August 16, 1999. Copyright 1999. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

THE AFGHAN NIGHTMARE

LONDON, August 16, Graphic News: THE TALIBAN summer offensive to crush the northern opposition forces of Ahmed Shah Masood has turned into one of AfghanistanÕs bloodiest campaigns. 
The push, which started on July 28 and involved some 15,000 troops Ð including between 4,000-5,000 Pakistan and ÔAfghan ArabsÕ Ð has left more than 3,000 people dead and displaced well over 100,000 civilians from the Shomali plains, north of the capital Kabul.
Now the bid to extend Taliban rule and strict Islamic Shariah law to the remaining parts of the country before the winter sets in has turned into a humiliating retreat. Forces of the legendary guerrilla commander Masood have poured from the Panjshir Valley, driving Taliban militias back to within 35 miles (55km) of Kabul.
The hardline Taliban, which controls nearly 90 percent of the country, has tried to wipe out 45-year-old General MasoodÕs troops repeatedly. Each time Masood has retreated into the natural fortress of the 60-mile long (100-km) Panjshir, regrouped and mounted a devastating counter-offensive.
MasoodÕs ethnic Tajik forces are estimated to total 12,000-15,000. They are backed by Shia Muslim Iranians who have provided training camps at Mashad in eastern Iran, with military advisers from Russia, Tajikistan and India. Iranian military instructors have flown in secret, via Tajikistan, to work at camps in the Panjshir.
His armoury includes up to 60 T-54/55 and T-62 main battle tanks, an unknown number of armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and self-propelled anti-aircraft systems.
Before the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in September 1996, Masood moved 25 to 30 ÒScudÓ surface-to-surface missiles from the former communist governmentÕs missile base at Darulaman, in southern Kabul, to the Panjshir Valley. With a range of 175 miles (280km), Panjshir-based Scud-Bs could reach a wide swathe of southeast Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan, including the frontier city and Pakistan Army corps headquarters of Peshawar. It is from this base that thousands of Pakistani volunteers have been trained to fight in Taliban ranks.
The Sunni Muslim Taliban are mostly ethnic Pashtun, backed by PakistanÕs Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) Ð which provides technical and logistical support Ð and bankrolled from Saudi Arabia. According to some estimates, the Taliban recieves $850 million a year to keep its militia operational.
The Taliban is led by the mysterious Mullah Mohammad Omar, a veteran Pushtun mujahideen commander, turned religious student, from Kandahar. The 37-year-old, who fought against Soviet occupation in the 1980s, is believed to have been trained and backed by the ISI during former Pakistan prime minister Benazir BhuttoÕs second term.
The nucleus for the Taliban were Afghan ÒTalibsÓ (students) studying in large numbers in Saudi-funded ÒmadrassasÓ (religious schools) in Pakistan.
Initially the Talibs were used to prevent cross-border smuggling and curb poppy growing and heroin refinement. 
They convinced Islamabad of their potential in 1994 when a commander of warlord Gulbadin Hekmatyar hijacked a Pakistani 30-truck convoy on its way to Central Asia. A strong force of Taliban, well equipped and well led, took on the Hekmatyar group and freed the convoy.
Consequently the ISI began assisting the Taliban in a massive way, providing pilots and Kalashnikov assault rifles, as well as large quantities of ammunition, training and logistics. Over the next 18 months their numbers swelled from 2,500 to 30,000; they took 10 provinces and stood at the gates of the capital, Kabul, about to oust the Rabbani government.
Taliban forces are estimated to total 50,000, with 300 tanks and APCs. Airpower includes up to 20 MiG-21 and Sukhoi Su-22 ground-attack fighters. The Taliban-run state airline Ariana flies three Boeing 727A/Bs on international routes.
/ENDS