Opposition on offensive in central Afghanistan

The armed forces of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance are planning more attacks in central Afghanistan after capturing a key district of Bamyan province from the ruling Taliban militia, AFP reported on Tuesday. Speaking from the anti-Taliban enclave of Darrae Souf to the north of Bamyan, spokesman for ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani, Mohammad Ashraf Nadeem said opposition forces were consolidating their gains in Yakawlang district which they took on Saturday and were now preparing an offensive against the Shebar-Two Airstrip near Yakawlang. Earlier Taliban officials denied it had lost Yakawlang, but have since confirmed its withdrawal, the report said. The opposition's main commander, Rabbani's former defence minister Ahmad Shah Masood, is currently battling the Taliban in north-eastern Takhar province, with strongholds in neighbouring Badakshan and the Panjshir valley in the north, the report said. The Taliban control almost 95 percent of the country, including the capital Kabul.