MOSCOW: At least 70 Pakistanis are reported to
have been killed in the Afghan town of Kunduz, one of the last Taliban
bastions to fall to the Northern Alliance.
The Pakistanis, who were held as prisoners of war by the Northern Alliance
forces in a school compound in the town, were killed as result of US bombing,
reports Russian news agency Ria-Novosti.
The school building was completely destroyed as a result of US bombing and
missile attack, said the report.
In another incident, several dozen Pakistanis are reported to have been killed
in a jail in Mazar-i-Sharif.
The Pakistanis were with Taliban soldiers who were taken as prisoners of war
near Mazar-i-Sharif and were killed when they tried to organise armed
resistance against the security forces. More than 165 prisoners of war have
reportedly died in the incident.
In yet another incident, several hundred Pakistani volunteers, fighting with
the Taliban militia, have been arrested near Kabul and Bagram air base. These
Pakistanis, belonging to extremist religious organisations like Takhrik Nifaz
Shariyat-e-Mohamedi were hiding in caves, said Ria-Novosti report.
Pakistani authorities have been were strongly pleading before the
international community for getting a safe passage for taking its citizens out
of Afghanistan in the wake of Taliban retreat.
Soldiers and officers of Pakistan's regular army, members of its
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and extremist religious organisations are
reported to be fighting on the side of Taliban militia against the Northern
Alliance, which captured Kabul last month.
"The latest incidents provide additional evidence of Pakistani army's
massive involvement in the inter-Afghan fight on the side of the Taliban
regime and terror suspect Osama Bin Laden's outfit Al Qaida," said
Professor Victor Krashelsikov from Moscow's prestigious Institute of World
Economy and International Relations.
( IANS )
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