A day after the Taliban executed opposition leader Abdul Haq in eastern Afghanistan, the militia announced that it had hanged five other opposition commanders who were captured along with Haq.
The five commanders were captured, along with 15 soldiers, as Taliban forces repulsed a major opposition offensive in the Dar-e-Souf region of Samangan province, AFP reported, citing sources quoted by a Pakistan-based news agency.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan's capital city Kabul witnessed the heaviest bombing raids since the US military campaign began.
US warplanes dropped more than 20 bombs on the city in a nearly 11-hour onslaught that went on through the night, with wave after wave of planes roaring overhead, AFP said.
"This was the heaviest bombing I have seen," said an AFP reporter, adding that the Taliban responded throughout the night with sporadic anti-aircraft fire.
Among the five hanged men was Commander Mohammed Bilal, the Islamic Press (AIP) reported.
Taliban forces captured Haq after surrounding his hiding place south of Kabul.
The arrest had been described as a major setback in US-backed efforts to replace the Taliban regime with a broad-based and multiethnic government.
Commander Haq, once exiled, is thought to have slipped back into the country from Pakistan with the aim of winning over his fellow Pashtuns and moderate elements within the Taliban.
He was being held in Jalalabad, his brother Haji Din Mohammad told a news conference in neighboring Pakistan.
Abdul Haq played a leading role in fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan during the 1980s – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
