Iranian planes in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD, Sept 11 (AFP) — Iranian military aircraft have landed at the Bamiyan city airport in northern Afghanistan within artillery range of advancing Taliban forces, independent sources said today.

The military aircraft began arriving yesterday, the sources said. It could not be immediately confirmed how many planes had landed, nor their type or what they were carrying.

The flights followed a Taliban appeal to the UN yesterday to halt Iranian interference in Afghanistan. This included supply of arms to pro-Iranian factions through the Bamiyan airport.

Foreign aid organisations had confirmed the Taliban militia were advancing towards Bamiyan. The Afghan Islamic Press had reported that the militia troops were about 10 km from the city, which is the last stronghold of the minority Shia Muslims.

A report from Dubai said Iran has vowed to avenge the killing of its nine diplomats in Afghanistan by the Taliban militia, squarely blamed Pakistan for the "ugly act" and ordered fresh military exercise along the Afghan border heightening tension.

"Both Taliban militia and Pakistan are directly responsible for the martyrdom of the Iranian diplomats who were kidnapped by the Taliban in Mazar-i-Sharif on August 8," official Iranian news agency IRNA said.

"The Taliban will have to pay a heavy price for this ugly act...Iran reserves the right to respond to this ugly and inhuman act by any means necessitated by its national security," the state-run television said in a broadcast.

"The responsibility of the massacre of Iranian diplomats directly falls on the Taliban and the Pakistan government which had assured Iran of the safety of the diplomats working in the consulate before the Taliban overran Mazar-i-Sharif," the agency said.

Teheran’s second phase of military exercise named "Zulfiqar-II" comes after its first exercise along the border last week amidst apprehensions that it was planning to attack Afghanistan over the missing diplomats issue.

The UN Security Council condemned the "heinous act" and demanded an "urgent" inquiry into the circumstances that led to the killings.

After urgent unscheduled consultations last night, council chief Hans Dahlgren asked Taliban to ensure the release of the two remaining diplomats believed to be in its custody.

Iranian Foreign Ministry asked the Taliban to transfer the bodies to Iran, arrest and bring to trial those responsible for the killings and immediately free all Iranian captives involved in humanitarian activities in providing relief to the war-stricken people in Afghanistan.

The Taliban yesterday confirmed the killings by its Young Fighters without the authority of the top leadership. "We have recovered nine bodies of the missing Iranians from graves outside Mazar-e-Sharif. They were buried along with the fighters of the opposition killed in fighting for the control of the city," Taliban spokesman Maulvi Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil said in a statement.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei issued a message of condolence and declared a three-day national mourning.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami met ousted Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani and told him that "the instability in Afghanistan was a threat on our borders and our national security".

Reports from Kandahar, Taliban’s headquarters, said the "Taliban top leadership was not consulted before the killings of the Iranians." The Taliban leadership has asked the UN to mediate.

However, the UN does not recognise the Taliban government in Kabul and continues to consider ousted President Burhanuddin Rabbani as the official head of the country. Meanwhile, reports from Afghanistan said the Taliban had launched a three-pronged attack on the Shia-dominated Bamiyan district, 40 km from the capital of the province.

Pakistan has condemned the killing of the diplomats and called for the remaining two members of the Iranian Consulate to be found, a DPA report from Islamabad said.

A statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman offered condolences to the bereaved families and hoped those responsible would be "apprehended and punished".