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American Morning

U.S. Marines Moving on Hellman Province in Afghanistan

Aired January 01, 2002 - 8:00   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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: And the City of New York celebrates life as a tragic year comes to an end. Good morning, it is January 1st, 2002. Welcome to the new year. I'm Martin Savidge at CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta.

CNN's Bill Hemmer is following the action in Afghanistan this morning, he can bring us up to date with the latest from Kandahar. Good morning, Happy New Year to you, Bill.

BILL HEMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Marty, thanks, and Happy New Year. Good evening from Kandahar as the sun sets, now.

I want to again bring you word of a U.S. Marine operation under way in Hellman Province as we speak. The Marines launched this late last night, in the middle of the night, with a heavy convoy heading out of the airport here in Kandahar. We are getting indications that they anticipate this operation to wrap up some time before the sun comes up Wednesday morning, here. We'll talk more about that in a moment, Marty.

Also, the governor of Kandahar was here on the grounds meeting with the general, General Mattis, here, who heads up the 58th task force in southern Afghanistan. And what they talked about today has to do with top secret military matters, but what the governor indicated is that he has given a deadline to some Taliban fighters working in southern Afghanistan. We can fill in those details in a moment. And of course, another night, Marty, another round of detainees. All that information shortly, when we come back, live. Now back to you in Atlanta, Marty.

SAVIDGE: We look forward to that, Bill. Thanks very much.

The big questions this hour? How safe are herbal supplements, and can they help you live up to your New Year's resolutions. And what's at stake in Congress this year? It's all about the seats, and who will be in them. First, we want to get the latest headlines in our war alert this hour.

U.S. special forces are assisting anti-Taliban fighters in an area Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar may be hiding. Pentagon sources believe Omar is in the Bagram area, that's about 100 miles northwest of Kandahar. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of Taliban fighters may be with him. A U.S. official says the troops aren't just searching for one person, but are trying to capture Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders.

The estimated death toll in the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center has dropped to 2,937. It was initially estimated more than 6,000 people were killed. Officials say the numbers are shrinking for several reasons, including elimination of duplicate reports. So far 593 people are confirmed dead.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist says he wants the Senate to speed up the pace of judicial confirmations. In his annual report, Rehnquist says terrorism has made the role of the courts all the more crucial. There's about an 11 percent vacancy rate for federal judgeships.

Israel made a new incursion into Palestinian-controlled territory overnight in its campaign to arrest terrorist suspects. An infantry force backed by tanks entered the West Bank village of Qabatiya near Jenin. Three Palestinians were arrested including a Hammas activist, that is.

Nearly 300 million Europeans can start spending their Euros today, 50 billion coins and 14.5 billion banknotes are legal tender in most European nations. The exceptions: Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom. National currencies can be spent until the end of February when the Euro becomes the only currency.

Back in the states, Rudy Giuliani, no longer the mayor of New York City -- that sounds kind of odd. Giuliani swore in his successor in Times Square, shortly after that big Crystal ball slid down the pole marking the beginning of 2002. Michael Bloomberg took the oath with Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" playing in the background.

Times Square revelers cheered in the beginning of 2002. About a half a million people packed the New York landmark just three and a half months after the terrorist attacks. Many carried American flags reflecting the post-September 11 patriotic spirit. And Pope John Paul II led a New Years Eve service, a thanksgiving at the Vatican. The pope prayed for strength to continue his mission. John Paul who suffers symptoms of Parkinson's disease appears frail and tires easily. He has been a leader of the Roman Catholic Church now for 23 years.

This is no holiday for the troops in Afghanistan. CNN's Bill Hemmer is among them. He's with the Marines at Kandahar airport -- Bill

HEMMER: Hey Marty, thanks. Let's talk more about this Marine mission still ongoing at this time. The Marines say they have several hundred Marines still out in an area known as Hellman Province, looking for intelligence matters with regard to the Taliban and al Qaeda leadership. That's what the word we're getting here right now. Now late last night, we did notice a heavy movement here at the U.S. Marines. A large convoy lining up, about half a dozen LAVs, the Light Armored Vehicles, followed by about a dozen Hum-Vees and a very large oversize truck all stopped and loaded with Marines.

Apparently they headed out and were spotted heading through the town of Kandahar about 2:30 AM local time here. The Marines say they are looking for intelligence in a compound, a complex that apparently is rather large. About 14 different areas or buildings there, and they say it was occupied for a while, then emptied and then reoccupied. And since it was reoccupied, it has been emptied once again. And certainly the Marines are going in there trying to collect more intelligence and information.

We also know, at this time, there has been no fire fight; there is no hostile fire that has been encountered by the U.S. Marines. And we also know they're working in concert now with local Afghan forces on the ground. Governor Sherzai is the governor of Kandahar, in fact he was here at the base a short time ago, as well. Now with regard to the governor, he is also indicating that right now he has given an ultimatum to about 1,500 Taliban fighters, also in Hellman province but in a different area from where the Marines are operating right now.

