Word: northerners
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...Allah Mahmad is an example of the human cement that holds together the opposition Northern Alliance. In other times he would have been a farmer, working in the lush wheat fields and fruit orchards of the Shomali Plain around Bagram. Instead, at 27, he has seen six years of combat. With his high-set cheekbones, goatee, checked shawl and round woolen cap he bears a passing resemblance to Ahmad Shah Massoud, the assassinated commander who assembled these forces. In a conventional army Allah Mahmad would be a captain. Here he's called commander, a hard-earned rank denoting his seniority...
...Since Oct. 16 limited U.S. bombing has shifted to the zone behind the Taliban lines. Northern Alliance political leaders have expressed a cautious satisfaction. But on the front lines they want more, much more, and they want it now. Staring through binoculars at the headlights cresting the pass, Allah Mahmad can hardly contain his frustration. "If the Americans hit the pass now, they'd cream the bastards," he mutters. "All the bloody terrorists move out of Kabul at night. Hitting the city isn't touching a hair on their heads...
...When it does Allah Mahmad expects to advance quickly on Kabul. "Just days," he says. His men will be reinforced by the thousands of troops that have been massing in the Panjshir Valley and the northern end of the Shomali Plain. But the Taliban and its Arab and Pakistani allies have also been reinforcing their front lines, digging new bunkers within sight of the 40th Division base. How many of Allah Mahmad's men die in the impending offensive hinges on whether, in the coming days, American bombing increases its intensity and moves closer to the lines...
...Palestinian militant, Atef Abayat, in a car-bomb explosion in Bethlehem was seen as part of the Israeli response to Ze?evi?s murder. Britain, Germany, France, Sweden, Australia and dozens of other countries as public health officials examined letters and packages containing suspicious powder, but found nothing. NORTHERN IRELAND Unionists Quit Protestant leaders resigned from the power-sharing government in Belfast, pushing Ulster's home rule closer to total collapse. Unionists said they would return only if the Irish Republican Army began disarming within a week. Although the I.R.A.'s political wing Sinn Fein hinted that progress was possible...
...Riots Business resumed in the city of Kano after community leaders agreed to end violence between Christian and Muslim gangs. Police said 32 people died in recent clashes that drove thousands of people from their homes. Red Cross estimates put the toll far higher. President Olusegun Obasanjo toured the northern city after the riots, which began as anti-American protests...