newstime digest

A descending chronological look at selected headlines from The Morrock News Service

11/24/01

U.S.-BACKED REBELS CAPTURE TALIBAN STRONGHOLD KUNDUZ

After putting the squeeze on the northern Afghanistan city of Kunduz for two weeks, troops of the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance claimed victory Sunday, capturing the city after thousands of Taliban fighters surrendered.

"All of Kunduz is in our control," a top alliance commander, Daoud Khan, told the Associated Press.

As news of the fall of Kunduz spread, a grim story also emerged. Hundreds of captured foreign soldiers who had fought for the Taliban were killed during what was described as a prison riot, after they produced smuggled weapons and spent a day in bloody battle with their guards.

The Pentagon said U.S. warplanes aided the eventually successful effort by the northern alliance to regain control of the prison. Though some U.S. special forces were inside when the riot began, none were killed, the Pentagon said.

Other reports described the foreign fighters murdering hundreds of Taliban soldiers who intended to defect.

Kunduz was the Taliban's last ground in northern Afghanistan. The Islamic hard-liners who ruled the country remain in control only of the city of Kandahar, in the south.

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