Northern Alliance Requests US Weapons To Defeat Taliban

The Northern Alliance has requested the United States to provide them with armaments in order to defeat the Taliban movement, Curt Weldon, a prominent American Congressman and a member of the Armed Services Committee of House of Representatives of US Congress, was quoted as saying. In his words, spokesmen for the Northern Alliance claim that their troops can inflict damage to the Taliban regime all by themselves. At the same time, they request the United States to provide them with armaments including ammunition, communications systems, long-range artillery, missiles and anti-tank rockets, as well as anti-aircraft systems, as soon as possible. The Congressman stressed that the Northern Alliance asked to start the supplies immediately because the Alliance's operation against the Taliban should be conducted within the next two months before the winter. Leading the US Congress delegation, which included 11 people, last week Curt Weldon visited Russia, Italy and Turkey. In Rome, he met with Afghan former King Mohammad Zahir Shah. According to the Congressman, the meeting with the former King was attended by the King's son and grand-son, and ten Northern Alliance's field commanders. Apart from the necessity of urgent arms supplies from the USA, the field commanders also stressed the importance of the American air support. Spokesmen for the Northern Alliance showed much interest in the possibility of US "special operations" in Afghanistan, Weldon reported. At the same time, he refused to disclose the details of the aforementioned operations referring to the confidence of the negotiations.