Hundreds of Taliban Surrender at Kunduz

Nov. 24 -- As the booming sounds of battle continue to emanate from the besieged northern Afghan city of Kunduz, the opposition Northern Alliance claims Taliban forces trapped there are starting to surrender.

Northern Alliance officials say more than 1,100 of perhaps 13,000 Afghan and foreign soldiers believed to be defending the last Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan either surrendered or switched sides today, the Associated Press reported.

At the same time, it is believed thousands of non-Afghan Taliban fighters remain among the forces holding the city, vowing to fight until death to defend it — even as the Northern Alliance surrounds the city, poised to attack, and the U.S. targets them from the air with bombs.

The U.S. has been attacking the Taliban since Oct. 7 because it refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, believed to be the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Deal for Foreigners’ Surrender?

Part of the resolve of the foreigners — mostly Arabs, Chechens and Pakistanis — is believed to be based upon fears they will be killed if they surrender to the Northern Alliance. But today, the Alliance's defense minister told ABCNEWS that a deal has been reached to allow the foreign fighters to surrender.

Defense Minister Atiqullah Baryalai said that the Alliance has opened a corridor out of Kunduz toward the city of Mazar-e-Sharif. In the corridor, foreign fighters will be separated from Afghans, with the Afghans allowed to go home and the foreigners given into the custody of the United Nations. Baryalai said this afternoon that at least 600 fighters have left the city via the corridor.

However, Fred Eckhard, a U.N. spokesman, said that with only a half-dozen humanitarian workers in Mazar-e-Sharif, "it'd be unrealistic to think they can take custody of hundreds of prisoners of war."

Echard said the U.N. is talking to Red Cross, which normally handles prisoner-of-war exchanges, to see what they can do. But he added that the Red Cross is not in the business of holding prisoners of war, and as victors, the Northern Alliance should receive the prisoners and deal with them according to international law.