THE NORTHERN ALLIANCE
U.S. Tactics
Thwart Afghan
Rebels
By DAVID ROHDE
OPDARA, Afghanistan, Oct. 17 -
The night, like the 10 before it,
began with the same sense of
expectation and ended with the
same sense of disappointment.
Soldiers in this rebel-held
mountainside village watched
American warplanes bomb the
Afghan capital, Kabul, in the distance and ignore front-line Taliban
positions in the valley below.
An American plane raised hopes here Tuesday night by bombing the
Barikab munitions dump on the Taliban side of the valley. But tonight the
estimated 7,000 Taliban soldiers across the no man's land sat as they have
since the bombing began - unchallenged.
It appeared once again today that American military planners were
worried that bombing the Taliban front-line positions here, just 35 miles
north of Kabul, would open the door for Northern Alliance forces to take
the Afghan capital. Pakistan, a vital American ally in the campaign against
Osama bin Laden's network in Afghanistan, is strongly opposed to any
move on Kabul by the alliance.
The Northern Alliance is dominated by ethnic Tajiks from northern
Afghanistan. The Taliban are dominated by ethnic Pashtuns from southern
Afghanistan. Many Pashtuns also live in Pakistan.
But President Bush said today that intensive bombing attacks in
Afghanistan were intended to pave the way for anti-Taliban ground forces
- as opposed to American or British troops - to overthrow the Taliban
leadership. But neither he nor military spokesmen reconciled the apparent
contradiction.
The sense of marginalization and frustration with
American policy and tactics is growing here among
Northern Alliance officials and soldiers.
They argue that the United States is being drawn
into a lengthy, largely ineffective, bombing
campaign that will fail to dislodge the Taliban. They
say that the Taliban cannot be quickly dislodged
without an immediate ground offensive.
The mood, sights and sounds here have changed
radically since the first night of bombing. Then,
several dozen soldiers gathered here on the top of
mud brick homes and gleefully watched bombs fall
on Kabul. Tonight, on a black, moonless and mostly
silent night, a lone sentry sat catnapping while
other soldiers slept at home with their families. At 3
a.m., he shook his head in exasperation. The
American planes had not come again.
The American campaign to oust the Taliban has settled into a routine
pattern here. At dusk, the village and valley below, known as the Shamali
Plain, are oddly serene. At 5 p.m. sporadic gunfire can be heard on the
mountaintop ridge behind this village. Two Taliban soldiers could be seen
through field glasses standing on the ridge and peering down at the
village below. The gunfire continued. But the front line did not change.
As the sun set at 6:30, the first of what would be dozens of sets of
headlights appeared from the Taliban- held southern end of the valley.
The headlights are from dozens of Taliban vehicles that stream out of
Kabul every night, full of soldiers and possibly civilians who come here to
avoid the danger of American bombing in Kabul.
Soldiers here say that on some nights they have seen more than 100 cars
come out of the city. Tonight, at least 50 were seen at different times.
Muhammad Assif, a 30-year-old local commander, stared at the Taliban
convoys tonight with a look of dismay on his face. Asked if he would like
to see the Taliban vehicles in positions below bombed, he said: "Of course
we would. They are our enemy."
Northern Alliance officials offer a view of the Taliban's military strength
that differs from that of officials in Washington. A day after Lt. Gen.
Gregory S. Newbold, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
said that the "combat power of the Taliban had been eviscerated," an
alliance general whose forces have moved into the outskirts of the
strategic city of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, contradicted him.
The rebel general said in a telephone interview that Taliban forces had
mounted a half dozen counterattacks on his forces throughout the day.
There was a Taliban attack on the trenches he captured, he said. But the
attacks did not succeed.
Taliban forces here, just north of Kabul, also appeared to be fighting on.
In the late afternoon, light artillery and small arms fire could be heard
echoing throughout the valley.
A small number of shells and tracer bullets fired from Taliban positions
arced high over the valley before hitting alliance-held positions below.
The alliance forces returned fire, sending small puffs of smoke into the
sky.
But after years of fighting here, life all around the valley continued as if
nothing were happening. The village mullah's peaceful call to prayer at
dusk was occasionally interrupted by gunfire, but no one seemed to
notice.
A flock of birds sang from one of the few trees in this arid village, which is
surrounded by a small maze of stone walls and grape vineyards. The
occasional explosion did not interrupt their song.
At midnight tonight, the most powerful force in the sky seemed to be the
Milky Way, whose bright bands of stars illuminated the moonless sky.
Earlier in the day, what appeared to be an American B-52 bomber was
seen flying overhead. But the only evidence of American planes tonight
were occasional flashes from Kabul to the south.
In this village, disappointment about the American campaign was palpable.
Earlier in the evening Kazem, a 25-year-old commander here, happily
described how an American plane had attacked a Taliban base on the
other side of the valley for the first time on Tuesday night. He said there
was a strategic ridge and a base there, and he clearly hoped American
forces would begin bombing the Taliban's front-line position here.
"There are munitions there and heavy weapons," he said. "There was a
fire."
But tonight that base and scores of other Taliban positions sat as they
have since the bombing began - untouched. The Northern Alliance did not
attack them and neither did the Americans.
Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company
October 18, 2001
THE NORTHERN ALLIANCE
U.S. Tactics
Thwart Afghan
Rebels
By DAVID ROHDE
OPDARA, Afghanistan, Oct. 17 -
The night, like the 10 before it,
began with the same sense of
expectation and ended with the
same sense of disappointment.
Soldiers in this rebel-held
mountainside village watched
American warplanes bomb the
Afghan capital, Kabul, in the distance and ignore front-line Taliban
positions in the valley below.
An American plane raised hopes here Tuesday night by bombing the
Barikab munitions dump on the Taliban side of the valley. But tonight the
estimated 7,000 Taliban soldiers across the no man's land sat as they have
since the bombing began - unchallenged.
It appeared once again today that American military planners were
worried that bombing the Taliban front-line positions here, just 35 miles
north of Kabul, would open the door for Northern Alliance forces to take
the Afghan capital. Pakistan, a vital American ally in the campaign against
Osama bin Laden's network in Afghanistan, is strongly opposed to any
move on Kabul by the alliance.
The Northern Alliance is dominated by ethnic Tajiks from northern
Afghanistan. The Taliban are dominated by ethnic Pashtuns from southern
Afghanistan. Many Pashtuns also live in Pakistan.
But President Bush said today that intensive bombing attacks in
Afghanistan were intended to pave the way for anti-Taliban ground forces
- as opposed to American or British troops - to overthrow the Taliban
leadership. But neither he nor military spokesmen reconciled the apparent
contradiction.
The sense of marginalization and frustration with
American policy and tactics is growing here among
Northern Alliance officials and soldiers.
They argue that the United States is being drawn
into a lengthy, largely ineffective, bombing
campaign that will fail to dislodge the Taliban. They
say that the Taliban cannot be quickly dislodged
without an immediate ground offensive.
The mood, sights and sounds here have changed
radically since the first night of bombing. Then,
several dozen soldiers gathered here on the top of
mud brick homes and gleefully watched bombs fall
on Kabul. Tonight, on a black, moonless and mostly
silent night, a lone sentry sat catnapping while
other soldiers slept at home with their families. At 3
a.m., he shook his head in exasperation. The
American planes had not come again.
The American campaign to oust the Taliban has settled into a routine
pattern here. At dusk, the village and valley below, known as the Shamali
Plain, are oddly serene. At 5 p.m. sporadic gunfire can be heard on the
mountaintop ridge behind this village. Two Taliban soldiers could be seen
through field glasses standing on the ridge and peering down at the
village below. The gunfire continued. But the front line did not change.
As the sun set at 6:30, the first of what would be dozens of sets of
headlights appeared from the Taliban- held southern end of the valley.
The headlights are from dozens of Taliban vehicles that stream out of
Kabul every night, full of soldiers and possibly civilians who come here to
avoid the danger of American bombing in Kabul.
Soldiers here say that on some nights they have seen more than 100 cars
come out of the city. Tonight, at least 50 were seen at different times.
Muhammad Assif, a 30-year-old local commander, stared at the Taliban
convoys tonight with a look of dismay on his face. Asked if he would like
to see the Taliban vehicles in positions below bombed, he said: "Of course
we would. They are our enemy."
Northern Alliance officials offer a view of the Taliban's military strength
that differs from that of officials in Washington. A day after Lt. Gen.
Gregory S. Newbold, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
said that the "combat power of the Taliban had been eviscerated," an
alliance general whose forces have moved into the outskirts of the
strategic city of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, contradicted him.
The rebel general said in a telephone interview that Taliban forces had
mounted a half dozen counterattacks on his forces throughout the day.
There was a Taliban attack on the trenches he captured, he said. But the
attacks did not succeed.
Taliban forces here, just north of Kabul, also appeared to be fighting on.
In the late afternoon, light artillery and small arms fire could be heard
echoing throughout the valley.
A small number of shells and tracer bullets fired from Taliban positions
arced high over the valley before hitting alliance-held positions below.
The alliance forces returned fire, sending small puffs of smoke into the
sky.
But after years of fighting here, life all around the valley continued as if
nothing were happening. The village mullah's peaceful call to prayer at
dusk was occasionally interrupted by gunfire, but no one seemed to
notice.
A flock of birds sang from one of the few trees in this arid village, which is
surrounded by a small maze of stone walls and grape vineyards. The
occasional explosion did not interrupt their song.
At midnight tonight, the most powerful force in the sky seemed to be the
Milky Way, whose bright bands of stars illuminated the moonless sky.
Earlier in the day, what appeared to be an American B-52 bomber was
seen flying overhead. But the only evidence of American planes tonight
were occasional flashes from Kabul to the south.
In this village, disappointment about the American campaign was palpable.
Earlier in the evening Kazem, a 25-year-old commander here, happily
described how an American plane had attacked a Taliban base on the
other side of the valley for the first time on Tuesday night. He said there
was a strategic ridge and a base there, and he clearly hoped American
forces would begin bombing the Taliban's front-line position here.
"There are munitions there and heavy weapons," he said. "There was a
fire."
But tonight that base and scores of other Taliban positions sat as they
have since the bombing began - untouched. The Northern Alliance did not
attack them and neither did the Americans.
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Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company