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Fighting Still Raging in Afghan City of Ghazni

by Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD --

   Sporadic clashes raged for a third day Sunday for the control of
   Afghanistan's southeastern city of Ghanzi amid conflicting claims about
   whether the government or the Taliban insurgency controlled key
   installations.

   Afghan army chief General Mohammad Sharif Yaftali told a news
   conference Sunday in Kabul his forces were conducting
   counter-offensives to evict Taliban fighters from the city.

   The general noted that insurgents were entrenched in civilian
   populations and market places, forcing Afghan forces to move carefully
   and slowly to prevent civilian casualties.

   Afghan security forces remained in control of all strategic positions
   in Ghazni, including the office of the provincial governor, police
   headquarters, the main prison and the office of the Afghan spy agency,
   Yaftali said.

   "Afghan security forces in the next two days will be able to restore
   peace and stability to Ghanzi and reopen the highway to enable our
   countrymen to travel from south and west to Kabul," vowed the army
   chief.

   Insurgents ambushed a large Afghan military convoy heading for Ghazni
   late Sunday, sparking heavy clashes about 80 kilometers from the
   embattled city, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Muajid told VOA.

   Afghan television station TOLOnews quoted its sources as confirming the
   insurgent attack on the convoy while it was traveling through Maidan
   Wardak province. The television said there were no immediate reports of
   casualties, while Mujahid claimed the Taliban attack killed dozens of
   Afghan soldiers.

   The Taliban on Friday staged a large-scale attack from multiple
   directions to try to capture Ghazni, which is located on the main
   highway linking northern and southern Afghan provinces, including the
   national capital of Kabul.

   The fighting has brought the traffic to a halt, stranding hundreds of
   passengers for the past three days.

   Hostilities in Ghazni have disrupted telecommunication services, making
   it nearly impossible to verify conflicting claims about whether the
   Taliban or the Afghan government controlled key buildings in the city.

   Afghan reporters tweeted Sunday that insurgents killed dozens of
   government troops before overrunning and setting on fire the provincial
   police headquarters in Ghanzi. Hospitals in the city reportedly were
   running out of space due large number of casualties.

   Kabul again accuses Pakistan's ISI

   Yaftali directly accused neighboring Pakistan's spy agency, ISI, of
   supporting the Taliban, though he did not immediately offer any
   evidence. "All terrorists stop and receive training in Pakistan before
   entering Afghanistan," he asserted.

   Yaftali repeated the allegations, after a gap of several months because
   recent wide-ranging talks between the two countries have eased mutual
   tensions and decreased terror allegations against each other.

   Pakistani officials were not available to respond immediately to the
   Afghan army's charges. Islamabad denies it is helping the Taliban.

   Taliban delegation travels to Uzbekistan

   Meanwhile, Afghan officials insisted Sunday that neighboring Uzbekistan
   consulted Kabul before hosting a Taliban political delegation last week
   for talks.

   A Taliban spokesman confirmed its officials from the Qatar-based
   political office concluded a four-day visit to Uzbekistan on Friday,
   where it held talks with the foreign minister and the Uzbek
   presidential envoy for Afghanistan.

   The insurgent spokesman added that the two sides among other things
   exchanged views "about the withdrawal of foreign forces and how to
   achieve peace in Afghanistan."

   The Taliban wants U.S. and NATO forces to leave Afghanistan before
   participating in any intra-Afghan peace talks. The insurgent group last
   month held a preliminary round of talks with a high-level American
   delegation in Qatar. But the Taliban simultaneously has not eased
   battlefield activities, making territorial advances and inflicting
   heavy casualties on government forces.