Pakistan Premier in Kabul As Rebel Stronghold Falls
| ISLAMABAD, Pakistan
PAKISTAN Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif flew to Kabul yesterday to visit the men who will be running neighboring Afghanistan for the next two months. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Mr. Sharif went at the invitation of Sibghatullah Mojadedi, president of Afghanistan's ruling interim council.
The new Islamic government in Kabul began to restore order to the capital yesterday after forces loyal to the mujahideen council attacked and captured the last remaining rebel stronghold in the city.
Sporadic fighting continued Wednesday on the southern outskirts of the city, and tank and cannon fire could occasionally be heard. A haze of smoke hung over the capital from the buildings set ablaze during fighting in the southern neighborhoods.
Prime Minister Sharif traveled from Peshawar, in northern Pakistan, where he had been active in trying to arrange a cease-fire to stop fighting between rival mujahideen guerrilla forces in the Afghan capital.
Pakistan, home base to the Muslim guerrillas in their 14-year struggle for power, immediately gave formal recognition to the interim council as the government of Afghanistan.