Afghan rebels claim defections from Taleban

2:00 pm - By PATRICK COCKBURN

PANJSHIR VALLEY - Forty Taleban commanders leading 1200 men have defected and cut off one of the last remaining road links between the Taleban in Kabul and their forces in the north, the opposition Northern Alliance claims.

Dr Abdullah Abdullah, the Foreign Minister of the Alliance, jubilantly announced the defections and the closure of the only road linking north and south Afghanistan.

"About 40 commanders with 1,200 men under arms joined the alliance and closed the Bagram-Bamiyan road to the Taleban on Monday night," said Dr Abdullah.

"There wasn't any fighting, they basically came right over," he said. "Without that road the Taleban can only supply the north of Afghanistan by the road leading from Kabul all the way to the west via Herat."

The defections, if confirmed, would deal a severe blow to the embattled Taleban, by virtually cutting off their southern powerbase from cities they hold in the north and where they face rebellion from ethnic minorities.

The Northern Alliance has long blocked the Salang Pass which commands the main road linking Kabul with cities in the north. The Bagram to Bamiyan road, which the deserters have reportedly closed, is the main detour linking Kabul with the pivotal northern cities of Kunduz and Mazar-i-Sharif. As a result, Taleban forces will only be able to supply the northeast by the roundabout highway all the way across western Afghanistan and the city of Herat.

Mazar-I-Sharif, already hit hard in the first two nights of American and British bombing raids, has been identified by Pentagon military planners as a key strategic target because of the numbers of Taleban forces dug in there. The dusty town has for years been a hub for Taleban efforts to defeat the Northern Alliance.

The belief in Washington is that if Taleban fighters massed in bases near Mazar-I-Sharif are routed and supplies to the city cut off, then the regime's defences in the east of Afghanistan would be vulnerable. That would give the opposition the opening it needs to break down Taleban defences and take control over most of the north of the country.

The battle for control of the city, which is populated by ethnic Uzbeks, has been raging for years because of its strategic importance both to the Taleban and their Tajik enemies who dominate the Northern Alliance. It has only been in the hands of the Taleban since 1998.

Before then it was a symbol of freedom for those who opposed the hardline restrictions on daily life imposed by the Taleban's morality police. Women in Mazar-I-Sharif were for example allowed to receive education and wear make up.

According to American officials, the Taleban have up to 60,000 soldiers throughout Afghanistan but reports of defection negotiations have been picked up. The Pentagon believes that numbers of reliable soldiers in the ranks of the Taleban could drop from 60,000 to 20,000 in a week.

Defections are believed crucial to breaking the morale and will of the Taleban, possibly more important than destroying their missile sites and artillery.

-

INDEPENDENT