41.   ITAR-Tass said the opposition troops fighting near Dushanbe had been on their way to assist fighters in Kofarnikhon.

42.   Omar warned his commanders that they would be punished under Islamic law if young boys were found carrying guns and fighting on the front lines against opposition troops.

43.   Opposition troops led by ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani and operating in the area said Friday that the Taliban had resumed its destruction of the statutes Thursday afternoon.

44.   Opposition troops led by ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani said today that the Taliban had resumed its destruction of the statutes yesterday afternoon.

45.   Opposition troops marched toward the shattered Afghan capital Wednesday, capturing a strategic base south of the city and moving their rockets within range of Kabul, authorities said.

46.   Opposition troops and Taliban soldiers waged a fierce artillery duel at the positions north of Kabul throughout most of the night, according to soldiers.

47.   Opposition troops led by ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani and operating in the area said Friday that the Taliban had resumed its work on the statutes Thursday afternoon.

48.   Opposition troops waged a bitter artillery duel with the ruling Taliban militia north of the capital for the second straight day Saturday, an opposition spokesman said.

49.   Other than a sniper who opened fire when the opposition troops returned for more bodies, the Taliban side remained eerily silent.

50.   Radio Kabul quoted unidentified Afghan government officials as saying Taliban forces pushed back opposition troops in the Razi district of Badghis province in northwestern Afghanistan.