Northern Alliance troops and tanks reinforce frontline

(12 Nov 2001) STORY Afghanistan's Northern Alliance continued its push towards the capital Kabul on Monday. 200-300 well-armed Northern Alliance soldiers and 10 tanks advanced south from Jabul-as-Saraj to reinforce their frontlines near Taliban positions 25 kilometres north of Kabul. The move adds to the increasing pressure on Taliban forces, which have lost significant territory in the north of the country following a three-day offensive by the Northern Alliance. The Taliban army, which has been subjected to five weeks of U-S air raids, is now severely weakened, according to Northern Alliance commanders. A spokesman for ousted Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani said on Monday the Northern Alliance would complete its encirclement of Kabul by the end of this week. He said Alliance forces would begin to advance on the city itself next week. The Alliance has made a series of dramatic advances since capturing the strategic northern town of Mazar-e-Sharif on Friday. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...