He says he's given them five days to surrender and give up, about 1,500 fighters there. Possibly al Qaeda elements, as well. In fact when he was here on the airport, we asked him also about the whereabouts of Mullah Mohammed Omar, the founder of the Taliban. He indicated that he is getting various reports as to where he may or may not be, but simply does not know. Here is the governor here in Kandahar a short time ago.

BEGIN VIDEO CLIP

GOVERNOR SHERZAI (through translator): We believe he is, yes indeed, somewhere in Kandahar or Hellman provinces, and we are trying very hard to capture Mullah Omar and bring him to the justice.

END VIDEO CLIP

HEMMER: And again, that is one of the big questions -- one of two that are still outstanding here in Afghanistan. Where is Mullah Mohammed Omar, and certainly where is Osama bin Laden? Those two questions still unanswered at this point. The reason the governor came here today was to join in some sort of a united symbol of sorts. The Marines, a short time ago had a flag raising ceremony. We have some videotape we can show you, the U.S. colors going up right along side the Afghan colors. The red and black and green colors, prominent here during the time of the king who was deposed back in 1973. Again those colors raised here on the Marine grounds. And the general here, General James Mattis says every time they raise the American colors here how, they will certainly raise the Afghan colors right along with it.

Now let's talk about the latest on the detainees. Yet another night here in Kandahar and 25 more came in last night on New Years Eve. The total now 189. What is significant about this group; all 25 apparently were detained in Pakistan, that's where they were processed first, and later brought here for questioning at some point, possibly in the next couple of hours or days or weeks ahead. If you recall a few days ago, we reported sources tell us that as many as 139 and possibly more detainees were being processed in Pakistan, and we do anticipate all of those to be transferred here eventually And one other note about the detainees. The 189 that are now held here in Kandahar, apparently they are all fairly young. Described in their early 20s, and all said to be quite scared at this point for their lives and their future. More in Kandahar a bit later. Marty, back to you now in Atlanta.

SAVIDGE: Bill Hemmer with the U.S. Marines in Kandahar. Thanks very much.

So what is the next move in Afghanistan? CNN military analyst Major General Don Shepherd joins us this morning with some insight. Before we get to that, General, I want to ask you about this ongoing mission involving the U.S. Marines, from the military perspective you have. What is taking place?

MAJOR GENERAL DON SHEPPERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well it's obvious that activity against Mullah Omar in the Hellman Province is taking place, centering around the area of Bagram, where he is reported to be for the last few weeks. Now it appears that what the Marines are doing is seizing objectives further south. In this case a complex that contained perhaps munitions, equipment and perhaps intelligence information. You need a larger force than the small teams of Special Forces to go get that, so the Marines were sent is what it looks like, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Bill Hemmer gave the sort of indication that this could have been an opportunity mission. In other words that they had been monitoring this compound and noted a change of demeanor there, and decided to try and capitalize on it.

SHEPPERD: Yes, specifically what was said was, it had been occupied then evacuated, and reoccupied again. As you know, we're focusing our sensors on smaller and smaller areas around the country, so it is likely that either from satellites or perhaps some of the other orbiting vehicles, we've noticed that people are going in and out of this area. And it provides an opportunity to strike, so we went to get it.

SAVIDGE: Mullah Omar is still very popular among certain groups of people there, and perhaps in the very area right now where he has sort of sought out sanctity. Do you have to -- or how do you take that into account as a military force?

SHEPPERD: Yes, this is more than a subtle difference between Mullah Omar and bin Laden. Bin Laden probably universally across the country is an anathema. In other words, people hold him in great disrespect because of what he has done to the country. Mullah Omar is one of them, particularly in the area of Kandahar where there is significant Taliban sympathy. It's where the Taliban movement basically started. So if he is trying to escape on a motorcycle, there's probably a lot of people with their fists in the air cheering him in that area, so there is a significant difference. There is going to be a lot of people helping him escape and hiding him. They risk, however, if they are around him the destruction that goes with it. When we or forces of the opposition find him and strike him. SAVIDGE: And quickly now, also the peacekeeping mission getting underway, largely with British and Afghan forces. Explain to me the difference militarily from keeping the peace to fighting a war, aside from the fact that one has hopefully a lot more gunfire than the other does.

SHEPPERD: Yes, the idea behind keeping the peace is to help the Afghan interim regime establish a police force and the rule of law and order across the country. It starts small in Kabul and then spreads to the major cities, and then spreads to the countryside. The whole idea behind this is, basically to disarm the population, and overtime create an armed police force. And then an Afghan army, a very, very difficult task. But the idea is to make sure that people know these are not combatant forces, but people who are on their side to bring peace across the country. And it is a real difficult task, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Is there a different sort of training involved here for those taking part?

SHEPPERD: Yes, absolutely. It's a transition between people that go out and fight and kill, heavily armed with all kinds of arms and munitions and helmets to people such as the Marines -- the British commandos, if you will. They are not dressed in heavy armor, they don't have the helmets on, they've got their berets. And so the idea is a police force as opposed to a military force. And a subtle difference between the two as you have to reinforce them with military forces if they come under attack or danger anywhere. But again, you are trying to establish a police force, and it is different than military action.

SAVIDGE: Major General Don Shepperd, thank you very much. And we'll be talking to you later on in the day.

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