Taliban retreat 'could be regrouping tactic'
The Taliban’s dramatic retreat could be a deliberate tactic to help them regroup, United States military officials have said.
It was ‘‘dangerous’’ to assume that the Taliban had collapsed following the sweeping advances by the Northern Alliance, Rear Admiral John Stufflebeem told a Pentagon briefing last night.
‘‘In previous conflicts against the Soviets many of them fought from and lived in the caves in the south so it could be that there is a place they can retreat to consider regrouping,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s been predominantly a guerrilla style war done from hidden positions and utilising caves that they may be familiar with, especially if they came from tribes from this part of the world.’’
He said the Taliban might feel they had a ‘‘place of sanctuary’’ in the south from which they can fight.
‘‘How effective that is has yet to be determined. We still believe we have a hard job in front of us and it may take some time.’’
The warning came after the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar used a radio broadcast to urge his scattered fighters to ‘‘resist the enemy’’.
In what is thought to have been his first comment since the start of the Taliban retreat, the one-eyed ruler urged his troops to regroup and fight, according to the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press.
The Soviet Union captured Kabul in just two days at the start of the 1979 campaign against the mujahadeen in what turned out to be the start of a protracted war that left them humiliated.
Rear Admiral Stufflebeem said that US forces would pursue Taliban troops where they could identify them, but said it was difficult to distinguish between Taliban and Pashtun tribes in the Southern parts of Afghanistan.
He said there were reports that some Taliban fighters had fled over the border to Pakistan.
He said there had been fighting around Kandahar between the Taliban and some of the Pashtun troops, but it was too early to say if any advances had been made.
It was also unclear how many of the Pashtun tribes were fighting against the Taliban.
‘‘All we know is that there are now multiple groups in opposition to the Taliban,’’ he added.
