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- <text id=91TT2021>
- <title>
- Sep. 16, 1991: World Notes:Afghanistan
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1991
- Sep. 16, 1991 Can This Man Save Our Schools?
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- WORLD, Page 43
- World Notes
- AFGHANISTAN
- A Noose for Najibullah?
- </hdr><body>
- <p> Moscow's short, hot summer is threatening to bring an early
- autumn chill to Kabul. Facing economic and political collapse at
- home, the Kremlin is reviewing its largesse abroad. Boris Yeltsin
- openly opposes continuing aid to Afghan President Najibullah, and
- Mikhail Gorbachev, who discovered several proponents of continued
- support among those who plotted to overthrow him, is likely soon
- to pull the plug.
- </p>
- <p> Although Soviet cargo planes are still flying in, the
- Russian wheat they are carrying is actually supplied by the
- Indian government (purchased by New Delhi under a barter
- arrangement). Despite those shipments, Kabul is suffering from
- a major wheat shortage at a time when it usually stockpiles
- supplies for the long winter. Najibullah still has a formidable
- store of weapons but is facing a critical shortage of fuel. The
- price of gasoline has more than doubled in recent months, and
- Western correspondents report only a trickle of traffic on
- Kabul's streets.
- </p>
- <p> Sensing the time is ripe for a major mujahedin offensive,
- the U.S., Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have reportedly given the
- go-ahead to the guerrillas. Renewed military pressure on his
- already demoralized forces could soon add Najibullah to the list
- of victims of the Soviet putsch.
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
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