Militia Reportedly Retakes 2 Towns

The fundamentalist Islamic Taliban militia recaptured two strategic towns north of the capital, Kabul, in a major offensive, Taliban officials and a local news service reported. But the militia continued to face shelling from opposition forces still occupying hills near the towns of Golbahar and Jabal os Saraj, a Pakistan-based Afghan news service said. A senior Taliban official said the militia had taken Golbahar, and the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press later said forces loyal to opposition leader Ahmed Shah Masoud had also lost the nearby Jabal os Saraj. Masoud’s forces seized both towns from the Taliban in an offensive last week.