Tags:
Journalism of Courage
MOSCOW, July 26: Forces loyal to ousted Rabbani government in Afghanistan have entered capital Kabul tonight, a Russian television channel reported, quoting an Afghan ambassador here.
The local commercial channel, NTV, said the ambassador, loyal to the Rabbani government, had called their studios on phone minutes before the begining of a late night newscast and reported the “development.” However, no independent confirmation was available, the TV said.
Earlier, with Opposition fighters only 20 kms outside the capital, Taliban police units swept through Kabul neighborhoods on Friday, arresting hundreds of their suspected enemies, witnesses said.
Police with the Taliban religious army, which captured Kabul last September, raided minority neighbourhoods before dawn. Foreign aid groups evacuated 45 of their workers in advance of a looming battle for control of the capital.The Taliban army controls roughly two-thirds of Afghanistan and has imposed its strict version of Islamic law, prohibiting women from attending school or working and requiring men to grow beards and pray.A northern-based alliance led by former military chief Ahmed Shah Masood and Uzbek warrior Malik Pahlawan is battling the Taliban. Taliban police, mostly members of Afghanistan’s majority Pashtun ethnic group, raided ethnic minority neighborhoods, detaining people they suspect are loyal to the northern Opposition.
Aid workers and terrified Kabul residents said they believed as many as 2,500 people were taken into custody.
“It was 1 am when the Taliban arrived on tanks in my neighborhood,” said one resident, who asked not to be identified. “The Taliban surrounded the area and stormed into the houses, taking away my son and 55 other young men who live on my street.”
