-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Taliban: Unmanned Plane Shot Down By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer KABUL, Afghanistan (news - web sites) (AP) - The ruling Taliban said its fighters shot down an unmanned reconnaissance plane Saturday in northern Afghanistan, where the opposition reported heavy fighting with forces of the hardline Islamic leadership. The Taliban's official Bakhtar news agency said investigators were trying to determine what country launched the plane. The aircraft was shot down over the Tashgurgan Pass in Samangan province, which borders Uzbekistan. In Washington, Pentagon (news - web sites) officials refused to say whether the plane was American. Fears of a military confrontation with the United States have risen after the Bush administration accused exiled Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, in which thousands were believed to have died. Bin Laden has lived in Afghanistan since 1996, and President Bush (news - web sites) has demanded the Taliban hand him and his lieutenants over or face American military action. The Taliban rejected the demand and warned Afghans to prepare for holy war to defend the country. Addressing a joint session of Congress on Thursday, Bush also told the Taliban give the United States full access to terrorist training camps and release imprisoned U.S. aid workers, saying the demands were not negotiable. With fears of U.S. attack running high, five truckloads of Afghan men drove Saturday to the compound of the abandoned American embassy, threw rocks and bricks at the gate and screamed ``death to America.'' The embassy has been abandoned since 1988, when U.S. diplomats left the country in the final months of the war against Soviet occupation forces. As they face the prospect of an armed clash with the United States, the Taliban are also battling an alliance of opposition forces in the north. Opposition spokesman Mohammed Ashraf Nadim reported heavy fighting Saturday in the northern provinces of Balkh and Samagan, where the plane was reportedly downed. Nadim said two opposition fighters were wounded and at least 39 Taliban fighters were killed. The reports could not be independently confirmed. The Taliban control about 95 percent of the country. During a generation of civil war, hundreds of thousands of Afghans have sought shelter in villages and in neighboring countries, mostly Pakistan, Tajikistan and Iran. However, all three have closed their borders at the request of the United States. That has left tens of thousands of destitute Afghans stranded on their side of the three borders, many without enough food. ``The fear of military attacks on Afghanistan has caused a mass movement of people toward the borders,'' Amnesty International said Friday. ``It is imperative that the international community take responsibility for this and urgently address the unfolding humanitarian crisis.'' The situation is also grim in Kabul. Doctors at the city's Children's Hospital said the number of patients has fallen dramatically because families have take them from the dilapidated clinic, presumably because the families plan to flee the capital. ``We have only one week's worth of medicine left because the borders are closed,'' said Dr. Saleh Rehman Rehmani. ``I am worried what will happen once the fighting starts.'' Standing in a hallway of the hospital, he said: ``I appeal to America that its mighty forces should not attack this impoverished country.'' *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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