The Taliban military forces abandoned the capital of Kabul early Tuesday, after the Northern Alliance forces launched a series of military offensives in the past four days, according to reports from Kabul.
All Taliban military compounds were abandoned. Afghan opposition forces entered the heart of Kabul on Tuesday in defiance of international pressure to stay out, the report said.
Columns of Taliban vehicles could be seen heading south beginning Monday night. The exodus continued after sun rise, said the witness.
"We have taken Kabul," shouted an opposition fighter as he stood with a group of fellow fighters on a street in the city center, the witness added.
The Taliban's offices in the city were deserted and some were being plundered by looters. Residents said some prisoners had broken out of jails abandoned by the Taliban.
Northern alliance forces began moving into the capital in pickup trucks loaded with soldiers armed with rifles and rocket launchers.
The Taliban forces, which took control of Kabul in 1996, were heading south toward the town of Maidan Shahr, about 40 kilometerssouth of Kabul.
( Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2001)
