Kandahar Falls !

Reuters ^ | Wednesday November 14 9:16 AM ET

[flamefront]

Alliance Envoy Says Kandahar Falls to Opposition

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (Reuters) - Northern Alliance ambassador in Tajikistan Said Ibrohim Hikmat told reporters that the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar fell into the hands of the opposition and tribal rebels Wednesday.

``Today the forces of the Northern Alliance entered Kandahar,'' the ambassador said.

``They went in with the support of the local population which was rebelling,'' he said. ``The town is now under the control of the northern alliance. There are no Taliban in the city.''

The report could not be independently confirmed but one tribal leader said the Taliban had thrown a defensive circle around Kandahar and would fight off any attempt to capture the city.

[FreeAtlanta]

I guess he has to do something to get the bullseye off of him after his comments about terrorist bombing in England and Germany.

[Freemyland]

It was true. It strengthened their resolve to catch the fastest camel out of Dodge.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Kandahar Said to Have Fallen; Hunt for Bin Laden Is On   (8:46 a.m. PST Nov. 14)

KABUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Anti-Taliban forces claimed further dramatic victories Wednesday with the hard-line Afghan Islamists' final stronghold of Kandahar reported to have fallen as Washington prepared for a ``needle in a haystack'' hunt for Osama bin Laden. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who on Tuesday revealed that U.S. Special Forces were already operating in southern Afghanistan, said finding those responsible for September's mass killings on U.S. soil remained a difficult task despite Taliban losses.

[Hatteras]

Gee, I was pulling for them to hang in there just a little bit longer and beat the old record set by Saddam's fierce Republican Guard...

I guess they the "experts" were wrong again... hmmm? imagine that...

[Roger_W_Isom]

The sooner Mullah Omar is MURDERRED THE BETTER!!! MAKE IT BRUTAL BOYS!!!!! AND WHEN YOU KILL HIM MAKE SURE HE WITNESSES HIS GRAVE BEING DUGGED AND IT BEING LINED WITH PIG PARTS AND MAKE SURE HE SEE HIS PIG SKINNED LINED BODYBAG HE WILL BE BURIED IN!!!

[Billthedrill]

The reason they will fight is that many of them are arabs with no state to go to, and all of them fear being killed in any case.

Yup. These are the guys from out of town who have been having a great time beating the locals for various religious offenses, throwing them in jail for not having a long enough beard, hitting them with sticks for being women whose burqa didn't cover enough. Now they're stuck in the middle of a whole country full of pissed-off locals. Time to recall Kipling:

When you're wounded and lost in Afghanistan's plains
And the women come out to cut up what remains
Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains...

I'm just awfully glad I'm not in their boots...

[floriduh voter]

To much opium. bin laden couldn't keep his mouth shut. He had some bill clinton moments.

[McGavin999]

The important part of this is that EVERY ruling government who supports terrorists will know that they WILL be brought down. We will not overthrow them ourselves, we will back their enemies and make sure they have what they need to overthrow any state power that backs terrorists.

This has been a fabulous lesson. We will leave behind a government that will allow the full participation of the people of the country, but we will make sure that no state sponsored terrorists continue to exist.

Now, on to the next job, kill Bin Laden and move on to the next terrorist pest hole.

[Freemyland]

All you bandwidth are belong to us.

Sorry. I tried, but couldn't stop myself. :-)

[Dog Gone]

And if you haven't learned enough about All Your Base, click click here for great justice.

[kingh99]

he gets you everytime, no?

very competent spammer.

[kingh99]

Astute observations. I really mean it.

[FreeAtlanta]

Opium! I thought that dude (OBL) looked and acted strange (other than being a stinking murdering terrorist). Maybe he did have an Opium addiction. And, maybe that is why had illusions of being able to bring down the Civilized world.

[Roger_W_Isom]

The "pacifists" ie TRAITORS must be going WILD at this NEWS!!! ROFL PERHAPS they are going to DRINK THEIR KOOL AID NOW???? HOPE HOPE!!!

