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CNN Live At Daybreak

Coalition Takes Over Shah-e-Kot

Aired March 13, 2002 - 06:14   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: Let's talk Operation Anaconda now. The U.S. battle for control of Shah-e-Kot has gone on for 12 days now. Our Nic Robertson is in the Shah-e-Kot Valley.

Nic, how close are you to the fighting there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, since the early hours of this morning -- since the early hours of this morning, both Afghan and U.S. forces have been arriving here in the village of Shah-e-Kot. One Afghan commander came from the south with about 280 men. Another one came from the north with about 600 men. And down from the mountains in this direction towards the east, about 40 U.S. special forces also arrived here.

They have taken now control of the village of Shah-e-Kot, and what we have seen here is a scene of a lot of destruction, a lot of the mud buildings in this village that spreads over several square miles have been destroyed by missile fire. We have seen the bodies of several dead al Qaeda or Taliban members. Shah-e-Kot was, and is, the focus of Operation Anaconda. It was the village in which the Taliban and al Qaeda were holding out in. And it appears now as if all the Taliban and al Qaeda are gone from here.

Certainly, there is no fighting going on at this time. And what both the U.S. and Afghan commanders tell us, who have just taken control of this village, is that on their way in they are aware that some Taliban and al Qaeda members have escaped into the mountains. They do not know how many that have gotten out by that route. They also believe that some may have escaped westwards from here into some of the lower lying plains.

But the situation in Shah-e-Kot now, it is under the control of coalition forces. They took control of it in the early hours of this morning -- both U.S. and Afghan commanders.

COSTELLO: All right. Nic Robertson reporting live from the valley -- Shah-e-Kot Valley. And he's experiencing such a delay we can't ask him any questions. He's so close to the fighting there, that when coalition aircraft pass overhead it knocks out the signal coming back here to the United States. So thank you, Nic Robertson for that report and being brave enough to be that close.

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