KABUL. Feb 1: Taliban religious fighters captured a strategic valley Friday, opening an important route from the Afghan capital to the country's northern region, reports AP.

Fighting was reported overnight in the Ghorband Valley. Taliban leader Abdul Wnahld said 500 Taliban fighters chased about 50 soldiers un der the command of northern warlord Rashid Dostum out of the valley.

Taliban soldiers were patrolling the Ghorband Valley Friday night. Shops were open and there were no signs there had been heavy fighting. "We captured this valley without any resistance." Whahid said.

Some residents of the Gor-band Valley reportedly Joined the Taliban in fighting against Dostum's forces. The local population is largely Pashtun, the same ethnic group from which most of the Taliban fighters are drawn.

Beyond the Ghorband Valley lies Mazar-e-Sharif. a stronghold of the anti-Taliban alliance led by northern warlord Rashid Dostum and former military chief Ahmed Shah Massood.

The Taliban army, which has imposed its version of strict Islamic rule in two-thirds of Afghanistan, has been trying to wrest the northern one-third from Dostum and former government soldiers.