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Alliance halts advance on Kabul, takes Herat

A Northern Alliance tank moves through the village of Rabat, Afghanistan, near Bagram, on Tuesday.

JEBAL SERAAJ, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The Northern Alliance halted its drive toward Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Monday and captured the western city of Herat from the ruling Taliban.

After a weekend of dramatic gains in northeast Afghanistan, aided by heavy U.S. bombardment of Taliban positions, the Northern Alliance stopped just six kilometers (four miles) from Kabul, opposition Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said.

"We stopped because we didn't want to move into Kabul," Abdullah said.

"We don't want to see any fighting inside Kabul," he said. "Kabul is already destroyed, more than half, as a result of the fighting of the past years, and the civilians have suffered enought -- more than enough. They cannot take any more."

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U.S. officials have urged the opposition not to take Kabul until more can be done to form a broad-based government to replace the Taliban.

Afraid of the alliance

Meanwhile, some Kabul residents told CNN they were unhappy with the possibility of the Northern Alliance taking control of the city.

Some Afghans have said they experienced hardships while the Northern Alliance governed Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996, as the organization's factions frequently battled each other. Some Kabul residents were reported fleeing the city, fearing a Northern Alliance move into Kabul.

Opposition troops launched a ferocious artillery attack toward Taliban positions north of Kabul on Monday. Taliban gunners were firing back, but the shelling was short-lived. U.S. aircraft aided Monday's advance by striking along the battlefront. Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the mountain ridge on which Taliban troops were entrenched. American warplanes, including at least one B-52, launched overnight raids on Bagram, about 63 kilometers (39 miles) north of Kabul, and lighter raids continued after daybreak Monday.

Street battles

Aided by a month of U.S. aerial bombardment, Northern Alliance troops advanced rapidly across northeastern Afghanistan over the weekend, claiming control of the key cities of Mazar-e Sharif and Taloqan since Friday.

The U.N. World Food Program said street battles persisted in Mazar-e Sharif, along with looting and the abduction of civilians, after the alliance captured the city from the Taliban on Friday.

The relief agency called on all combatants Monday to guarantee the safety of aid workers in the city and allow them to continue their work.

In Herat, meanwhile, independent sources told CNN that Northern Alliance forces took control of the city Monday afternoon after only light Taliban resistance. Taliban forces withdrawing to positions several kilometers south of the city near the airport, Iran's IRIB television network reported.

Earlier, Taliban officials acknowledged fierce fighting around the city but denied earlier reports of the city's capture.

About 20 Taliban soldiers were killed in the fight for the city, Northern Alliance sources in the Iranian capital Tehran said. The alliance also took control of the Shindand military base, south of Herat, and border crossings into Iran, west of the city, they said.

Before the alliance forces moved into Herat, IRIB reported that many of Herat's young men stormed the Taliban headquarters to take arms. They later stormed the city's prison and freed many prisoners, the network broadcast.