Word: mazar
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...special forces had come in the night before to coordinate the bombing. The Alliance brought in 21 tanks at midnight to add firepower, and they have been unloading on Taliban lines since midmorning. The morale of the Northern Alliance troops is high after the sudden fall of Mazar-i-Sharif the night before, and they jokingly predict that with U.S. help they will take Taloqan by Sunday...
When the front line around Mazar-i-Sharif burst under relentless U.S. bombing, the retreating Taliban fighters knew there was only one option: to run fast and far. Retreating into Mazar-i-Sharif's maze of dusty alleys was certain death; the Taliban had made too many enemies. During its three-year rule of Mazar-i-Sharif, the Taliban, who belong to the Pashtun tribes of southern Afghanistan, had mercilessly persecuted the Uzbek and Hazara ethnic minorities. After the city fell, they hauled up guns hidden under the floorboards and took revenge as the Taliban forces fled in disarray. "From...
...fall of Mazar-i-Sharif may be a heartening victory for the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance, but it has sharpened the ancient feuds that bedevil Afghanistan. The Pashtun--a group of tribes that accounts for about 40% of the country's 26 million people--are almost sure to rally behind the Taliban, since America is now seen as backing the Pashtun's worst enemies. The Pashtun have ruled Afghanistan since the 18th century, and their will to fight may be steeled by the specter of marauding Northern Alliance troops--made up of Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras--attacking with U.S. warplanes...
...Pakistan's borderlands. Last week more than 11,300 Pakistani Pashtun, some armed with nothing more than single-shot hunting rifles and swords, crossed into Afghanistan over the high mountain passes near Bajour, north of Peshawar, to join the Taliban. Those with combat experience were rushed up to Mazar-i-Sharif. Pakistani officials at the Bajour checkpoint made no effort to stop the holy warriors. "These are mad people," said a security officer, shrugging. "Let them...
...dead of night, horses poured from the hills. They came charging down from the craggy ridges in groups of 10, their riders dressed in flowing shalwar kameez and armed with AK-47s and grenade launchers. In the Kishindi Valley below, 35 miles south of the prized northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, the few Taliban tanks in the area not destroyed by American bombs took aim at the Northern Alliance cavalry galloping toward them. But the 600 horsemen had been ordered to charge directly into the line of fire. "If you ride fast enough, you can get to them...