KABUL – Northern Alliance forces who marched into Kabul in defiance of international pressure began taking control of Afghanistan’s capital Tuesday, setting the stage for the return of the nation’s pre-Taliban president within a day. Alarmed by the swift capture of Kabul by opposition leaders whom it does not want running the country, the United Nations was already sending representatives to Afghanistan in an urgent effort to cobble together a broad-based government acceptable to all factions.
Witnesses said the capital had already been divided between two alliance factions. Fighters loyal to pre-Taliban President Burhanuddin Rabbani took the downtown area, while the Shiite Hezb-i-Wahdat group had taken the southwest. Rabbani said he would return to the capital as early as Wednesday.
The alliance’s foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah, said from Kabul that all Afghan factions — except the Taliban — had been invited to the capital to negotiate a post-Taliban government. The alliance has also asked the United Nations to send “teams” to help the peace process, he said.
An alliance commander, Gul Haidar, ordered his troops not to loot. “We should make sure that there is no problem for the people and no theft happens,” he told his fighters.
Many residents were rejoicing at the Taliban’s ouster, Western journalists in the city reported. Residents honked car horns and rang bells on their bicycles, a few shouting, “Down with the Taliban!” and “Welcome the Northern Alliance!”
In a rickety old blue bus, one woman quickly flipped her burqa up over her head. Male residents who were gathering around a group of Northern Alliance soldiers laughed. One young soldier gestured to other women to take off their burqas, the traditional heavy veil mandated by the Taliban. Elsewhere, clean-shaven men rubbed their faces. An old man with a newly trimmed gray beard danced in the street holding a small tape recorder blaring music to his ear. The Taliban had banned music and ordered men to wear beards.
But other residents appeared dazed and confused, nervous about what to expect. Small-arms fire continued to erupt Tuesday morning in some parts of the city, apparently coming from Taliban troops who had not managed to leave or had chosen to make a last stand. International officials feared reprisal and widespread atrocities.