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Agency says Jalalabad rulers warn off Northern Alliance

The people now in control of Jalalabad and Nangarhar Province warned the Northern Alliance on Wednesday not to enter the city of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency reported.

A spokesman for the new rulers in eastern Nangarhar Province says they are "in full control of the situation, and nobody should try to enter the Province secretly".

The spokesman told Afghan Islamic Press that "neither the Northern Alliance nor anybody else should try to enter Jalalabad" and that "We are in touch with the former Jihadi council and all Nangarhar commanders".

"Mowlawi Mohammad Yunus Khalis is a prominent leader and everyone is obliged to obey his orders," he added.

Yunus Khalis leads a faction of Hezb-e Eslami distinct from that of leader Golboddin Hekmatyar, who has opposed US operations in Afghanistan.

Source: Afghan Islamic Press news agency, Peshawar, in Pashto 0840 gmt 14 Nov 01

Taleban said still to hold Gardez city

The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency said the Taleban were still in control of Gardez, the main city in Paktia Province on the road between Kabul and Kandahar, on Wednesday.

Quoting local sources, it said this followed the capture of Khost, the district of Paktia on the border with Pakistan, by local tribal leaders and commanders.

Some local Taleban joined the new rulers and the rest left Khost, the agency said.

Source: Afghan Islamic Press news agency, Peshawar, in Pashto 1000 gmt 14 Nov 01

Agency says Afghan commanders take over Khost

The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency said local commanders took over the Khost area of Paktia Province, on the border with Afghanistan, on Wednesday.

It said further details would follow.

Source: Afghan Islamic Press news agency, Peshawar, in Pashto 0940 gmt 14 Nov 01

Agency says Taleban abandon another eastern Afghan province

The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency said local commanders took control of the eastern province of Konar, to the northeast of Jalalabad and on the border with Pakistan, on Wednesday.

Quoting reports from Asadabad, the main town of Konar Province, it said the Taleban had abandoned the province and that local commanders had appointed a commander identified as Mateh as their leader.

"The situation is completely calm in Konar and Nangarhar Provinces," the agency said.

Source: Afghan Islamic Press news agency, Peshawar, in Pashto 0828 gmt 14 Nov 01

[mikhailovich]

Nice post. I pose a general question to all: Will Pakistan seal her borders to the south of Afghanistan, preventing a mass exodus of remaining Taliban/Al Queda rats? This could prove the most critical element of the war. If we can toast them up in a little seal-a-meal, as they run barefoot through the southern dunes, all would be fine, all would be fine.

[LibWhacker]

SMOKIN!!!

At this rate, I expect that in a week we'll all be happily pouring over pictures of the Afghani version of The Highway of Death, The Cave of Death and the Valley of Death. Just gotta try to keep OBL and Omar bottled up.

NEXT! Saddam? . . . Saddam? . . . (Where'd he go?)

[lepton]

Do you still buy the story from Rumsfield a few weeks back that we may never get Osama? More propaganda.

It certainly is possible, and for a variety of reasons. He could be burried forever in a tunnel, he could slip out of the country and wander the wilderness, he could be vaporized in a bomb-blast, his remains could be buried in a mass-grave, he could die in the mountains and simply not be found.

[Ender@Game.now]

Could a heat sensor detect it from a cave? I thought winter was a friend to the Taliban. by GuillermoX

Colonel Hackworth mentioned inn interview that the current heat sensors used today, can determine the approximate number of Tali-targets in a cave. With all the snow, the heat target stands out like a turban at a Bar Mitzvah.(my words)

[editor-surveyor]

" I thought winter was a friend to the Taliban."

The winter thing has been a joke from the beginning.

Essentially winter in Afganistan differs from summer only in that it gets colder (27 deg. F). - My wife works with a number of Afgan immigrants who say that winter in Afganistan is much like the Death Valley/ Mt. Whitney region of Kalifornia; cold but dry. - Very little snow, high winds at times.