Students order Afghan government to pull back

Students order Afghan government to pull back

KABUL (Reuter): An Islamic student militia that has swept to the gates of Kabul told the Afghan government to pull its troops back to their old front lines around the city by yesterday evening.

"If they do not, our shura (council) will decide what to do," a commander of the Taleban militia named Mamour Jah told reporters at Charasyab, which the militia captured from main opposition leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar early on Tuesday.

Jah said the Taleban gave government forces until 4 p.m. (1030 GMT) to pull back and that he had been holding talks with a government delegation at Charasyab about the demand.

There was no immediate comment from the government and as the deadline passed it was not clear whether the government had complied with the deadline.

However, reporters returning from Charasyab saw government troops in eight tanks rumbling towards old front lines around the ancient fort of Bala Hisar inside the city.

After Hekmatyar fled from his former headquarters at Charasyab, 15 kilometers south of Kabul, forces allied to President Burhanuddin Rabbani moved into front line positions formerly held by Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami group.

The Taleban, whose swift weakening of the once formidable Hezb-i-Islami has upset the Afghan balance of power, have not yet made clear if they plan to attack the battered capital.

Kabul residents ventured out of their homes and shops reopened yesterday, but many people said they were nervous about a possible clash between the government and Taleban.

"I don't think the Taleban came all this way to stop at the gates of the capital," said one man stocking up with flour.

There has been no shooting yet between the Taleban and forces allied to Rabbani and his top commander Ahmad Shah Masoud, but the emergent Islamic militia has vowed to sweep away Mujahideen factions it regards as corrupt and power-hungry.

Relentless battles that pitted Hekmatyar and his northern ally Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum against government forces cost an estimated 25,000 dead after the mujahideen guerrillas replaced a collapsed communist regime in Kabul in April, 1992.