Crackling radio dots and dashes from Kabul told finally, last week, why no messages had flashed for the past fortnight, gave gory details of King Amanullah’s fierce fight with the rebellious, besieging Shinwaris.
Shrewd Bachia Sakao, chief of the Shinwaris, had not only seized Mogubala Hill, overlooking Kabul, but had diverted a stream which furnished hydro-electric power to light the city and work the radio. For several days the whole of Kabul—even the legation quarter—was under rebel fire. Eventually the Shinwaris were driven back some 40 miles by loyal troops. Meanwhile Her Majesty the Queen Mother Ulya Hazrat flew out of Kabul by transport plane to Southern Afghanistan where she is especially popular, and besought the citizens of Kandahar to remain loyal.
From the Russian frontier loyal Afghan troops under War Minister Mohammed Vali Khan rushed to succor Kabul last week. Indomitable, they crossed by forced marches the high and snow-capped Hindu Kush, debouching at last upon the plain of Kabul. Throughout the week British army planes from India took off 20 white women from Kabul, mostly British and German, but including one honeymooning U. S. bride, Mrs. Carol Isaacson.
From London it was falsely announced that King Amanullah had been forced to abdicate in favor of 14-year-old Crown Prince Rahmatullah. From Moscow, Soviet President A. T. Kalinin despatched a “gift” of Red combat planes to aid Afghanistan’s hard-pressed monarch.
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