Afghanistan Fighting for the Road to Khost

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White House Spokesman Marlin Fitzwater expressed disappointment that the Soviets had launched an offensive instead of beginning a troop withdrawal. In a White House statement, President Reagan congratulated Mikhail Gorbachev on being named TIME's Man of the Year, but he also called on the Soviet leader to announce firm plans for a pullout. The State Department, though, speculated that Moscow may be planning to withdraw even as the fighting intensifies. Said one official: "It's entirely possible that the Soviets are planning to shorten the withdrawal timetable while the military people in Kabul are plugging away at the war. That's what they're ordered to do."

Washington dispatched Under Secretary of State Michael Armacost to Islamabad for weekend talks with Pakistani leaders on ending the war. Washington and Islamabad will then present their views to the Soviets when United Nations- sponsored peace talks resume in Geneva, probably in February. While the U.S. and the Soviets both hope that the round will be the last, each side is holding to its position. The White House wants Moscow to withdraw completely in less than a year; the Soviets say they will do so only after the U.S. and other countries stop aiding the rebels.

At week's end Afghan government troops, backed by Soviet forces, penetrated the Khost blockade and Pentagon officials expected a second column to follow shortly. According to one line of Pentagon speculation, the Soviets "may be creating the circumstances to declare victory and go home." But even if they do precisely that, the rebels seem determined to maintain their supply routes from Pakistan and to secure enough weapons to continue fighting whatever Communist government the Soviets leave behind. The rebels may end their siege and melt into the rugged countryside around Khost, but they are virtually certain to return.