Russia's representative to the United Nations Sergey...

Russia's representative to the United Nations Sergey Lavrov expressed concern about the execution of prisoners of war and civilians in Afghanistan. Lavrov suggested that Russia could raise an issue for the imposition of new sanctions on Afghanistan. Sources at the Russian Federation Security Council do not rule out the possibility of massive bombardments by the Russian and Uzbek air forces against the Taleban if their "aggressive raids become large-scale in character." By this Moscow was evidently referring to the activation of assistance to the Chechen gunmen by the Taleban and Osama Bin Laden, their "godfather." The UN was demanding that the Taleban cease the armed conflict and extradite the terrorist Osama Bin Laden. In November 1999 Taleban accounts in foreign banks were frozen and the Afghan airline was banned from making international flights.