Taliban ‘not functioning as a government’

The Taliban has ceased to function as an effective government, America claimed tonight as the rebel Northern Alliance stepped up its assault on one of the regime’s key strategic strongholds.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the Taliban was still able to wield power in ‘‘enclaves’’ where its military forces were concentrated, but that its overall control of Afghanistan had gone.

‘‘The Taliban is not really functioning as a government as such,’’ he told reporters after talks in Islamabad with the Pakistani leader, General Pervez Musharraf.

Mr Rumsfeld’s upbeat assessment of the effects of the four-week bombardment by US warplanes came as Tony Blair was hosting a mini-summit of key European leaders in Downing Street to discuss progress in the campaign.

French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, Germany’s Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Prime Ministers Jose Maria Aznar of Spain, Silvio Berlusconi of Italy and Guy Vershofstadt of Belgium - who is also the current holder of the EU presidency - were gathering at Number 10 for talks.

Mr Blair’s official spokesman said the meeting, which was also being attended by the EU’s high representative Javier Solana, was intended to enable the main European military contributors to the coalition to ‘‘swap notes’’.

Although the spokesman insisted the talks did not represent a ‘‘big new initiative’’, it comes as the Northern Alliance appeared finally to be making some progress against the Taliban.

The alliance said that a major offensive had been launched towards the key northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, after US warplanes had pounded the Taliban lines earlier in the day.

The assault was said to have brought together three different alliance commanders - including Uzbek warlord Rashid Dostum, Atta Mohammed of the Jamiat-e-Islami faction and Shi’ite Muslims led by Mohammed Mohaqik.

If the Northern Alliance were to capture Mazar-e-Sharif it would be a much-needed boost for the US-led coalition amid growing criticisms that the military campaign lacked direction.

As well as controlling supply lines in the region, Mazar-e-Sharif also has a military airfield which could provide a forward base for British and US ground troops to mount search-and-destroy missions in the country.

Mr Rumsfeld, who is touring states bordering Afghanistan, said the Taliban was no longer making ‘‘major military moves’’ and was now confined largely to ‘‘static positions’’.

He said however that the Taliban was still ‘‘using their power in enclaves throughout the country to impose their will on the Afghan people’’.

Earlier, during a stop in Uzbekistan, Mr Rumsfeld said the campaign was also producing results in terms of Osama bin Laden’s al Qaida network.

‘‘The effort to deal with the problem of terrorist networks is proceeding. It is, we believe, proceeding at a pace that is showing measurable progress,’’ he said.