By Becca Morrison

& Ruth Arrowsmith

Staff Writer & Guest writer

The Taliban took yet another huge blow on Sunday when one of their two remaining Afghan strongholds, the city of Kunduz, fell to Northern Alliance forces.

Hundreds of people have died in Kunduz because of heavy U.S. air raids and shelling by the Northern Alliance. Many non-Afghan Taliban fighters loyal to bin Laden showed promise of radically fighting to the death for control of Kunduz. Consequently, the siege of the city continued for two weeks.

According to CNN, one surrendering Taliban soldier, Mazar e Shariff, detonated a hand grenade on Saturday, killing himself as well as two other Taliban fighters. He also succeeded in injuring a senior Northern Alliance commander. However, Northern Alliance General Baryalai later told the New York Times that, in general, the Taliban forces put up little resistance. ``Kunduz has fallen completely to our troops. We now control every part of the city,'' he said.

Taliban forces are surrendering to the Northern Alliance by the hundreds. CNN reports that Saturday at least 500 surrendered east of Kunduz. Four hundred more surrendered west of the city. Alliance troops ``warmly greeted former Taliban forces, shaking their hands and welcoming them to their territory,'' according to news sources from CNN.

The troops defecting told CNN they were demoralized by U.S. air strikes and were willing to join the Northern Alliance to fight against what remains of the Taliban.

Northern Alliance General Abdul Rashid Dostum told the BBC Sunday that 6,000 Taliban fighters had surrendered.

Taliban General Omar Mullah Muhammad surrendered with his troops on Saturday as well. General Dostum went on to say that their rights would be respected. The alliance is leaving it up to the U.N. to decide what to do with them.

The Washington Post received a different story from its news sources. It was reported to them that Alliance forces have ``brutalized'' the defeated Taliban soldiers. Many Alliance fighters wandered the Kunduz streets and randomly shot wounded Taliban soldiers who ``lay crumpled against store awnings''. Taliban prisoners were said to be piled into pickup trucks, with their arms tied behind them, and children mocked them as they passed.

When interviewed by the New York Times, Northern Alliance leaders asserted that just as they took control of the Kunduz airport, a plane they believed was from Pakistan was about to land.

``The plane tried to land, but when it saw that our troops were in the airport, it turned away,'' General Baryalai said.

General Baryalai said four other planes had landed Sunday and succeeded in evacuating Pakistani militants caught in the city. Pakistani intelligence officials claimed that relatives of prominent Pakistani clerics were believed to be among men trapped in Kunduz.

If Pakistan left them to their fates they could face intense protests at the men's deaths.

According to the New York Times, the United States maintained control of the Afghan skies at the time of the arrival of the aircraft in question. It would have been extremely difficult for a Pakistani plane to get past U.S. radar undetected and: ``it makes no sense that we'd allow aircraft in to take them out,'' Lieutenant Colonel David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesmen said. Because of this claim, the origin of the plane is unclear. If it was in fact a Pakistani plane, the Pakistanis would have an undesired link to the Taliban.

A BBC correspondent reporting from the city's center described the city as relatively untouched, although the suburbs and Kunduz airport bore signs of heavy bombings. According to the BBC, people of Kunduz were ``festive'' as thousands milled through the streets.

Early Monday there were still reports to the BBC that skirmishes were breaking out between straggling Taliban soldiers remaining in the city. Shootings were heard near the airport.

The Taliban are still holding onto the southern city of Kandahar, but it seems fighting has started on the outskirts of the city between the Taliban and the Alliance.

Whereas at the beginning of the month the Alliance held control over a mere 10 percent of Afghanistan, currently they hold the entire northern half of the country.