Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia captured the Kalafgan road junction in the northern Takhar province on Saturday in a campaign to subdue its opponents in the area, the private Afghan Islamic press reported.
A Taliban spokesman told the Pakistan-based news agency that the objective of the campaign was to capture Farkhar area where the leader of the opposition northern alliance, Ahmad Shah Masood, has a big military base.
The news agency said that the Kalafgan junction also leads to Badakhshan, the only province under the total control of the opposition. The Taliban hold sway over 95 per cent of Afghan territory.
The Taliban denied the opposition's claim that its fighters regained Yakawlang district in the central Bamiyan province. ''The real position is that our forces withdrew from the district headquarters to establish a frontline to the east of it. It is a deserted town now,'' a Taliban spokesman said to a news agency from Kabul.
Bureau Report
