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Battle turns cold in a snowy assault
By Times wire An avalanche buried at least 20 cars Wednesday just outside the Salang Tunnel, the vital link between northern and southern Afghanistan, and heavy snows stymied relief efforts around the country. There was no immediate information on the number of people trapped or on possible deaths or injuries from the avalanche in the Hindu Kush mountains, north of Kabul. United Nations forces were helping in the rescue operation. But a U.N. official said that no bulldozers or other pieces of heavy equipment were close enough to be of use. A spokesman for the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, said American forces had not been asked to assist but would consider helping if asked by Afghan authorities. The tunnel, destroyed by anti-Taliban forces in 1997, reopened to vehicle traffic last month in a sign of progress toward Afghan reconstruction. The Russian government and French and British assistance groups spent three weeks clearing land mines and rubble from the Salang, which at 11,034 feet is one of the world's highest tunnels. The drama at the Salang Pass upstaged the tribal rivalries in northern and southern Afghanistan that have boiled over into violence in recent weeks. In Mazar-e-Sharif, in the north, a government-appointed security force has told militia factions to withdraw their fighters within two days, according to General Majid Rouzi, appointed by the interim government to help establish the 600-member force. Unauthorized gunman on the streets Friday will be "confronted and their weapons will be taken away," Rouzi said. Militia factions appeared to heed the warning and called their fighters back to barracks outside the city. In Gardez, tensions remained high, although both sides said they would observe a cease-fire until at least Friday. Meanwhile, interim Afghanistan leader Hamid Karzai was given a warm welcome as he visited the western city of Herat, his first trip to an Afghan town outside the capital since taking office in December. He held talks with Herat's powerful governor, Ismail Khan, who has been accused of receiving backing from Iran against other Afghan warlords -- an allegation he and Tehran reject. In other developments Wednesday: The transfer of al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay resumed with an Air Force C-17 transport plane taking off from Kandahar, Afghanistan. It was due to arrive in Cuba today. After a series of flights between Jan. 11 and 21, Rumsfeld halted the process while more temporary cells were built. A new group of 160 cells is ready for prisoners. Distinctly sharpening the administration's rhetoric on Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell said that President Bush is examining "a full range of options" to remove Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from power, and that "regime change is something the United States might have to do alone."
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
