Thursday October 18 9:52 AM ET

Afghan Taliban Deserters Offer Few Real Clues

By Mike Collett-White

JAHAM CHI, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Disgruntled Taliban fighters may have started defecting in small numbers to opposition forces in the north of Afghanistan but are offering few real clues to the real state of Taliban forces.

Defections back and forth across the frontline just north of Kabul are a common occurrence, and 10 fighters who said they fled the ruling Taliban militia recently fit the common pattern.

They were mainly ethnic Tajiks from northern Afghanistan, some of whom joined the Pashtun-dominated Taliban movement reluctantly when it overran their villages during fighting years ago.

Two said they were spies for the opposition while behind Taliban lines, and the local alliance commander paid for and coordinated their escape.

The deserters also made the dash across the lines before U.S. air strikes that were expected on their frontline positions.

``We came over the night before last,'' said Malang Shah, the 25-year-old leader of the small group.

``We had been in contact with the opposition by radio for about five years and we moved only when we knew that our families were safely across,'' the young turbaned fighter said while holding a Kalashnikov rifle.

All 10 have joined the opposition forces, also common in Afghanistan where shifting allegiances mean a soldier can end up fighting on several sides, to prepare for an assault on Kabul.

SLIP IN MORALE

But there was some encouragement for the opposition Northern Alliance, which likes to portray its enemy as an army in disarray, one about to implode under the pressure of nearly two weeks of U.S. air attacks.

Shah and his friends said they were part of a larger group of about 300 Taliban fighters planning to switch sides, and spoke of worsening morale among the movement as a result of the air attacks.

``The U.S. attacks have dented Taliban morale, and many others have deserted and fled to Pakistan and in other directions,'' Shah said. ``They started from the very first day of American attacks.''

Another member of the group, 28-year-old Abdul Mubin, said the economic situation in Taliban-controlled areas had deteriorated, with food and money running low.

The group crossed the frontline at night, carrying weapons including rifles, old rocket launchers and machine guns.

They arrived in opposition territory just hours before the United States made its first strikes against frontline Taliban positions in the early hours of Wednesday.

Washington blames the Taliban for harboring Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, the top suspect behind the September 11 hijack attacks.

The local alliance commander, Gul Muhammad, said he hoped that more desertions -- on a much larger scale -- would lead to the collapse of the Taliban and the fall of Kabul, but the opposition was still preparing for war.

``About 12,000 men are now being trained for an attack on Kabul,'' he said.

-- Anonymous, October 18, 2001