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CNN Live Today

'Operation Snipe,' Major New Sweep For Al Qaeda, Under Way

Aired May 02, 2002 - 11:03   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: "Operation Snipe," a major new sweep for Al Qaeda is under way today across southeastern Afghanistan. And the British are leading the charge.

CNN's Bill Delaney joins us from the Afghan capital of Kabul.

Bill, hello.

BILL DELANEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn, thank you very much. We are here in Kabul, a little bit away from the main action down in southeastern Afghanistan. Royal marines fighting there at altitudes sometimes of 13,000 feet. You know, it's often been predicted here, Daryn, that eventually the fighting here between coalition forces and the remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters out there would become more and more something of mountainous guerrilla war, and that does seem to be what's happening in the past few weeks, as the operation here shifts to a different kind of tempo.

The latest operation, British-led as you said, "Operation Snipe."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DELANEY: A still only weeks old ongoing phase of the struggle against remaining Al Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan. A British-led force of a thousand royal marines in southeastern mountains as high as 13,000 feet, Operation Snipe, against what's described as a key Al Qaeda base, believed to be one of the few left. Though still, troops searching to destroy an elusive, scattered enemy with few shots fired for weeks.

Supported by some American troops, and key components like Apache helicopters.

The idea, commanders say: to remove what one called the cancer of Al Qaeda from the very heart of Afghanistan. Though largely British, part of an overall U.S.-led, ongoing operation, known as Mountain Lion, which military officials say now ebbs and flows, searching terrorists cave by cave.

One-hundred 100 or so troops of the U.S. 10th mountain division rapid reaction force having swooped in for searches, after coalition forces killed four Al Qaeda earlier in the week. As on the porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, U.S. officials now acknowledge they have Pakistani cooperation to cross in hot pursuit a war against an enemy fewer in number than before, but also harder to see than ever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DELANEY: Commander of the British royal marines Brigadier General Roger Lane stressed that this fighting at this point is not about body counts, he said. It's as much as trying to root out cave by cave, building by building the infrastructure of Al Qaeda as much as actually engaging the enemy here -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Bill Delaney in Kabul.

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