------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> <FONT COLOR="#000099">FREE COLLEGE MONEY CLICK HERE to search 600,000 scholarships! </FONT><A HREF="http://us.click.yahoo.com/47cccB/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/zgSolB/TM";><B>Click Here!</B></A> ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Friday September 14 12:02 PM ET Afghan Leader Masood Dies From Bomb Wounds - Report ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The legendary Afghan guerrilla leader Ahmad Shah Masood died on Friday from wounds suffered in a suicide bomb attack last Sunday, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press said. The agency, which has good contacts on both sides of the Afghan civil war, said the veteran commander had died inside Afghanistan. His whereabouts had not been known since the attack. ``Ahmad Shah Masood, after a few days of struggling between life and death, finally died today,'' AIP said, quoting ''reliable sources'' in the anti-Taliban opposition. Masood, the chief military obstacle to the Taliban's conquest of all of Afghanistan, had been hit by shrapnel from a bomb detonated by two Arabs posing as journalists, his aides said. His intelligence chief General Mohammad Fahim had been named as his temporary replacement. ____________ EARLIER.... ____________ Tuesday September 11 11:03 AM ET Taliban Crank Up Offensive, Masood Fate a Mystery By Syed Salahuddin KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban launched a fresh offensive on Tuesday as the chief of the rival forces against it said their legendary military chief Ahmad Shah Masood had been seriously wounded in an assassination attempt. Amid rumors that Masood had actually been killed in the Sunday attack, President Burhanuddin Rabbani said he had named intelligence chief General Fahim to stand in for the guerrilla leader and doctors were recommending he be taken to Europe for treatment. Rabbani told Reuters by satellite telephone from northern Afghanistan that Masood was under treatment in a hospital in the area and there was no danger to his life. ``Since the extent of the blast was severe ... doctors have barred him from speaking for some time,'' Rabbani said. ``He can walk to some extent and eat and the doctors' advice was to send him to a European country for further treatment,'' Rabbani said, adding: ``He is fine.'' With the Taliban denying any role in Sunday's assassination attempt on Ahmad Shah Masood, his opposition alliance reported a fresh push by Taliban forces to dislodge its fighters from positions north of the capital Kabul. The sound of explosions could clearly be heard in the city on Tuesday. Iran's state-run television, meanwhile, announced that neighboring states who remain wary of the Taliban's purist Islamic rule in Afghanistan and influence in the region would meet soon in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan. It gave no date for the talks. Masood, 48, was the target of two Arab suicide bombers posing as journalists in his office in northern Afghanistan. He was the chief obstacle to the Taliban's conquest of the whole country. Some reports had indicated that Masood was killed but members of his alliance were adamant he was wounded and recovering. An opposition Internet Web site (www.payamemujihad.com) said Masood lost three fingers and suffered head and leg injuries but had walked unaided from the site of the blast to be taken to hospital. It also said his interpreter for the Arabic-language interview was killed and buried on Tuesday in the Panjsher valley, Masood's home area. It said Masood's ambassador to India who had been in the room who had to be carried out. ``Masood is still under treatment in a hospital in neighboring Tajikistan,'' Bismillah Khan, one of Masood's top commanders told Reuters by satellite telephone from a location to the north of Kabul. Another alliance official, Sayed Najibullah Hashimi, said from its capital of Faizabad in the north east that Sunday's blast had been caused by the Taliban and Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, who lives under their protection in Afghanistan. Both pro-Taliban Pakistan and pro-Masood Iran issued condemnations on Tuesday of the attack on the opposition leader, warning that it could only increase violence inside Afghanistan. The Taliban have denied involvement and had no immediate comment on Tuesday's offensive -- which followed several days of heavy clashes with Masood's forces in the same area. Khan said it focused on two main roads to the south of Panjsher valley, Masood's main stronghold and his native valley. The Taliban attacks, which involved a large number of troops and aerial bombardments, had failed, with dozens of Taliban fighters killed, he added. The United Nations still recognizes the opposition alliance and its official leader Rabbani as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Only neighboring Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates recognize the Taliban, who drove Rabbani and Masood from Kabul in 1996 and now control 95 percent of the country. CONFLICTING REPORTS Ahmed Wali Masood, Masood's brother, told CNN from London that the guerrilla commander had survived with a seriously wounded right leg, two pieces of shrapnel lodged in his head, burns to his face and injuries to his fingers. ``Now he can communicate, but of course not frequently. He can communicate from time to time,'' he said. U.S. officials said privately on Monday that intelligence reports indicated Masood, who first made his name fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, was dead. But the official U.S. line was that his fate was unclear. _________________________ Monday September 10 7:22 PM ET U.S. Officials Say Afghan Commander Masood Dead By Tabassum Zakaria WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Intelligence reports show the guerrilla commander who led the fight against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, Ahmad Shah Masood, died in a weekend explosion, U.S. officials said on Monday, amid conflicting comments about the opposition leader's fate. ``We believe he's dead,'' a U.S. