AFGHANISTAN - Nov. 25 - Taliban Prison Riot In Mazar-i-Sharif.

The Pentagon confirms that US forces help about 500 Northern Alliance fighters under the control of Gen. Dostum to regain control of Qala-i-Jhangi, a mud-walled 19th-century fort 16 km west of Mazar-i-Sharif, used to hold the Taliban prisoners. About 300 of Taliban captives, mostly Arabs, Pakistanis and Chechens, stage a violent prison riot, battling the Northern Alliance guards with machine guns and grenades, with US jets dropping several bombs at the southern end of the fort. Reports say about 40 US special forces members also arrived at the fort to help put down the rebellion. Agence France-Presse reported a US adviser was killed during the uprising. But US officials denied the killing. There were reports of high casualties among the Northern Alliance guards and the prisoners. On Nov. 27, the revolt was put down completely. (The uprising was staged by the so-called Arab-Afghans, foreign fighters who came to the country as volunteers to fight alongside the Taliban and Al Qaida. As the Taliban disintegrated across the northern half of the country, abandoning Kabul on Nov. 13, the presence of the thousands of foreign troops made it difficult for the Northern Alliance to strike surrender deals with remaining Taliban forces, because the foreign fighters are widely loathed. The continuing reports that foreign fighters have little chance of staying alive, if they surrender, and the international expressions of concern, prompted Northern Alliance Pres. Burhanuddin Rabbani to tell reporters at a news conference in Kabul on Nov. 25: "These foreigners who ask pardon from us, we will hand them over to the United Nations". He also said he was prepared to "hand over power" to a multiethnic governing council). Also on Nov. 25, the Northern Alliance confirmed the death of Juma Namangani, a foreign fighter believed to have been a top associate of Bin Laden. He was the military commander of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. (Namangani, whose real name was Jumaboi Khojiev, waged a guerrilla war against the secular regime of the Uzbek Pres. Islam Karimov).