"Thousands of Afghans living in open

GENEVA, Nov 28: Aid workers have located a group of several thousand displaced people living in the open in sub-zero temperatures, with very little food, in northwest Afghanistan, the World Food Programme said on Tuesday. "These people are thought to have fled fighting in Mazar-i-Sharif and walked for many weeks," WFP spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume told journalists.
"Their conditions are said to be very bad - living and sleeping in the open, without shelter. They also have very little food," she said. Ms Berthiaume said the WFP no longer had access to victims of drought and conflict in Mazar-i-Sharif and Kunduz and was particularly concerned about the situation in Mazar ... the province - which has been hard hit by drought - had been severely affected by fighting and banditry and was a virtual no-go area for aid workers.
"About 300,000 people depend on WFP food supplies in the province and that's not counting the new displaced people who we were told about today," Ms Berthiaume said."


Taliban recapture Spin Boldak By Our Staff Correspondent

QUETTA, Nov 27: The Taliban recaptured Spin Boldak on Tuesday and took up military positions they had vacated a day earlier, after surrender talks with local tribal chieftains collapsed ... By Tuesday afternoon, Taliban forces, armed with light and heavy weaponry, were back to their vintage military positions in the town, sources said ... The Taliban were showing a strong presence between Pul Takht and Kandahar, apparently to demonstrate their military prowess and a will to fight the US Marines to the last ... Eyewitness accounts spoke of heavy and incessant US bombing of Taliban positions in Lashkar Gah, Shorawak, Baba Sahib and Deheellah. The strikes, which continued on Tuesday afternoon, were believed to have left scores of Taliban and the civilians dead.


Afghan extortionists make comeback : "JALALABAD, Nov 26: From improvised road tolls to the shakedown of shopkeepers, extortion is on the rise across Afghanistan as Taliban rule crumbles. Opium is also being cultivated again, villagers say. The Taliban had succeeded in ridding the roads of armed checkpoints that were a lucrative source of cash for warlords and bandits. But now that the militia is no more in control, some ordinary Afghans fear a return to the lawlessness that reigned earlier when feuding Mujahideen factions battled for power and money ... four journalists, including two from Reuters, were held up and killed by unidentified gunmen last week ... "All these shops have remained shut since the Taliban escaped," said one local, who called the demands a clear case of extortion. "There's some element of rivalry among the various groups controlling Torkham and the money they're demanding from the shop owners is just a source of income for them," he said."


600 captives dead, says Alliance: Qala-i-Jangi 'revolt' put down : QALA-I-JANGI, Afghanistan, Nov 27: Northern Alliance forces with US backing Tuesday put down a three-day rebellion by pro-Taliban prisoners that had left hundreds of captive fighters dead, a commander said. "It's over," said the commander, Mohammed Nuri ... After fierce exchanges of mortar and machine gun fire, and waves of US airstrikes since the 'revolt' erupted Sunday, alliance forces feared pockets of resistance might remain at the prison fortress in northern Afghanistan. They fired several salvos into the fort where about 600 foreign soldiers, including some believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden, had been brought after their capture in the city of Kunduz to the east. About 500 alliance troops, helped by US and British advisers, had encircled the prison at Qala-i-Jangi, 10km west of the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, hoping to smash the rebellion ... US warplanes renewed their airstrikes on the prison, with AC-130 gunships seen dropping bombs overnight."


India says campaign will impact on Kashmir : India and Pakistan, both new nuclear powers, have been battling over the Kashmir, with India sitting on the sidelines as Pakistan becomes the only Muslim ally in the war against Afghanistan. Nevertheless, India remains hopeful that in the future the 'war on terrorism' will turn on Pakistan backed Muslim's fighting against Indian troops in Kashmir (and they received assurances to this effect from Colin Powell in October, or so they say - no word on just how Pakistan feels about this idea).


Ashcroft taken to task on anti-terrorism measures : "WASHINGTON: The Bush administration faced new skirmishes on the home front over the weekend as senators called on Attorney General John D. Ashcroft to appear before the judiciary committee to justify extraordinary anti-terrorism measures. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, and the ranking Republican on the committee, Senator Orrin G Hatch, called on Ashcroft to put aside "several hours" to answer questions about military tribunals, racial profiling, and the authorization of wiretaps of phone calls between suspects and their lawyers. "I think the attorney general owes the country, certainly owes the Congress, an explanation," said Leahy. Ashcroft will appear before the committee in early December, Leahy said. Leahy criticized the Bush administration's declared intention to try terrorist suspects before military tribunals, which can keep secret evidence from defendants, and which can convict suspects and impose the death penalty with only a two-thirds vote. The Vermont Democrat said that using such courts sent the wrong message about the values the US was trying to defend overseas."