Afghan Guerrillas Reportedly Capture Key Post, Open New Weapons Route

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Afghan rebels stormed and captured a strategic Soviet-Afghan garrison and opened a new, direct supply route for weapons, rebel spokesmen said Saturday.

They said the garrison at Barikot, in Afghanistan’s northeast Kunar province, fell Friday after a four-month siege.

Shortly before that, helicopters airlifted about five infantry and commando battalions, including a handful of Soviet advisers, from the installation, the rebels said.

There was no independent confirmation of the report.

If true, it would be a major victory for the anti-Communist rebels fighting the Soviet-backed government and would open a new supply route over the Pakistani border for weapons shipments.

Communist forces blew up a major ammunition dump inside the garrison, a rebel spokesman said.

The Afghan decision to abandon the outlying garrison suggests efforts are under way to shift troops from exposed positions in advance of next month’s start of a major Soviet troop withdrawal.