TORA BORA - The severe day and night bombardment by the US planes and the offensive launched by fighters loyal to the ruling Eastern Shura have so far failed to dislodge foreign nationals, majority of them Arabs, from the caves and bunkers in Spin Ghar mountainous range. Sources in the Eastern Shura confirmed that some of their fighters had been killed during fighting with the Arabs in Tora Bora and the bodies of soldiers loyal to Jalalabad Corps Commander Haji Zaman and the police chief Commander Hazrat Ali are still lying in the area.

 

Heavy bombing on Tora Bora resumed on Saturday afternoon and dozens of war planes continued to drop bombs and fire missiles on the positions of the Arabs till filing of the report. The details about the killing of Arabs were not immediately available. However, the locals claimed that six Arab nationals and eight fighters from the Eastern Shura have been killed so far in the fighting.

 

"Locals confirm that casualties have been inflicted on the Eastern Shura. The Arabs are using surface-to-surface missiles in the fighting," reports said. The Eastern Shura people are under pressure and the resistance is very stiff from the Arabs. "Two American military experts were taken close to the Tora Bora caves by Commander Zaman, but had to flee after the Arabs opened fire on them," an eyewitness informed.

 

The scene of the fleeing Americans and commanders was filmed by an Afghan employ of the CNN, but Commander Hazrat Ali snatched the camera from him and detained the journalist for a while, the sources said. A B-52 plane also dropped bombs close to positions held by Commander Zaman's fighters, but no reports of casualties have been received, witnesses said.

 

Local people, mostly the Sulimankhel tribesmen walked down the Tora Bora track to lodge complaint about the severe bombing in the area, which they claimed had left children with blood oozing out of their ears and nose. The local tribesmen wanted to take the journalists to the affected villages in the area, but Commander Hazrat Ali did not allow the foreign journalists to visit the area due to security reason.

 

Meanwhile, Taliban sources denied arrest of Mulla Muhammad Omar in Kandahar and said that the Taliban supreme leader has safely shifted from the city to the nearby mountains along with hundreds of his diehard supporters. The sources said that a group of Afghan fighters loyal to chairman of the new set-up of Hamid Karzai tried to stop a Taliban convoy proceeding outside Kandahar on Friday evening, but did not succeed in their plans. It is believed that Mulla Muhammad Omar was part of the convoy, which made its way out of Kandahar after a fierce fight for seven hours with the opponents. No independent confirmation of the report is available.

 

 

The News International, Pakistan

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