The World - News from Dec. 18, 1988

A Soviet delegation opened a new round of talks on prisoner exchanges with Afghan guerrillas in Islamabad, Pakistan. The talks centered on the return of four Soviet soldiers held by the Muslim guerrillas in Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan province, a rebel delegate said. Radio Kabul, meanwhile, reported that “criminal extremists”--an apparent reference to the rebels--blasted a northeastern provincial capital with 1,500 rockets over the last three days. The radio said 15 people were killed in the attack on Mehthar Lam.