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CNN Saturday Morning News

Security Concerns Arise in Eastern Afghanistan

Aired November 24, 2001 - 09:08   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In the eastern Afghanistan, there is concern about security. As CNN's Patricia Sabga tells us, the only law that seems to matter there right now is the law of the land.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICIA SABGA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, young men itching for a fight swarm outside the governor's mansion. The few men in uniform try to take charge, but there's no holding back a would-be warrior in this city, where anyone who can shoot themselves in the foot can get their hand on a trigger.

This man is from the mountains around Jalalabad. He told us the mujahideen gave him his Kalishnikov three days ago.

This 20-year-old said his rifle was left behind by the Taliban.

Standard stories, nonstandard issue, in a town where bands of armed, undisciplined men roam freely., cruising the streets in SUVs, outside the public telephone office, in the doorway of the city's most popular hotel, lounging next to the "No Guns Allowed" sign.

It's excess bred by decades of war, which in turn has midwifed an absurd pecking order.

(on camera): With everyone armed to the teeth here, status symbols are bound to emerge, an automatic rifle, for instance, that's pretty good, but a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, that's far more prestigious.

(voice-over): And even that's not enough for some people.

Meanwhile, the have-nots, many of them longtime residents, are at the mercy of those who have taken up arms in the name of their security.

This man has lived in Jalalabad for 10 years. He told us his car was stolen recently at gunpoint. Robberies, he says, never happened when the Taliban were in charge.

A group of exiled commanders known as the Eastern Shura have stepped in to try and bring order in the Taliban's wake. At this well-armed news conference, the corps commander of the eastern provinces said that even if they could collect all the guns, there's no place to store them.

But despite the ubiquitous show of force, there are those who turn a deaf ear to the call to arms.

(on camera): Do you own a gun?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I don't have.

SABGA: Do you plan on getting a gun?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I don't like them.

SABGA (voice-over): It's a rare attitude in a place where war has had the upper hand for more than two decades. Breaking the cycle may very well fall to the next generation, already weary of violence.

(on camera): Who wants all the guns out of Jalalabad?

Patricia Sabga, CNN, Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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