World Notes

"It is a huge Soviet force. This is turning into the biggest offensive of the war," said Sayed Majrooh, head of the independent Afghan Information Center in Peshawar, Pakistan, last week. According to Majrooh, Soviet troops, backed by jet fighters and helicopter gunships, have been seizing strategic mountain passes along Afghanistan's rugged border with Pakistan. The objective is to cut once and for all the flow of arms and supplies from Pakistan to Afghan resistance fighters.

Western diplomats say that as of early last week, about 53 Soviet soldiers had been killed in the campaign. The rebels have suffered significant casualties. As many as 30,000 Soviet troops may be involved in the operation, which, according to the rebels, appears not to involve any Afghan army units. In addition, the Soviets enjoy overwhelmingly superior firepower. Said Majrooh: "The resistance has nothing to hit back with against something like this." There is some concern in Pakistan that the Soviet forces will be tempted to pursue fleeing Afghan rebels over the Pakistani border. Late last week Pakistan issued a strong protest to Afghanistan, accusing that country's warplanes of killing eleven people in a bombing attack on the Pakistani village of Sweer.