From an Indian news source; India and Pakistan are not friendly.

November 22, 2001

Pak Air Force choppers pull out commanders trapped in Kunduz

A K Dhar in New Delhi

Two Pakistan Air Force helicopters pulled out two of their top military commanders trapped in besieged Kunduz town, the last Taleban stronghold in northern Afghanistan, according to highly placed defence sources in Delhi.

The sources quoting eyewitness accounts from Northern Alliance commanders said the two helicopters flying low, landed in the heart of Kunduz town on Sunday and flew out soon after carrying two chopper loads of personnel.

The two officers, both of brigadier rank, were said to be part of a 1000-strong contingent of Pakistani army regulars trapped in Kunduz and were directing Taleban fighters in Kunduz and in Mazar-i-Sharif, the sources said.

They said these forces were part of Pakistani army units, seconded to Taleban ranks for command and control operations.

The rescue operations were mounted by Pakistan's elite Special Services Group.

This is the second time in recent weeks that reports have surfaced of Pakistani helicopters or aircraft undertaking 'mysterious missions' in Afghanistan.

Earlier, American television network CNN had reported a Pakistani Air Force plane landing in the Taleban's southern Afghanistan stronghold of Kandahar.

Defence experts in Delhi wondered how Pakistani choppers could have entered Afghan air space and landed in Kunduz with the US Air Force having tight control over the Afghan skies.

They said the operation could not have been carried out without a nod from the US.

"It has to be done with US connivance and, therefore, poses vital questions about America's aims and objectives," they added.

Highly placed sources, who confirmed the Pakistani operation, said it appeared that Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf might be able to strike a deal for safe passage for the remaining over 1,000 army personnel still trapped in Kunduz too.

According to defence ministry estimates in Delhi, Pakistan, before the start of the US air strikes, had stationed about 5,000 to 6,000 military personnel in Afghanistan. However, the bulk of them had been evacuated just before America commenced bombing in Afghanistan.

PTI

-- Anonymous, November 22, 2001

Answers

A little substantiation:

London Evening Standard Taliban "evacuated by Pakistani planes"

Planes from Pakistan are believed to have been evacuating Pakistani Taliban fighters from the besieged northern Afghanistan city of Kunduz.

The claim came amid fears that foreign fighters loyal to Osama bin Laden would stage a bloody last stand rather than surrender the city, the last Taliban stronghold in the north of Afghanistan.

Pakistani planes have been landing at the city's half-wrecked airport to take Pakistanis out said Northern Alliance spokesman Daoud Khan

In Washington, a spokesman for the US military - which controls Afghanistan's airspace - said there was nothing to indicate that any evacuation of Pakistani fighters was taking place from Kunduz.

Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf, has repeatedly appealed for measures to save Pakistani fighters who joined the Taliban side, fearing they face slaughter if the Northern Alliance seizes the city.

Alliance troops seized an outlying town yesterday without a fight. Alliance commanders have said they expect the city to surrender this weekend.

But the surrender deal they have repeatedly spoken of has so far failed to show signs of materialising.

But Khan said there were no reports of new fighting on the Kunduz front lines, and no US bombardment.

US officials in Washington say some of the fighters in the besieged city may be deputies and lieutenants to Osama bin Laden and to the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar.

-- Anonymous, November 24, 2001