kunduz, a provincial capital, when the bulk of the Taliban's northern army retreated from Mazar-i-Sharif last week. They now have nowhere to flee. Opposition fighters have severed all the exit routes by taking control of Pul-i-Khumri to the south, Taloqan to the east and Mazar to the west. The Taliban soldiers cannot expect a friendly reception if they head north to the closed border of Tajikistan. Last night Northern Alliance commanders were still trying to negotiate a deal with the Taliban fighters, after making an abortive attempt to seize the city two days ago. Initially opposition tanks, soldiers and troop carriers rumbled triumphantly towards the city - only to make a hasty retreat when the Taliban started firing rockets at them. In normal circumstances the Afghan Taliban soldiers could be expected to defect to the other side, a tactic seen frequently over the past few days as the opposition swept across northern Afghanistan. But the presence of so many Arab fighters - who rightly fear they will be executed if captured - increases the probability of a bloody denouement. "The Taliban shoes I would not like to be in at the moment are those of th e people up there in Kunduz," one senior aid worker said yesterday. "There are significant forces of Taliban surrounded on four sides. "There is nowhere for them to go. They will probably try to negotiate a surrender." Early on Tuesday afternoon the Northern Alliance thought it had a done deal with Taliban leaders after a key commander signalled he was switching allegiance. But when the Taliban attacked opposition soldiers on Kunduz's rugged fringes it was clear further negotiations were necessary. "I don't know what is happening," an anti-Taliban general, Daoud Khan admitted. "We made contacts with commanders in the city. They told us they would embrace us." The Taliban are accustomed to holding out for long periods against odds that seem overwhelming. Opposition troops loyal to the assassinated commander, Ahmed Shah Massoud, lost the neighbouring provincial capital of Taloqan to Taliban forces last year in a humiliating defeat. The Taliban hung on to the city until last week, when American bombing tipped the balance in the Northern Alliance's favour. The alliance estimates that 20,000 Taliban fighters are still inside Kunduz, but the figure may turn out to be lower. �Interactive guide to the war on the ground at guardian.co.uk/interactive Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001 End<{{{ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all. Then accept it and live up to it." 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