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. ``Intelligence reports from the region and elsewhere say he's dead.'' A senior State Department official, also on condition of anonymity, said: ``We do think he's dead but we truly don't know for sure. You can have excellent intelligence ... but unless you have the body you can't really know.'' Members of Masood's alliance said their commander was being treated for minor wounds, and opposition spokesmen inside and outside Afghanistan denied an earlier report by Russia's Itar-Tass news agency that Masood had been killed. In Sunday's attack, a suicide bomber blew himself up after gaining access to Masood's office in the far north of Afghanistan. Masood's forces control about 5 percent of Afghanistan and are fighting the Taliban north of the capital, Kabul. ``We're sorry to see this attempt on the life of a key factional leader in Afghanistan. This could set back the search for a peaceful settlement of the decades-old war,'' State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said at a media briefing. ''The Afghanistan conflict cannot be resolved through violence.'' Responsibility for the attack was unclear, with the Taliban denying involvement. A secretary for Masood from the opposition stronghold in the Panjsher valley told Reuters that two Arab journalists were with Masood for an interview when one of them, who had attached explosives to his body, blew himself up. The suicide bomber was killed along with one of Masood's followers, and the Afghan commander's guards killed the second person posing as a journalist, the secretary said on condition of anonymity. He said they had not determined the nationalities or affiliation of the attackers. Taliban chief spokesman Abdul Hai Mutmaen said the Taliban were not behind the incident, which came a day after a powerful blast in Kabul wounded a number of people inside the Taliban's Interior Ministry. No one claimed responsibility for that attack, but the Taliban have blamed previous Kabul blasts on Masood. Theopposition says they are the work of dissidents within the Taliban. The Taliban government is recognized only by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. ``We have sought for years through multilateral and bilateral means to help end this conflict and establish a broad-based government that can rebuild the country in Afghanistan,'' Reeker said. ``We neither recognize nor support any faction as the government of Afghanistan.'' _________________ Monday September 10 2:46 AM ET Anti-Taliban Leader Masood Escapes Assassination By Syed Salahuddin KABUL (Reuters) - The guerrilla commander leading the opposition to Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, Ahmad Shah Masood, was receiving treatment Monday for minor injuries suffered in an assassination attempt, a spokesman said. But Masood's whereabouts was unclear after Sunday's attack in which a suicide bomber, reportedly posing as a journalist, blew himself up after gaining access to his office in the far north of Afghanistan. ``He is fine and in good health,'' a secretary for Masood told Reuters from the commander's stronghold in the Panjsher valley. ``He is in Tajikistan for treatment and we have nothing to worry about his condition.'' In neighboring Tajikistan, the Afghan embassy, which is under Masood's control, said the veteran leader was still in Afghanistan receiving treatment. It too said there was no concern for his condition. Masood, 48, is the chief obstacle to the Taliban hopes of ruling all of Afghanistan. After appearing near defeat a year ago, he has kept Taliban forces off balance by guerrilla attacks dotted across the northern half of the country. ``There were two Arab journalists with him for an interview at his office in Khoja Bahauddin (Takhar province),'' said the secretary, who asked not to be named. ``One of them had attached explosive devices on his body and blew himself up as a suicide bomber or devotee,'' he added. ``This person got killed on the spot along with a colleague of us and Masood himself received injuries on his leg, hand and chest. The wounds are minor ones,'' he said. The secretary said Masood's guards opened fire and killed the second Arab. He said they had not determined the nationalities or affiliation of the would-be assassins. Masood's forces control the north east of Afghanistan and are fighting the Taliban north of the capital Kabul, on the route toward the Panjsher valley, the commander's native stronghold. KABUL BLAST The attack on Masood came a day after a powerful blast in the Afghan capital Kabul wounded an unknown number of people inside the hardline Islamist Taliban's interior ministry. No one has claimed responsibility for that attack, but the Taliban have blamed previous blasts in Kabul on Masood. The opposition says they are the work of dissidents within the Taliban. Kabul is also the focus of international attention for the Taliban trial of eight foreign aid workers accused of promoting Christianity. The detainees -- four Germans, two Australians and two Americans -- were arrested more than five week ago on charges that could carry the death penalty. They made their first appearance in court Saturday and denied proselytizing. The Taliban government, recognized by just Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has been widely condemned for human rights abuses in enforcing their austere interpretation of Islam. Masood's anti-Taliban alliance is officially led by President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was driven from Kabul in 1996 but is still recognized by the United Nations as Afghanistan's leader. However, the key figure is Masood, who Soviet forces repeatedly failed to crush during the 1980s. Annual attacks on his Panjsher valley stronghold were repulsed and he became a romantic figure in the West. Masood is a member of the minority Tajik ethnic group, while the Taliban are rooted in the majority Pushtuns. Masood has drawn much of his strength from minorities that feel threatened by the Pushtun drive for dominance, mobilizing their communities to keep the Taliban pinned down. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
