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CNN Sunday Morning

Fierce Fighting in Middle East

Aired March 03, 2002 - 09:11   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: There's fierce fighting and heavy bombing in eastern Afghanistan in what's being described as the largest U.S. led offensive in the country so far this year. U.S. troops and Afghan forces are targeting al Qaeda and Taliban pockets from the air and on the ground. For more, let's go to the Pentagon and CNN's Kathleen Koch. Hi, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Well, the Pentagon has all along been reminding Americans that this war was not over yet and this pocket of resistance is very good proof. What the Pentagon describes as a huge firefight, which began Friday, is still underway near the eastern Afghan city of Gardez. That's in Pachtia (ph) Province, about 100 miles south of Kabul.

Involved in the conflict are hundreds of Afghan fighters, as well as coalition forces and U.S. troops. Now it was reported Saturday that one U.S. soldier died in that fighting, and numerous others have been injured, no identification on those yet.

Now the war planes in the are from the U.S. are targeting what the military has described as hundreds of Taliban and al Qaeda forces, occupying a series of cave complexes in the region. Still some Afghan forces back from the front say that they are badly outnumbered, facing as many as 5,000 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters. A U.S. Army spokesman described the fighting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJOR A.C. ROPER, U.S. ARMY: Operations continue south of Gardez in Afghanistan. Firefights have been intense, at times in heavy combat actions. The exact size of the enemy forces occupied a series of cave complexes is not known. To date, more than 80 pieces of ordinance have been dropped from aircraft in support of Afghan, U.S. and coalition forces. Afghan, U.S. and coalition forces are involved in eliminating al Qaeda and other Afghan Taliban forces in the area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: In this battle, the U.S. has used a new weapon from its arsenal. It's a special bunker buster bomb, designed to kill those inside caves, while leaving the structure itself intact. The 2,000- pound laser guided thermobaric bomb digs deep into the earth and then disperses its fuel-rich explosive into surrounding caves and tunnels. The resulting fireball literally sucks the air out of the cave, spreading intense heat and pressure.

The weapon was first tested back in December and Pentagon officials were so pleased with its performance that they rushed it into production so that it could be used in the conflict in Afghanistan. Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Kathleen Koch, thank you so much for the latest from the Pentagon.

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