Capture of Mazar-e Sharif called
important military, symbolic victory
By Kendra Helmer and Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — Northern Alliance officials here hailed the capture of
Mazar-e Sharif as a significant military and symbolic victory in the fight against the
Taliban.
International aid workers and U.S. military officials hope the fall of the
strategically critical northern Afghanistan city will soon enable a supply route from
Uzbekistan for humanitarian and possibly military convoys.
"This is an important victory, and our fighters are poised to move on with the
offensive," said Mohammed Hasham Saad, charge d’affairs at the embassy of the
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
"We will not lose the city again," he predicted Saturday.
On Sunday, the Northern Alliance claimed it captured the northern city of Taloqan,
which served as its capital until the Taliban drove out its forces in September 2000. The
Taliban denied the claim but has acknowledged its forces are withdrawing southward
following weeks of round-the-clock U.S. bombing.
The Northern Alliance gains have opened the way for humanitarian aid to cross into
Afghanistan from Uzbekistan on a barge Wednesday, officials announced this weekend.
"The fact that this process can now get under way is a direct result of the
changing security situation on the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan border," the State
Department said in a news release.
Aid has been piling up in a warehouse in Termez, across the river from Afghanistan.
Humanitarian workers are anxious to get the aid, including food and blankets, to the
millions of displaced persons on the border as winter looms.
"The first barge will cross probably on Wednesday. Not even U.N. officials are
allowed on the first barge, just security people," said Rupa Joshi, UNICEF
spokeswoman in Tashkent.
While some media reports have speculated that the Mazar-e Sharif victory would lead to
an opening of a land route, Uzbek government officials have given no indication they are
willing to open a border sealed since 1997.
Northern Alliance forces entered the city Friday night after days of sustained bombing
by U.S. aircraft on Taliban front lines.
The Northern Alliance’s Saad said the fighters would not pause for Ramadan, and
instead try to capitalize on their recent victories.
"Pakistan is using Ramadan as an excuse for the Taliban to resupply," he
said. "It is not anti-Muslim to fight during Ramadan. We are fasting and
fighting."
Saad described the relationship with U.S. forces as "very good," saying,
"Morale is very high. With the help of Americans, it becomes higher."
The U.S. military has said about 1,000 troops are at a former Soviet air base in
Uzbekistan for humanitarian and search-and-rescue missions.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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