Give up or die, Taliban told

Northern Alliance forces are today poised for a major assault on an estimated 1,500 Taliban and al Qaeda terrorists trapped in a valley 30 kilometres south of the Afghan capital Kabul.

Afghan members of the Taliban were given an ultimatum to surrender or die by the local Northern Alliance commander Haji Sher Allam. But the Taliban commander, Ghulam Mohamed, is a notorious butcher who committed atrocities against his own Pashtun tribesmen when he held the frontline against the Alliance in the Shomali valley north of Kabul.

Asked if he would be given the safe passage that he had asked for, Alliance soldiers simply smiled and one said it would be "difficult for him".

As for the estimated 400 Pakistani, Arab and al Qaeda terrorists, none of the Alliance fighters believed any would be taken alive.

One senior officer said: "We'll disarm them and then it will be up to more senior commanders to decide if we kill the Afghans. But the Arabs won't surrender, they'll fight to the end."

The terrorists have no route for retreat as they have also been blocked by Hazara tribal militia who are bent on marching on Kabul from their heartland i n Bamyan province.

Trapped between the Northern Alliance and the Taliban are the villagers of Nareh Fulod, whose elders held a meeting with commander Allam and begged him to spare their homes from what looked set to be a massive battle if the Taliban fail to surrender.

Gunners on both sides warmed up and ranged artillery and rocket launchers, with shells landing sporadically on a ridge west of Maidam Shah and among the Taliban positions. Haji Mohamed, a senior Alliance official in Kabul, said: "I hope this can be resolved without a fight. They should all surrender." But ordinary Afghan soldiers were gleeful at the opportunity to smash one of the last pockets of the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, trapped in a waterless valley and easy targets for their heavy weapons.

And bad as that fate sounds, it could still be envied by a group of captives held by the Northern Alliance in nearby Bag Daoud, south Kabul.

In a gloomy, classroom-sized cell, sit 53 alleged Taliban, waiting on the whim of commander Allam who will decide if they will be shot.

Silent and wide-eyed, the group captured in and around Kabul have recently been joined by 18 Pakistanis, who were trapped trying to escape after the collapse of the Taliban in the Afghan capital.

These all claimed they had not come to fight, just to offer support for the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. Recruited in madrassahs (Islamic schools) and untrained in guerrilla war, they had been left behind by the Taliban retreat. "I came here to support the Taliban because they are good Muslims and so am I. I didn't want to fight anyone," pleaded Ibrahim Ranzan, 25.

But he admitted that all the Pakistanis in his party had been exhorted to join the Taliban's jihad. Mohammed Jian Karm, captured with Ranzan, mimed that they had all been severely beaten and kicked in the testicles. "We're not getting any more than a piece of bread and a cup of water each twice a day," he whispered. That, by Afghan standards, is good treatment. Arabs and Chechens are executed by the Alliance.

Ralah Mullah Jailani, who said he was 73 but looks younger, insisted: "I'm not a Talib, I am a businessman." His jailer, commander Najiqbullah, said: "Rubbish, don't lie. We found you with a gun."

Jailani's alleged lie could tip the balance from life to death when commander Allam gets back. What will happen then, Najiqbullah was asked as he looked at the terrified prisoners."Oh," he announced to the room. "Then the commander will decide if they will be killed."

'Open day' to show Marines are safe
US hints at sending ground troops
Prisoners await life or death decision