Tajik forces of the Northern Alliance have halted surrender negotiations with Taliban militia besieged in the city of Kunduz but are not preparing an offensive, a commander said on Saturday. General Mohammad Daoud said that his troops were keeping up their siege but would allow civilians to leave the Taliban`s last northern bastion and militia fighters to surrender if they so choose. He did not rule out, however, an attack by Uzbek General Abdul Rashid Dostam, another commander of the Northern Alliance which groups various ethnic minorities who are often at odds with each other. Dostam directs the alliance`s operations northwest of Kunduz. The coalition`s Tajik and Uzbek factions are both battling for control of the besieged city when it is taken from the Taliban.
Daoud, who is in charge of the alliance`s operations on front east of Kunduz, said, “There are no more negotiations with the Taliban. But the siege of Kunduz is going to continue to allow civilians to leave the city and all militia fighters who so desire to surrender,” he said. The general did not set a time limit on the siege. Bureau Report