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American Morning

America Strikes Back: Pentagon Denies Taliban Claims of Helicopters Being Shot Down

Aired October 22, 2001 - 10:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The Pentagon, vehemently denying Taliban claims that their forces shot down two U.S. helicopters over the weekend. In this CNN video tape, Taliban officials display what they call the wreckage of one of the choppers. Pentagon officials outright reject the claims as lies.

And with another new development from the region, let's go to Walter Rodgers live in Islamabad, Pakistan for the very latest on what we're hearing, again on this Monday.

Walter, hello to you.

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.

As U.S. Airstrikes resume against Afghanistan, we are now hearing, according the Taliban, that they are in point of fact claiming the United States has killed over a thousand civilians. This is not corroborated, but a short while ago, a Taliban spokesman launched a counterattack -- a war of words -- a news conference in which he said over a thousand Afghans civilians have been killed during the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan.

He also claimed most recently that 100 people were killed in a hospital during a U.S. airstrike in the town of Herat in northwestern Afghanistan. The Taliban spokesman, Abdul Salam Zaeef, said "the United States is conducting its own war of genocide, terrorist attacks," these are his words, "terrorist attacks against Afghanistan merely because" he said "the Afghan people have embraced Islam."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDUL SALAM ZAEEF, TALIBAN AMBASSADOR TO PAKISTAN (through translator): So far, one thousand Afghan innocent civilian have been killed by American air raids. These include, men, women and children.

Today, a hundred-bed hospital in Herat was bombed by American and British planes. More than hundred people are reported to have been martyred.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODGERS: Now, of course, in all of this, the Taliban is also claiming that it shot down two U.S. helicopters, and earlier today, it invited a CNN news team in Afghanistan -- Afghan nationals -- to come and take pictures of the wheels of the helicopter which the Taliban says it allegedly shot down.

One of two the Taliban claims to have downed over the weekend. Where's the rest of the helicopter? We cannot show that to you because the Taliban said, they only removed the wheels from the crash site because the rest of the alleged downed helicopter is sitting in a mine field.

Again, there is no independent confirmation of this, nor as yet any independent confirmation of the Taliban claims of the strike against the hospital. But what the Taliban is apparently doing at least in terms of claiming that the helicopters were shot down, Taliban appears to be trying to boost the morale of its own forces which have suffered mercilessly under a pounding of U.S. bombs for over two weeks now. Bill?

HEMMER: Alright, Walter. Walter Rodgers live in Islamabad. We will go to the Pentagon shortly. Again, the Pentagon flatly denying that claim that it shot down any U.S. aircraft.

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