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American Morning

Taliban Still Claiming Control of Kandahar and Surrounding Areas

Aired November 19, 2001 - 08:10   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Nic Robertson is one of the few western journalists reporting from territory still held by the Taliban. He joins us now by videophone from Spin Boldak, Afghanistan. What is the latest from there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Paula, Spin Boldak is a town just across the border from Pakistan. The Taliban have allowed us into this town, but they won't allow us to go further down the road, about another 70 miles to Kandahar. What we do know in this town is that there are still Taliban fighters around, that the Taliban still appear to control the situation.

Also local officials -- low-level officials here, tell us that they are in touch by radio and telephone with senior officials in Kandahar. The Taliban leader Mullah Omar's spokesman, Mr. Zai Tiabuga (ph), who is essentially in charge of the group of journalists here, has said, from Kandahar, that the journalists are not allowed to go on the road to Kandahar.

Now that -- for that reason and that reason alone, is the only indication we have that the Taliban still have some control over Kandahar and even over this border town. The indications are Taliban on the streets here under a situation in a -- in a slight -- in a slight sense of chaos, although not disarray.

The Taliban appear to control this town quite firmly, but beyond this town, we're absolutely not able to say at this moment, as we are not allowed to travel beyond the -- beyond the border of this town.

ZAHN: So Nic, do you think the Taliban plans to maintain control of this town or is the expectation it will fall too?

ROBERTSON: I think there is a large expectation, particularly among the Pashtun tribesmen that the Taliban will either lose the town to them or hand it over to them under pressure. But the indications we're getting from the Taliban at this time is that they still control Kandahar, and they're not giving us any indication this time that they're going to relinquish that control.

This border town, which again, I have to say it's the only place we can gauge the situation by, the Taliban do still appear to be in control. There are a number of armed fighters on the streets. It is still a Taliban official -- and officials at the passport control post -- but beyond -- again, beyond the edge of this town we're just not able to say anything.

ZAHN: Nic, the status of some western journalists is not clear this morning. They had some problems as they were traveling to Kabul. Give us some insights this morning as the kind of precautions you're taking with your own safety.

ROBERTSON: Well certainly tonight, there are no plans for us to travel overnight. Nighttime is particularly dangerous. This is a situation, of course, where size and alliances are changing and anybody traveling along the road needs to be very, very careful.

They need to be aware that perhaps in one town they leave, the Taliban may be in control, but the next town there may be another group of people in control or people along the highway who want to hold you up and either rob you or essentially shoot you, because as times change, as the situation ebbs and flows and alliances change, there's a situation where one side may not know who's coming along the road.

So you could be -- they may not know who you are. So there is a sense of danger from that point of view. But certainly this group of journalists is not traveling along the roads at night and certainly the Taliban are telling us that even with daylight tomorrow, they will not allow us to travel. So they're telling us that is for our security, but we don't know whether that is because they don't control the road or they just don't want to allow us into Kandahar.

But certainly, security is a great concern at this time. As long as the Taliban appear to be in control of this town, its security seems to be guaranteed, but out on the highways, that's where problems arise, either from bandits or from armed groups, you think you're from the opposite side and they try to shoot to kill.

ZAHN: Stay safe. Nic Robertson, thank you very much for that update.

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