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CNN Live At Daybreak

Undisclosed Number of U.S. Military Forces Have Been Sent to Pakistan

Aired April 25, 2002 - 09:02   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: "Up Front" this morning the war in Afghanistan spills over the Afghan border into Pakistan. News now about U.S. Special Forces actually operating inside Pakistan. CNN's Barbara Starr joins us now from the Pentagon with the very latest on that. Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Paula. Well CNN has learned that an undisclosed number of U.S. military forces have been sent to Pakistan in recent weeks to get ready for possible preparation into move against Al-Qaeda targets inside Pakistan. Now a senior U.S. military official tells CNN this morning that despite press reports, so far no U.S. military forces in Pakistan have actually gone on combat operations against the Al-Qaeda inside Pakistan. But this new contingent of U.S. forces in Pakistan is part of an effort to possibly get ready for the next step he says, especially along the boarder area between Pakistan and Afghanistan where the Al-Qaeda have been known to be moving back and forth in recent weeks.

So far, all of the activity between the U.S. and Pakistani military has involved liaison, communications, reconnaissance work, that sort of thing. The U.S. and Pakistan are talking very privately about this next step and that is having U.S. forces possibly go on combat missions inside Pakistan to chase down Al-Qaeda targets in that country. So far it hasn't happened but preparations are being made now - Paula.

ZAHN: And Barbara, I know they're not likely to share any sort of timetable with you but have you spoken with any of your sources that suggest when - when we might see this happen?

STARR: Well, no is honest answer. But what they do say is this. Look, we have to be ready, they say. If Osama Bin Laden or Mullah Omar or top-level Al-Qaeda or Taliban officials can be hunted down inside Pakistan if they get a good fix on where they are. They do want to be ready to move against them.

The feeling has always been that it doesn't have to be set in stone with the Pakistani military. That if the U.S. went to the Pakistanis very quietly, very privately and said, now is the time we want to move, that the Pakistani would say yes. But nobody wants to be terribly public about this. It's, of course, a very sensitive matter for the Musharraf government in Pakistan. ZAHN: All right, Barbara Starr, thanks so much.

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