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A fragile calm returned Friday to the streets of the besieged opposition stronghold, Mazar-e-Sharif, after days of looting by marauders and shelling by the Taliban religious army.
The quiet came after heavy shelling of Mazar-e-Sharif, 240 miles north of Kabul, that began before dawn and continued until about noon, aid workers in the city said.
The city, seized briefly by the Taliban in May, serves as the base for the alliance that controls the northern third of Afghanistan.
Its fall would deliver most of Afghanistan to the Taliban, which already rules the southern two-thirds of the country.
