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The fall of Kabul
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| 13 November 2001 |
By Anthony Davis JDW Correspondent
Kabul
Following the collapse of Taliban forces north of Kabul and their subsequent overnight flight from the city, opposition United Front (UF) police and military units moved in to take control of the capital on 13 November.
Taliban lines north of Kabul broke in the afternoon of 12 November following repeated air strikes by US Air Force B-52H Stratofortress strategic bombers throughout the morning, combined with a two hour-long artillery barrage from UF forces and small arms exchanges prior to the final advance on the city. By 1600h local time, armoured units of the UF Guards Brigade were advancing south along the Old Road as lines of infantry units swept through Taliban positions on both sides of the highway. However, by that time Taliban forces appeared to be pulling back in something close to a rout leaving behind their fatalities and large quantities of equipment.
By nightfall, several thousand UF troops advancing across the Shomali Plain had reached Qarabagh town on the Old Road. While scattered fighting continued between UF advance elements and the Taliban rearguard the main advance halted for the night between Qarabagh and Kalakan.
While some UF elements appear to have entered the city before dawn, the main advance units halted at the Khairkhanah Pass where local taxis and later pedestrians streamed up the road to greet them.
The first hours of daylight revealed a power-vacuum in the city. In some quarters looting broke out immediately, while in others armed local pro-UF groups, using arms that had earlier been hidden, moved in to take control. A small number of Pakistanis and Arabs who had failed to escape during the night were hunted down and killed by local mobs. In the Shahr-e-Nao Park in Central Kabul, three Pakistanis were shot and beaten to death while jubilant crowds of local men and boys chanted "Death to Pakistan, death to Musharraff".
By the evening of 13 November there were a total of 6,000 UF security personnel in Kabul to maintain law and order and to protect the city.
Doctor Abdullah, UF Foreign Minister, said that Kabul was now administered by a military and security council headed by Defence Minister Gen Mohammad Fahim. Dr Abdullah also stated that the UF was not intending to send troops to take over Kandahar, but that the liberation of Kunduz province was important and that he expected it to happen soon.
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