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Taliban Positions North Of Kabul Under Heavy Attack
The Taliban front line positions north of Kabul, the Afghan capital, were under heavy attack on Friday as U.S. B-52 heavy bombers pounded the area in one of the strongest attacks yet.
Reports reaching here from Kabul said that as many as 60 bombs fell by midday. Columns of dust and smoke billowed into the sky, and the blast from the exploding bombs shook buildings some distance away from the front line.
It is the second time this week that the U.S. B-52 bombers attacked the Taliban frontline positions north of the capital.
The first bombing of the frontlines on Shomali by the U.S. B-52 bombers occurred on October 17, and in the past week the United States has visibly stepped up bombing Taliban positions at the front.
The bombardment appeared to be part of increased U.S. cooperation with the opposition northern alliance, which seeks to push through Taliban defenses before winter makes ground offensives more difficult.
Daylight Friday showed fresh snow on the peaks surrounding the front at the Shomali Plain.
Other U.S. strikes were reported overnight at the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, the Taliban headquarters city, and at front lines surrounding the Taliban's strategic northern
stronghold of Mazar-e-Sharif.
One report quoted Afghan opposition official Saeed Hussain Anwari as saying that Americans were on the ground in opposition territory, and appeared to be directing the strikes on Taliban positions.
On the Taliban front lines north Kabul, Northern Alliance troops are outnumbered by an estimated 6,000 to 4,000, and the Taliban still control the crucial heights that would prevent any attempt to advance south to the capital city.
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