Fierce fighting around key city

Nov. 8 ? Taliban and anti-Taliban forces reported Thursday they were engaged in heavy fighting outside the strategic city of Mazar-e-Sharif, with U.S. bombing playing a major role. A Pakistani group backing the Taliban said 85 of its fighters were killed by the intense airstrikes ? the deadliest combat casualty report so far in the month-long campaign.

THE OPPOSITION Northern Alliance said it was poised to move in on Mazar-e-Sharif, now in Taliban hands. ?Our troops are positioned eight kilometers (five miles) from Mazar-e-Sharif airport to the southeast and 50 kilometers (30 miles) to the southwest,? said Ashraf Nadeem, an alliance spokesman. ?We will launch the two-pronged attack from the southeast and southwest.? U.S. special forces soldiers are accompanying opposition forces in the region to help direct airstrikes. Those men have confirmed the heavy fighting and even reported cavalry charges, with opposition fighters on horses going against Taliban armor, the Pentagon said. The alliance is also getting significant support from the U.S. bombing runs. A spokesman for Harkat Jihad-i-Islami, a Pakistani group helping the Taliban, told Reuters that 85 of its fighters were killed and many wounded in strikes south of Mazar-e-Sharif. Previously, the deadliest combat report had been a U.S. raid that killed 35 members of another Pakistani militant group in Kabul. THE OPPOSITION Northern Alliance said it was poised to move in on Mazar-e-Sharif, now in Taliban hands. ?Our troops are positioned eight kilometers (five miles) from Mazar-e-Sharif airport to the southeast and 50 kilometers (30 miles) to the southwest,? said Ashraf Nadeem, an alliance spokesman. ?We will launch the two-pronged attack from the southeast and southwest.? U.S. special forces soldiers are accompanying opposition forces in the region to help direct airstrikes. Those men have confirmed the heavy fighting and even reported cavalry charges, with opposition fighters on horses going against Taliban armor, the Pentagon said. The alliance is also getting significant support from the U.S. bombing runs. A spokesman for Harkat Jihad-i-Islami, a Pakistani group helping the Taliban, told Reuters that 85 of its fighters were killed and many wounded in strikes south of Mazar-e-Sharif. Previously, the deadliest combat report had been a U.S. raid that killed 35 members of another Pakistani militant group in Kabul.