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CNN Live At Daybreak

Mopping Up Begins After 12 Days In Operation Anaconda

Aired March 13, 2002 - 05:31   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And a major victory for U.S.-led forces in eastern Afghanistan. U.S. military officials say allied forces have captured Shah-e Kot Valley after a 12 day battle. U.S. and Afghan troops are still searching for the pockets of al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in that area.

Still on Operation Anaconda, even though the Pentagon says it's still going on, U.S. and Afghan forces are now involved in mopping up the eastern Afghanistan area. Still, the Pentagon says there is still much more to be done.

CNN military affairs correspondent Jamie McIntyre has more.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A smart bomb from a U.S. Air Force F-16 hits a cave entrance, collapsing it with suspected enemy forces inside. It's just one of more than 2,500 bombs the U.S. has dropped since Operation Anaconda began 10 days ago.

U.S. commanders originally expected to rout the al Qaeda and Taliban in two or three days. But facing stiffer resistance and greater numbers, U.S. troops are just now reaching the mopping up stage.

BRIG. GEN. JOHN ROSA, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: The last 72 hours has been more sporadic, focused on smaller pockets of Taliban and al Qaeda.

MCINTYRE: The focus is now on clearing a mountain ridge dubbed the "whaleback," for the way it rises from the Shah-e Kot Valley floor like the back of a whale, and inspecting more than 40 heavily fortified caves, where al Qaeda forces were dug in for a fight to the death.

ROSA: We have started but are nowhere near completing entering the large majority of those caves. As you can imagine with the booby traps, with land mines, with unexpended ordnance, we've got to go very slow, very calculating, very carefully.

MCINTYRE: The Pentagon says this particular operation may be winding down, but there will be more.

VICTORIA CLARKE, PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: There is still a lot of work to be done in Afghanistan, and there are still pockets of resistance that we'll have to root out.

MCINTYRE: The U.S. is taking few prisoners. Only 17 have been taken alive, and one died of illness shortly after capture. And Pentagon officials say it will be difficult for more than a handful of al Qaeda to escape with U.S. and Afghan troops on the high ground watching all routes out.

Orders could come this week to dispatch U.S. troops to both Yemen and Georgia. They will be limited to training and equipping Georgian troops, but in Yemen, Pentagon sources say, U.S. troops may accompany Yemeni forces on anti-terrorist raids.

(on camera): After first saying it was unaware of any women or children killed in Operation Anaconda, the Pentagon now says some were among 14 people killed in an airstrike last week. Officials say a U.S. fighter jet attacked a vehicle fleeing a known al Qaeda stronghold and insists it was a legitimate target. One wounded survivor, a child, was evacuated to a U.S. military hospital and is said to be in stable condition.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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