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What Makes Mazar-e Sharif So Significant?
Friday, November 9, 2001
(5:45 PM EST) (2245 GMT)
CNN Correspondent Ben Wedeman & CNN Military Analyst David Grange contributed to this report.

The Cable News Network
For weeks, retired generals and working journalists have referred to the "strategic" northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif. With Northern Alliance forces having at least partially captured this small, war-battered city on Friday, many still wonder: What's so important about Mazar-e Sharif?

Situated about 100 miles from the Uzbekistan border, Mazar-e Sharif is hardly a central city in Afghanistan, nor is it the country's most populated or industrialized. It is not a Taliban stronghold like Kandahar or a political symbol like Kabul.

But in a country with only a handful of major cities, experts say Mazar-e Sharif serves a crucial role in supplying the Taliban and holding back opposition forces. Several military, political and psychological factors, they add, could make the city the first domino in the downfall of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban.

By the numbers:
1. Timing
2. 'Land bridge'
3. Air bases
4. Cutting off the Taliban
5. Psychological impact
(More: CNN.com News Source)
2001 © Cable News Network LP, LLLP.

Dan