From: clarinews@clarinet.com (ANWAR IQBAL)
Newsgroups: acs.clari.news.gov.international,acs.clari.news.fighting,acs.clari.news.military
Subject: Rebel victory claim in Afghanistan worries U.N. officials
Keywords: international, non-usa government, government, fighting, military
Date: 14 Apr 92 16:57:26 GMT
Location: afghanistan
ACategory: international
Slugword: afghanistan
Priority: regular
Format: regular
ANPA: Wc: 585; Id: z3671; Sel: xxigf; Adate: 4-14-1255ped
Codes: yigfrxx., yif.raf., yim.raf.


	ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (UPI) -- A key airfield in Afghanistan was
reported to have fallen to rebel forces Tuesday, causing concerns that a
U.N.-sponsored peace plan to end the 13-year civil war may fall apart.
	The Afghan News Agency of the Hekmatyar group of Mujahideen rebels
reported the fall of the Bagram airfield, one of the most important
airbases in Afghanistan.
	According to the agency, the Mujahideen launched attacks on bases in
Parwan Province earlier this week and achieved their first major victory
Monday night by capturing the Sanjet Dara base.
	Tuesday morning, the agency said, they also captured Gharikar, the
capital of Parwan Province, about 30 miles north of Kabul, and
surrounded the Bagram airbase before capturing it Tuesday afternoon.
	Midia, another rebel news agency of the Rabbani group, said in a
dispatch from Parwan tuesday that Mujahideen of the supervisory council
of rebels had captured the headquarters of the 40th division of the
Afghan army and were moving towards Bagram.
	``The situation is fast changing in favor of the Mujahideen and they
are getting ready for a decisive victory,'' said Ahmad Shah Masoud, a
rebel commander, in a telegraph message from Afghanistan.
	Western diplomatic sources in Islamabad described such reports as 
``very worrying'' for U.N. officials, who crafted a peace plan calling
for a multi-party council to take power in Kabul prior to elections.
	One diplomat said he had also received reports of ``some Mujahideen
victories in the area'' but he was not sure whether the Bagram base had
fallen.
	``If the rebel claim is correct, the fall of Bagram may lead to the
collapse of the Kabul regime and encourage the hard-liners among the
Mujahideen opposed to a U.N.-sponsored negotiated settlement to the
Afghan problem,'' he said.
	In 1989, when Jalalabad, the second largest Afghan city, fell to the
Mujahideen after the withdrawal of the Soviet troops, Kabul took it back
in less than a month using Bagram as a base for air attacks on the
rebels.
	Military observers in Islamabad said fall of Bagram would greatly
reduce the air superiority of the Kabul regime.
	Benon Sevan, special representative of U.N. Secretary-General Boutros
Ghali, was expected to fly to Kabul wednesday to observe the new
situation, diplomatic sources said.
	Sevan arrived in Islamabad Tuesday after meeting Ghali in Geneva,
where the secretary-general announced the formation of an administrative
council to replace the present regime of President Najibullah.
	After a series of meetings with Sevan last month, Najibullah said on
March 18 he was willing to step down in favor of a U.N.-sponsored
interim government in Kabul.
	Recent reports from Kabul and New Delhi indicated Najibullah was
seeking political aslyum in India.
	``But the fall of a major base like Bagram may also make Najibullah
change his mind,'' said a diplomat, adding that Aafghan army commanders
may now rally around their president for a last battle with the
Mujahideen.
	Najibullah addressed military commanders in Kabul Monday and urged
them to support U.N. peace efforts and defend national security,
territorial integrity of the country and the new administrative council.
	The Afghan News Agency claimed that the rebels ``also captured huge
quantities of arms and ammunition as the majority of regime soldiers
surrendered to the Mujahideen along with their arsenal.''