Security is provided by an opposition militia, the Martyrs of al-Ariyeh Brigade, which is made up of Qah residents.

In the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980's, the marshes were an infiltration route for Iraqi opposition militias based in Iran.

In other cities, the police continued to struggle against opposition militias.

The opposition militias are more amorphous and at times there appears to be little communication between the opposition leaders and their followers.

However, Gamsakhurdia was soon overthrown by opposition militias which in 1992 installed former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze as the country's new leader.

Mr. Rumsfeld today rejected suggestions that the American war effort had not done enough to speed the opposition militias toward their goal of toppling the Taliban.

The opposition militias were initially organized and largely remained segregated according to regional affiliation and political backgrounds.

For nearly six weeks a brutal fight between Government forces and an opposition militia raged in the Brazzaville shantytowns.

The weapons were loaded, they said, because they are part of the opposition militia and had many enemies in the area.

The main focus of Iranian concern remained firmly fixed on Afghanistan, where the Taliban today captured the last major stronghold held by an Iranian-backed opposition militia.