TEHERAN, Oct 11 (Reuters): An anti-Taliban Shiite Muslim militia said today its forces had captured a major town on the main road from the capital Kabul to the western city of Herat.
"At 5:30 this morning (0630 IST), we captured the capital of Ghor province Chaghcharan and also captured a large number of Taliban militiamen," a spokesman for the Hizb-e Wahdat militia, Seyyed Nasir Ahmad Alavi, told Reuters by satellite telephone.
If true, the capture of the town would be a major blow to the Taliban after the opposition Northern Alliance said yesterday that Taliban troops had surrendered their main supply route from Kabul to their fighters in the north of Afghanistan.
The road to Herat is the only other supply route from Kabul to the north.
Alavi said fighting was continuing as Taliban forces withdrew towards Herat in the west.
Hizb-e Wahdat forces were pursuing them, he said.