New airstrip opens at Jabal Saraj + N Alliance troops training

(4 Nov 2001) Golbahar, Northern Afghanistan 1. Plane coming in 2. Wide of onlookers on the ground 3. Wide of plane touching down Jabal Saraj 4. Various of tanks on exercise 5. Soldiers relaxing 6. Wide of anti tank gun firing 7. Dust cloud raised by shell 8. Various of guns firing 9. Tanks 9. Wide of gun fired from tank 10. Soldiers around tank 11. Tank firing 12. Shells hitting ground 13. Wide of tank firing 14. Soldiers running and filing 15. Various of tanks and guns STORYLINE: The appearance of an unidentified small plane wheeling in to land on a dirt strip in the desert of Northern Afghanistan on Sunday was being claimed as a logistical breakthrough by the Northern Alliance. For the past month, the Alliance forces have been working to create the landing strip at Golbahar, fifty kilometres (thirty miles) north of Kabul. At the moment, it is not clear what it could be put to: humanitarian aid, other supplies, military flights, bringing in foreign troops or even giving journalists access to the area. The Northern Alliance is still to confirm the destination of the airstrip. The Northern Alliance claims this is an important achievement for their operations in the Panjshir Valley and Shomali Plain. For long periods of time, particularly in winter when snow cuts off the land links, their only access has been by helicopter - and that depends on the weather. The opposition fighters say they hope to march on Kabul before the harsh winter takes hold and they say the airstrip is now a key component in those plans. Meanwhile, Alliance forces were on exercises near Jabal Saraj on Sunday. They were using their Russian vintage tanks and practised firing anti tank guns. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...