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CNN Saturday Morning News

Hundreds of Taliban Fighters Surrender in Konduz

Aired November 24, 2001 - 08:01   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: It could be the beginning of the end at Konduz. That's the last stronghold of the Taliban in northern Afghanistan. Hundreds of Taliban fighters are surrendering a day ahead of the deadline.

And CNN's Satinder Bindra is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly it appears that the military balance in Konduz appears to be changing. As you can see over my shoulder, a large contingent of Taliban fighters, these are local or Afghan Taliban fighters, have surrendered. Over the past two to three hours, we've noticed tanks, trucks and jeeps come pouring across from the Taliban side into Northern Alliance territory.

Now, these fighters from the Taliban side are all heavily armed. They're carrying their weapons. Some of them are even believed to be soon bringing in artillery pieces. According to the Northern Alliance, two senior commanders will be surrendering, they say, later in the day. They will be bringing with them, the Northern Alliance says, more tanks and more artillery.

Now I've been talking to some of the fighters who've surrendered. They say they surrendered firstly because their commanders asked them to do so and then they say the U.S. aerial bombardment on them was very intense. They say that completely demoralized them and drove them on this side.

Now, these fighters are also telling me they're willing to fight alongside the Northern Alliance and they are willing to fight the remaining Taliban who are still stuck in Konduz. We're given to understand from senior Northern Alliance commanders that there are still thousands of hard core Taliban. These are fighters from Chechnya, from Pakistan and Uzbekistan who are still there.

So far in this sector, at least, we have not seen any sign of the hard-core Taliban surrendering.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: And that was CNN's Satinder Bindra near Konduz in northern Afghanistan.

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