Kabul - Taliban forces have captured the key northern city of Charikar after heavy fighting with troops loyal to opposition commander Ahmad Shah Masood, independent sources said yesterday.
The Islamic militia also seized back Bagram airbase, north of Kabul, which they had captured and then lost again within hours on Sunday. The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) later reported the fall of the town of Jabul Seraj, 80km north of Kabul, to the Taliban in their push toward Masood's Panjsher valley bastion.