Tajik Sources Confirm Death of Bin Laden's 2nd Self

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, November 20, 2001

Tajik Sources Confirm Death of Bin Laden's 2nd Self

Tajik military sources Tuesday confirmed the death of Juma Namangani, a right-hand man of Osama bin Laden in charge of the Taliban's northern front in Afghanistan,Interfax news agency reported.

Tajik military sources Tuesday confirmed the death of Juma Namangani, a right-hand man of Osama bin Laden in charge of the Taliban's northern front in Afghanistan,Interfax news agency reported.

Namangani, who was also the well-known exiled leader of Uzbekistan's armed opposition -- the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, was killed Sunday in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz during an exchange of fire with the Northern Alliance fighting to seize the city, the sources confirmed.

Members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan have been fighting along with the Taliban over the past one and a half years.

Namangani is notorious for several attempts to destabilize the situation in Uzbekistan's Fergana region and southern Kyrgyzstan in 1999-2000. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan has proclaimed asits key goal the overthrow of the current Uzbek authorities led byPresident Islam Karimov.

Namangani is said to have been appointed as a deputy of Osama bin Laden for the northern front in Afghanistan two months ago.

If the reports about Namangani's death were true, it would be the end of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Dushanbe sources said Monday.

The sources also said that bitter fighting for Kunduz continuedTuesday, where around 10,000 elite Taliban fighters and foreign mercenaries are concentrated and offering stubborn resistance.

The Taliban ignored the Northern Alliance ultimatum to lay downarms and unconditionally surrender in exchange for a partial amnesty.

By Tuesday, the alliance has brought in reinforcements from Panjsher to Kunduz, boosting its force to 10,000 combatants. Meanwhile, about 100 U.S. commandos from the Khanabad air base in the Uzbek city of Karshi are searching for bin Laden in Afghanistan.

In the southern front, the Northern Alliance advanced 2-5 kilometers more toward the city of Kandahar, the headquarters of the Taliban, on Monday, and captured several western suburbs. In several places, the Taliban's defense was broken and fighting is underway in the city itself, the sources said.

Taliban Envoy Confirms Death of Al-Qaida Leader Atef

Death of Opposition Commander Not to Affect Future Afghan Government: Musharraf