Military Balance Tilting Toward Anti-Taliban Northern AllianceThe military balance between the rival forces in Afghanistan is tilting toward the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, said a military officer of the alliance.The Northern Alliance will launch a major offensive against the Taliban which have been under intense U.S. bombardment, said Lieutenant General Abdusabur Sun Abdulsamad, chief of staff of the First Division of the Northern Alliance. He sai at a military base that since the start of the U.S.-led air strike in Afghanistan, the Taliban have lost 25 planes, half of its tanks and other military equipment, in addition to 2,000 Taliban soldiers killed. He said some 5,000 Taliban soldiers have surrendered to the Northern Alliance and 500 have been captured so far. Because Taliban soldiers had been forced to fight, they would likely surrender at any time, said Abdulsamad. The general said the United States has sent 10 five-member teams on reconnaissance missions into the Taliban-controled regions. The U.S. forces will launch large-scale ground operations in Afghanistan, he added. Asked about the formation of the future Afghan government, Abdulsamad said the new government should include representatives from all tribes except the Taliban. He said the Afghan people will accept the exiled former king Mohammed Zaher Shah if he could serve the people and his country. Abdulsamad also said the Taliban forces now still control 70 percent of Afghan territory. |
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