Russians ‘losing grip,’ Karmal drops from view

Press, 16 February 1980, Page 8

Russians ‘losing grip,’ Karmal drops from view

NZPA-Reuter Washington The American State Department: said yesterday that the Kabul Government’s control over big Afghan cities appeared to have deteriorated seriously and the Soviet troops now in the country were inadequate to restore the Administration’s authority.

The assessment was made public as more Soviet troops and equipment were reported to be pouring into Afgnanistan amid increasing evidence of stiffening rebel resistance and problems within "the Moscow-installed regime of Babrak Karmal. Quoting intelligence reports. .American officials said the city of Kabul itself lacked a functioning police force, and Soviet troops were looting shops and homes. Rebel forces were operating freely on the outskirts of the capital, they 7 added. The security situation m Jalalabad and Kandahar also seems to have deteriorated seriously, officials said. Additional Soviet armoured units had' been deployed to Jalalabad where artillerv fire could be heard day and night, they said. The rebels were even reported to be operating a checkpoint on the Jalalabad-Kabul road. A high-ranking State Department official said the present situation indicated that the Soviet Union did not have nearly enough forces in Afghanistan to restore control. The official said a further troop build-up was prevented by unusually bad winter weather that had cut off roads and passes in the mountainous country. The State Department has estimated that the Soviet

Union now has 95,000 combat troops in Afghanistan. As control over big cities seemed to be slipping, material and men were able to flow freely to rebel, forces inside Afghanistan because Soviet forces could not, shut the border with Pakistan, the American official said. “It is wide open,’’ he added. In Kabul, witnesses have reported that Soviet troops, tanks and two MiG-23 fight-er-bombers crushed an apparent rebellion last Monday at an Afghan Army gar-' rison at Cargha, 20km north] of the capital. In Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Commission has adopted a resolution condemning the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and demanding the troop’s immediate and unconditional withdrawal. And in Washington, an Afghan rebel leader, Zia Khan Nassry, met an adviser to President Carter and said later he had asked for be|tvyeen $2O million and $4O million in aid. Journalists in Kabul reported that Soviet soldiers and equipment were still being airlifted into Afghanistan and plunging deeper into the countryside. I Significant numbers of Russian troops are some 90km from the historic Khyber Pass leading into Pakistan, and also in Afghan

areas bordering the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, it was learned in Islamabad. There has been no hint of troop withdrawals in reaction to calls for a widespread criticism of the intervention by the non-commun-ist world, the journalists said. State Department officials said that the talks this week between the Indian Prime Minister (Mrs Indira Gandhi) and the Soviet Foreign Minister (Mr Andrei Gromyko) indicated Moscow had little intention of withdrawing its forces. Reporters who have managed to reach north Afgha-

nistan near the Soviet border said Soviet troops are also tightening their hold on the Muslim guerrillas’ mountain strongholds.

Informed sources in Kabul said Soviet leaders have placed a high priority on reconstructing the Afghan Army, reportedly reduced by large-scale desertions to the rebel cause, and on shoring up the new Afghan Government.

But the Politburo of the Afghanistan People’s Democratic Party has not met for two weeks now and Mr Karmal, who took power in the December 27 coup, has almost disappeared from public view. Only passing references to him have been made in the “Kabul Times,” and he has had only one reported meeting in the past week — on February 7, with Shalendra Kumar Singh, special envoy of the Indian Prime Minister.

There was no photograph published of the two men together, and an Afghan communique on the talks between Mr Singh and regime leaders did not mention Mr Karmal at all.

The lack of political activity has triggered rumours of in-fighting within the regime, and there have also been reports that Soviet officials are unhappy with Mr Karmal and looking to replace him.