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.