Word: northerners
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...faded. Dreams of a hit-and-run war gave way to the reality of a long twilight struggle that seems sure to drag into the Afghan winter. After more than 3,000 American bombs, the Taliban still has plenty of fight left in it; Taliban troops have thwarted a Northern Alliance offensive at Mazar-i-Sharif; civilian deaths are climbing; and many coalition partners--most crucially Pakistan--have grown impatient...
American air power can do plenty of damage, but Afghan experts say the Taliban's morale won't crack until it suffers heavy battlefield losses. So long as the U.S. limits its ground operations to commando raids, the job of inflicting those casualties lies with the Northern Alliance. Alliance commanders have provided their strategy for toppling the regime to anyone who will listen: once American bombs softened Taliban forces, the Alliance planned to make its move into the key northern outposts of Mazar-i-Sharif, Kunduz and Taliqan, cutting a swath through the heart of Taliban country. As the Alliance...
...Analysts say that 10,000 pro-Taliban troops may mass to defend Kabul, which means further U.S. bombing still must precede a Northern Alliance assault on the capital. An offensive is more imminent in the vital crossroads city of Mazar. Kudratullo Hurmat, an aide to Northern Alliance commander Ustad Mohammed Atta, says, "The U.S. bombing is helping a lot. We're ready for a big offensive in the next two or three days." Fresh AK-47s, rockets and tanks supplied by Russia have found their way to the Alliance. Atta's forces remain bogged down 10 miles from the city...
...Pentagon tried to prepare the public for early in the conflict. But so far there hasn't been much of it. Some planned commando infiltrations have been sabotaged by sandstorms, sleet and Taliban resistance. Bad weather caused the crash last Friday of an MH-53 Pave Low helicopter in northern Afghanistan, injuring four crewmen. U.S. F-14s blew up the wreckage of the downed helicopter to prevent its secret equipment from falling into hostile hands. Pentagon officials dismissed Taliban claims that it had shot down the helicopter and killed all on board...
...suspects, including Lotfi Raissi, an Algerian alleged to have helped train the suicide pilots in the attacks. And last week Yasser al-Siri, whose bookstore and website are well known in London, was charged with conspiracy to murder Ahmed Shah Massoud, the leader of the anti-Taliban Afghan Northern Alliance. Massoud died after assassins bombed his headquarters on Sept...