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CNN Live Today

Enemy Prisoners Detained in Afghanistan

Aired March 27, 2002 - 10:06   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now on to Afghanistan now and the search for terrorists.

CNN's Nic Robertson has been following the latest developments of this ongoing U.S. mission. Nic joins us now live. He has got some details on the overnight detainment of prisoners.

Nic, good morning.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.

We are in the remote mountain town of Bamiyan. At about 10 hours ago, about a dozen U.S. Special Forces arrived at a compound just behind us here, secured the compound. And then, about two dozen U.S. Army personnel arrived, went into that compound, we are told by local commanders. They talked with two prisoners there. They left that compound, came back a couple hours later. And from that compound, they removed those two Pakistani prisoners.

Now, local commanders say these prisoners could either be Taliban or al Qaeda. When they were taken away, they had bags on their heads. They had their hands cuffed behind their back. But also, in another compound in Bamiyan, U.S. Special Forces secure that while U.S. service personnel inspected, took photographs, took hair samples from about two dozen detainees there. And at the end of that process, they took away 2 of those Taliban prisoners.

Now, those were Afghan fighters, we are told. They also had their heads encased in plastic bags. They had their hands tie-wrapped behind their backs. All of these prisoners were taken away by the U.S. forces, put on helicopters and removed, we are told, to Bagram Air Base, just near the capital, Kabul -- Leon.

HARRIS: Thank you very much -- Nic Robertson reporting there in the evening in Afghanistan -- thank you very much.

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