Anti-Taliban forces seize vital town and cut supply lines

War against terrorism: Resistance

Anti-Taliban forces of the warlord Ismail Khan claimed on Thursday that they had captured the strategic town of Chaghcharan which straddles the main road linking Kabul to the city of Herat. The loss of the town, 218 miles from Kabul, is another blow to the Taliban regime after closure of the Bagram to Bamiyan road was reported by the Northern Alliance.

Both routes are of enormous importance in keeping the capital in contact with Taliban and al-Qa'ida forces. The Bagram-Bamiyan road was the Taliban's main supply route to their forces in north. It fell to the Northern Alliance when a group of Taliban commanders changed sides. The road to Herat is the only other supply route from Kabul to the north.

Seyyed Nasir Ahmad Alavi, a spokesman for Commander Khan's group said in a satellite call to Reuters: "At 5.30 this morning (0200 BST), we captured the capital of Ghor province, Chaghcharan, and also captured a large number of Taliban militiamen."

He said the capture followed a week of fierce fighting and clashes were continuing along the main road around the towns of Shahrak and Tulak as Taliban forces withdrew westwards towards Herat.

Commander Khan, a former governor of Herat province, was captured by the Taliban when they overran his powerbase in the mid-1990s.He escaped from a Taliban jail last year and has been travelling secretly between Afghanistan and the north-eastern Iranian city of Mashhad.

Commander Khan, who is backed by Iran, has urged the United States to co-ordinate military action in Afghanistan with the opposition alliance and to remove its troops promptly after defeating the ruling Taliban militia.

A statement from the Beijing embassy of the internationally recognised Afghan anti-Taliban government, representing the Northern Alliance, also reported the fall of Chaghcharan.

"All forces of the Taliban, Arabs and Pakistanis evacuated the city and escaped towards the mountain of Kand Dawal, leaving all their heavy weapons, vehicles and ammunition," it said. Anti-Taliban forces were surrounding the mountain. "There is no chance for the enemy forces to escape."

US military sources said Allied warplanes were not targeting Taliban and al-Qa'ida troops north of Kabul because campaign planners did not want the Northern Alliance to break through to the city.