International Community in
Afghanistan continues...

US forces also claimed that bombings of Kandahar and Kabul in midNovember had killed enemy leaders, including Muhammed Atef, a leading Al-Qaeda military commander, and one of those named on the American ‘most wanted’ list. US troops were also blocking south-running roads to capture others. As auspicious as these measures may have appeared, Mullah Omar in a broadcast on the BBC’s Pashtun service, revealed his intended aim of the ‘destruction of America.’ If antiAmerican sentiment could be stoked by such rhetoric, it did not deter the
arrival of soldiers from other countries. With the military dynamic clearly shifting in favour of anti-Taleban forces by the middle of November, postwar jockeying for power began. Former Afghan President Burhanudin Rabbani, forced from office by the Taleban, returned to Kabul.

The Northern Alliance consented to send delegates to an UN-sponsored conference in Bonn to discuss the post-war government with other Afghan groups. A large Russian delegation also arrived in Kabul. Not being able to trace Bin Laden, the US military made radioannouncements of victory.

In the meantime the search for Laden continued. The US military made radio announcements of rewards of up to US$25 million for information on his location or that of his senior associates.

Military officials later admitted that many Afghans would not appreciate this value and that offers, such as a flock of sheep, might have been more relevant. Military efforts now concentrated on southern Afghanistan, where the Taleban continued to hold Kandahar, and on the Taleban’s last northern bastion of Kunduz.

There, a peaceful end to the siege was obstructed by the presence of foreign fighters, including Arabs, Pakistanis and Chechens, who seemed prepared to fight to the end rather than surrender. Kunduz fell on 26 November after intensive fighting over several days. Simultaneously, in southern Afghanistan, US air power focused on caves and tunnels around Kandahar.

To be continued...