ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Fighters of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban have gained ground in fighting against opposition troops battling for days to advance on the key northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif, an opposition official said on Saturday.The Taliban troops launched an offensive early on Friday to push back opposition Northern Alliance soldiers aiming to capture the strategic town.
``They have captured a small amount of territory, but we are still holding the Marmul area,'' opposition spokesman Mohammad Habeel told Reuters by satellite telephone, referring to a town and district some 20 miles southeast of Mazar-i-Sharif.
On Friday, Taliban Information Ministry official Abdul Hannan Himat said his forces had taken back Marmul.
No independent confirmation of the claims and counterclaims by the rival sides was possible.
However, Habeel said the situation was normal at the northern front line on Saturday. ``There was no fighting today.''
Years of skirmishes around Mazar-i-Sharif since the city fell to the Taliban in 1998 have solidified into more focused assaults in the last few days. (Read photo caption below)
This has enabled fighters of the opposition Northern Alliance to claim an advance toward the airport as 13 days of U.S. air raids take their toll on their Taliban opponents.
Were the town and surrounding areas to fall, the opposition would be closer to opening up key supply routes running south toward the capital, Kabul.
It would also be a huge blow to morale for the Taliban, which is the target of a U.S.-led military campaign involving daily air raids and the deployment of special forces.
The stakes have prompted the Taliban response.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Afghans ride horses near the river Kokcha not far from Charatoy in northern Afghanistan October 19, 2001. Under pressure from days of U.S. aerial attacks, Afghanistan's ruling Taliban sent a mission across the front line to the opposition Northern Alliance to request a truce but were rebuffed, an opposition leader said. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)