Taliban Halts Drive North of Afghan Capital
Afghanistan’s victorious Taliban militia consolidated its hold on Kabul on Saturday but appeared to have halted its drive north from the capital.
Reporters visiting the area said Taliban fighters were making no attempt to advance from the Bagram military air base, about 30 miles north of Kabul.
They also said the forces of ousted President Burhanuddin Rabbani still controlled Charikar, capital of Parvan province, although Taliban sources, quoted by a Pakistan-based Afghan news service, said the militia had captured it.
Four tanks flying the Taliban’s flag guarded the edge of the militia’s territory at Bagram air base. But a score of pro-Rabbani fighters manned a checkpoint about six miles further north, just south of Charikar.
The Taliban’s self-declared government said it hanged two more “accomplices” of executed former President Najibullah on Friday night, naming them as his bodyguard, Gen. Jafzar, and his aide, Tukhi. Western sources identified the latter as Mohammed es Haq Tukhi, Najibullah’s right-hand man and personal secretary.
Najibullah and his brother, Shahpur Ahmadzai, were themselves killed soon after the Taliban captured Kabul. Their bodies were lowered Saturday from a concrete traffic post outside the presidential palace, where they had been strung up two days before.
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