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CNN Saturday Morning News

U.S. Finishes Off Pockets of Taliban Fighters

Aired December 08, 2001 - 09:06   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.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. commanders are plotting their next move as they finish off the last pockets of armed Taliban fighters.

Let's get the latest from CNN's Jonathan Aiken at the Pentagon this morning. Hi, Jonathan.

JONATHAN AIKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Jeanne.

And the strategy, at least as far as the Pentagon is concerned, involving those Marines at Camp Rhino, twofold. They're there to provide firepower around the city in case it's needed. The other and bigger job that they have to do is serve essentially as the eyes and ears of the U.S.-led coalition in the region around Kandahar and also in particular the mountains to the west and the roads going to the east.

And we have a map to show you to indicate just how difficult a job this can be. You can see around Kandahar, the roads there have to be controlled going in and out by the Marines, about 1,200 Marines, a battalion's worth. Not only do they have to control those roads, they also have to search for remnants of al Qaeda forces, who have promised to fight to the end.

Rob Morrison was reporting live from Camp Rhino a short time ago, and he was telling us that the Marines have essentially given up on the idea of going after the Taliban remnants. They're really concerned now, their big focus now on what's left of those al Qaeda forces, and that's probably what this back-and-forth has been about the past couple of days as enemy troops have come up to the perimeter of Camp Rhino just to sort of touch and feel, see what kind of defenses the U.S. Marines have set up.

The Marines are also affected somewhat by what's been going on in Kandahar itself. As Nic Robertson reported, the first Western journalist in the city, no overt fighting that he has seen, no street- to-street fighting. However, there has been infighting among the various commanders who are holding different parts of the city.

And for that reason, among others, U.S. officials say the situation within Kandahar itself, at least as far as they're concerned, remains unclear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEN. TOMMY FRANKS, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: We have seen the surrender of a great many Taliban forces inside Kandahar. We are not yet sure, we do not yet have a sense of comfort that there is stability in the city, and I don't expect that we will have a sense of comfort for perhaps two or three days, until we get a valid assessment of exactly what is going on in Kandahar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AIKEN: And certainly that assessment would include the whereabouts of this man, Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban leader. Pashtun leaders in the south and in Kandahar were telling Nic Robertson a short time ago that Mullah Omar may have been in Kandahar as recently as Friday, but apparently may have slipped out of the city overnight into Saturday. His whereabouts still remain unknown.

And that's going to be one job for the Marines at Camp Rhino too, is to keep tabs on the traffic on the roads around Kandahar, do reconnaissance from the air, searching not only in the mountains to the west of Kandahar but also on the road east to Spin Boldak and eventually as that leads into the border with Pakistan -- Jeanne.

MESERVE: Jonathan Aiken at the Pentagon for us this morning. Thank you.

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