US warplanes continued to pound Taliban front lines Saturday as the Northern Alliance claimed to have captured much of a district near the strategically valuable town of Mazar-e Sharif. Meanwhile, Osama bin Laden labeled Arab leaders 'unbelievers' in a videotaped message, said reports.
Al Jazeera satellite channel aired a videotape in which bin Laden said Arab leaders in the UN had become "unbelievers of the revelation that was given to Mohammad," according to an online CNN report.
However, Al Jazeera said it did not know when or where the message was recorded.
In the message, bin Laden condemned any Arab leaders who turned to the UN to broker peace negotiations. "They are infidels," AP quoted the alleged terrorist ringleader as saying.
For their part, US officials said the exiled Saudi millionaire made a "grave error" by taking on the UN and attacking Arab leaders. CNN quoted the officials as saying that bin Laden's words had alienated "millions of moderate Muslims."
NORTHERN ALLIANCE CHEERS US BOMBING, CLAIMS ADVANCES
On Saturday, US warplanes dropped bombs near the Afghan cities of Mazar-e Sharif and Kabul, as the opposition Northern Alliance announced it had seized large parts of a district near the much-contested town of Mazar-e Sharif, said reports.
US planes began blasting targets along the Kabul front before dawn Saturday and continued into the day, hitting Taliban tanks and a hilltop headquarters overlooking the Shomali plain about 30 miles north of Kabul, opposition sources told AP.
Along Afghanistan's other main front - Mazar-e-Sharif - opposition spokesman Ashraf Nadeem said US jets staged "continuous bombing" attacks Saturday against Taliban positions, added the agency.
The rebel claim to have captured the outlying district of Mazar-e Sharif could not, however, be independently verified.
The Los Angeles Times reported that rebel leaders were "overjoyed" with the recently intensified US bombing, which they had previously viewed as a weak effort.
One commander told the newspaper that such air assaults could have knocked out a third of the Taliban's estimated front-line tank force in his area in less than a day's work.
The reality on the ground is difficult to assess, however, because both the Talban and the US government have gone to great lengths to control the flow of information about the ongoing war in Afghanistan.
The ruling militia has repeatedly claimed that US bommbs are hitting civilian areas, causing heavy casualties, and Al Jazeera has broadcast footage of the mutilated bodies of children.
For its part, the UN has in some cases managed to confirm Taliban reports of civilian casualties due to the US-led bombing.
The US, however, has officially ridiculed Taliban accounts of the civilian death toll.
In related developments, AP reported that the Northern Alliance had chosen its representatives to negotiate with other Afghan factions to create a broad-based government to replace the Taliban.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, confirmed it lost an unmanned Predator spy plane over Afghanistan - but insisted it was due to bad weather, not Taliban fire. It also denied Taliban claims to have shot down two US aircraft, added the agency - Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
