Sat, Oct 27, 2001 page1

• Taliban says opposition figure caught, executed

  WAR UPDATE As the British announced the deployment of combat troops to the region, Taliban forces captured a major opposition figure and say they have executed him

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  reuters and AP, KABUL, Afghanistan

  US jets struck Kabul yesterday, the Muslim holy day, rocking the city with huge explosions and blasting a Red Cross compound for a second time this month. The Taliban said they captured and executed a noted opposition figure.

  During late-night bombing Thursday, three children were killed -- two from one family living in the northwest area of the city and a third from the east part of town, officials at the Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital said. The US has repeatedly said it is not targeting civilians and regrets any loss of life.

  Britain, President George W. Bush's staunchest ally in his war of terrorism, prepared to announce how many ground troops it would send to fight in Afghanistan -- with one London newspaper reporting 1,000 commandos would spearhead the force.

  The Taliban's Bakhtar news agency reported yesterday that Abdul Haq, a guerrilla leader in the war against the Soviets, was captured after slipping into Afghanistan and executed by the Taliban for treason. The Taliban accused the opposition figure of spying for the US and Britain, the agency said.

  Haq had gone to Afghanistan with peace proposals on behalf of former king Mohammad Zaher Shah, an aide to the former monarch said in Rome. The US and other Western countries have urged the former king to play a major role in forming a government to replace the Taliban.

  Bakhtar said Haq, who has one foot, was captured early yesterday after villagers in Logar province, 50km east of Kabul, tipped off Taliban intelligence to his whereabouts.

  There was a firefight between Haq's party and the Taliban, leaving four Taliban soldiers and three civilians injured, the agency said.

  Bakhtar said Haq was "killed by the Taliban" under a religious decree that stipulates death for anyone spying for Britain and the US. It wasn't clear how Haq was executed.

  According to Bakhtar, Haq was found with two satellite telephones, US dollars and documents. The news agency didn't say what the documents were.

  "At the same time Abdul Haq was captured, one jet and two helicopters came to try to help him but they failed," the agency said.

  Earlier, Taliban officials told the Afghan Islamic Press agency that Haq was captured about 30km south of Kabul. Later, Bakhtar reported that Haq was killed in a shootout. Then came the report of his execution.

  In Peshawar, Pakistan, Haq's nephew, Mohammed Yousuf, said "Bakhtar news agency is lying. Know that he is alive."

  Asked how he knew that, he replied: "We don't have any source but we know that he's alive." He refused to give details.

  The nephew said Haq went to Afghanistan six days ago along with six or seven people, most of them his relatives.

  If the report about Haq's death is confirmed, he would be the second key opposition figure killed in two months. Northern alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massood was assassinated in a Sept. 9 suicide bombing.

  Despite days of US bombing aimed at crucial supply lines north of the capital city of Kabul, Taliban forces appeared to hold their ground.

  Opposition commanders complained the attacks were too weak to break the Taliban lines.

  During a sermon at a Kabul mosque yesterday, the Muslim sabbath, an Islamic cleric said the "infidel hit our nation, even on Friday. They are very unkind to our people." He urged the faithful to be patient because "we will win."

  In other attacks-related developments:

  -- Britain announced yesterday it will commit special forces troops to the offensive in Afghanistan as part of a larger military force to include warships and planes. They are to be stationed on assault ships in the region, and another 400 are to be on standby, Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram told Parliament.

  -- Marine Corps commandant General James Jones said the Marines' top special operations unit is ready to deploy to Afghanistan on six hours' notice. He spoke aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Arabian Sea.

  -- Attorney General John Ashcroft warned terrorists that authorities will use every law and immigration violation to put them behind bars and to intercept their communications, even their unopened electronic and voice mail.

  The front line north of Kabul was generally quiet early yesterday, although high-flying military aircraft, visible only by their jet trails, could be seen heading toward the north.

  In Moscow, the alliance envoy to Russia, Abdul Wahad Assefi, told reporters Russian military supplies have begun flowing to the opposition, but he refused to give further details.

  A Russian Defense Ministry official said earlier this month that the fresh equipment will include 40 T-55 tanks, 80 BMP-1 and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, several dozen armored personnel carriers, up to 10 Grad multiple rocket launchers, and anti-aircraft rockets and light arms. The official said the weapons would be delivered by the end of October, the Interfax-Military News Agency said.

  During an interview in opposition-controlled Dashtak, the anti-Taliban movement's main spokesman complained that American front line attacks -- usually carried out by only one or two planes -- were too weak to dislodge the Taliban.

  "There was a lot of room for better conduct of this operation," Abdullah, who like many Afghans uses only one name, said. "For example, the intensities of the strikes on the Taliban front lines could have been much more concentrated. There could have been much better impact."

  Nevertheless, there was no exchange of fire yesterday morning between Taliban and northern alliance fighters on the front line.

  For your information

  Latest war news:

  * Britain dispatched ground troops to the region. * A Red Cross compound was hit for the second time since air strikes began. * Hospitals near the compound report three children were killed in the attack. Source: reuters and ap
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