31.   The opposition said it captured villages on the western and northern outskirts of Kunduz, but that could not be independently confirmed.

32.   The militia also captured a village on another front, a Taliban official said.

33.   The ruling Taliban militia refused to confirm or deny the account but said its forces were advancing and had captured a village on another front.

34.   The rebels had been trapped in Pervomayskaya for a week, and repeated Russian attempts to capture the village had failed in the face of their bitter resistance.

35.   The Serbs made no claim to have captured the village.

36.   The SPLA captured the villages from government forces last week, he added.

37.   Within days, Serbs captured the village and arrested his entire family.

38.   He said his forces had captured the villages of Haji-Lar, Parviz-Khan, Gaslan, Darband, Beiluleh and Sarlak in the area.

39.   His troops are said to be making headway capturing one village after the other even if it means destroying all standing buildings.

40.   In the last week, the Russians have stepped up the rocket and bombing campaign against the rebels in preparation for a ground assault to capture the village.