Taliban troops repulse offensive in northern Afghanistan

January 22, 1997
Web posted at: 11:30 a.m. EST (1630 GMT)

CHARIKAR, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Taliban fighters on Wednesday repulsed a major offensive launched by opposition forces to retake a provincial capital in northern Afghanistan.

For six hours, jet fighters belonging to warlord Rashid Dostum bombarded the Parwan capital of Charikar as ground troops tried to push Taliban forces out of their front-line positions.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.

The Taliban religious militia, which has imposed its version of strict Islamic rule in two-thirds of Afghanistan, seized Charikar, about 30 miles (50 km) north of the Afghan capital of Kabul, last week. The Taliban has been trying to wrest the northern third of the country from Dostum and former Afghan government forces.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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