Rebels Assault Kunduz; Talks in Doubt

Nov. 23 -- Taliban commanders may have agreed to surrender Kunduz to the Northern Alliance during talks in a city 100 miles away — but amid conflicting reports, fighting continues in the regime's beseiged northern stronghold.

ABCNEWS' Don Dahler reports that there is tank, artillery and small arms fire all around Kunduz, the Taliban's last remaining stronghold in northern Afghanistan, but spokesmen for various Northern Alliance ministries are giving differing accounts of the outcome of talks between representatives of the regime and rebels in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

A spokesman for the Northern Alliance's defense ministry told ABCNEWS on Thursday that the talks had failed, ending hopes raised by reports from around the region that an agreement had been reached for a peaceful settlement of the standoff around the city.

But The Associated Press reported that several rebel spokesmen said a surrender agreement has been reached. Under the deal, Afghan fighters would be allowed to safely leave the northern city. Meanwhile, the thousands of foreign mercenaries fighting for accused terror mastermind Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network would be put in "filtrations camps" until the alliance and the U.S.-led coalition can decide what to do with them

According to those spokesmen, the fighting in the city broke out because of a failure of communication. They said that the city could be turned over as soon as Saturday.

A spokesman for the Pentagon was skeptical that a peaceful resolution had been reached, saying that there were similar rumors on Wednesday and nothing came of them.

Rebel troops began shelling the city late on Thursday, and tanks were roaring towards Taliban defensive positions along with hundreds of Northern Alliance troops, apparently signaling the start of the offensive that the opposition has been threatening if talks failed.

Opposition commanders had said all week that they hoped to avoid a full-fledged siege of the city because of the toll it would take on the civilian population.