Afghanistan's hardline rulers have claimed they have mobilised an additional 300,000 troops to help fight off any attack by the United States.
The claim came as Pakistan pulled out its entire diplomatic staff from its embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Pakistan authorities were at pains yesterday to stress that despite the withdrawal, it was not cutting diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.
The move was seen last night as another sign that the United States is nearer the point of making its first strike on Afghanistan.
The Taliban Defence Minister, Mullah Obaidullah, said yesterday that as well as 300,000 extra troops, hundreds of thousands more are signing up to help fight a jihad against any US invasion.
While he did not reveal the current size of the army, defence analysts estimate it to be not more than 45,000 and say it may be depleted by defections as concern over threatened US military action mounts.
In a statement Mullah Obaidullah said: "All detachments of the national defence ministry are ready for the defence of their religion and country with full vigour and order." He said 300,000 well-experienced and equipped men have been stationed in the centre of the country, at borders and other significant areas.
A Pakistani specialist on the hardline Islamic movement, Mr Ahmed Rashid, said the Taliban has about 25,000 troops fighting in the north and about another 20,000 in the south. "They can forcibly conscript young men, but you're only talking about 10,000 or 15,000 there," he said.
Meanwhile a US military delegation has arrived in Pakistan to discuss plans for Washington's campaign against Afghanistan. The delegation is to discuss details of the military co-operation the United States is seeking from the administration of Pakistan's military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf.
It also emerged yesterday that Taliban fighters had recaptured a key northern district from opposition forces. The Northern Alliance confirmed yesterday that the whole of Zari district, about 60 miles south of the strategic northern city Mazar-i-Sharis had fallen to the Taliban.
Earlier, the main alliance commander, Gen Abdul Rashid Dostum, said the Taliban had staged a counter-attack to block further advances by the opposition towards Mazar-i-Sharis, which lies along the main route to the Uzbekistan border. The opposition currently holds less than 10 per cent of the country's land area.