: The Taliban claim to have captured a famous Pushtun commander, Abdul Haq, south of Kabul. Huq refused to join the Taliban and was trying to organize anti-Taliban opposition. The Taliban said that at one point US helicopter gunships attempted to help Haq escape. But the Taliban troops, who had been stalking Haq and his four companions for two days, arrested the Haq group at 2:30 AM. Like most reports from inside Afghanistan, there is no way to verify it. The Taliban will not allow any Western journalists inside the country and there are few foreign aid workers left either. Even the few Islamic journalists in the country have their movements severely restricted. The UN and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) has become a growing source of positive propaganda for the Taliban. Initially, the UN aid groups protected the entire concept of an attack on the Taliban (aid groups not caring what local terrorists do as long as they don't get in the way), as it disrupted aid operations. Next, NGOs protested the US food drops as inadequate and perhaps harmful (no proof if this.) Currently, UN demining experts are complain the American cluster bombs are littering the country side with unexploded bomblets because ten percent of the bomblets do not explode (ignoring the fact that the latest cluster bombs have a dud rate of less than one percent.) The US pays for most of the demining activity in Afghanistan.

The eight man special forces team operating with Northern Alliance forces near Kabul is kept out of site, especially from journalists in the area. When the American troops come to the front lines to coordinate air strikes, all journalists are first removed from the area. The bombing in the area of Kabul has been increasing.