The fate of Afghanistan's besieged Taliban-held enclave of Kunduz hung in the balance on Wednesday despite reports of an offer by Taliban to surrender to the United Nations. Thousands of Afghan Taliban troops and Pakistani, Arab and Chechen fighters linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network are encircled in Kunduz, the fundamentalist militia's last redoubt in the north, facing daily U.S. bombing raids.
Taliban defectors and anti-Taliban Northern Alliance troops surrounding the city say Afghan Taliban fighters want to surrender but their al Qaeda comrades, aware they have nowhere to run, plan to fight to the death and are executing Afghans who want to give themselves up.

The Northern Alliance says it has suspended its ground offensive on the city while surrender talks go on, but U.S. planes have staged daily bombing raids. Meanwhile, there are also reports that the Pentagon has offered to pause bombing after reports of rising civilian casualties. Bureau Report