The World - News from May 1, 1985

Soviet troops, in recent weeks, have been committing atrocities against civilians in Afghanistan, with evidence showing that people were tortured, bayoneted and burned to death in reprisal raids, Western diplomats said in Islamabad, Pakistan. Terror tactics, the diplomats said, are aimed at discouraging civilian support for anti-communist guerrillas. New reports also indicated stepped-up fighting, with guerrilla forces said to have destroyed more than 150 military vehicles in a Soviet convoy. Soviet troop loss was termed heavy.