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CNN Live Today

U.S. Allies Square Off in Afghanistan

Aired August 12, 2002 - 12:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: In southeast Afghanistan's Paktia Province, a local warlord who says he is a U.S. ally is bracing for a fight with the new national government, which is also a U.S. ally. At issue is more than mere loyalty.
And as we hear now from CNN's Matthew Chance, it is all a question of power and who's calling the shots.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Troops of the Afghan national army, trained by the West to help hold this country together. Performance here in Khost is a traditional Afghan dance. Their first test on the battlefield is yet to come. As yet, they are outnumbered and outgunned.

We are loyal to President Hamid Karzai, and he has selected a governor for here, he says. We will defend security and peace, even if it means we have to die in the process.

But away from the applause, a renegade warlord prepared to kill. Bacha Khan, ally of the United States and emerging enemy of the Afghan government is objecting to appointees in territory he claims as his own.

We meet on the outskirts of Gardez in Paktia Province, where he's warned the local governor to leave, or face the consequences.

BACHA KHAN ZADRAN, WARLORD (through translator): I have 6,000 men willing to fight. All of the people from three provinces are with me. So if the central government continues with its actions, they are the ones who will be disloyal.

CHANCE: So Gardez, still only lightly defended, must brace for the possibility of an attack. Its people have been shelled by Bacha Khan Zadran in the past and may be again.

Its governor, though, in office for just two weeks, told me there would be no surrender to threats.

RAZ MOHAMMED DALILY, GOVERNOR OF PAKTIA (through translator): The men of Bacha Khan are gangsters and looters. His tribe does not support. And we have proof to the Americans that there are well-known al Qaeda members in his ranks. Because of this, if we turn to the Americans for help, they'll come for sure.

CHANCE: But focussed on their own war, against al Qaeda and Taliban remnants, with the help as many as 600 of Bacha Khan's men, the United States may found itself forced to make an uncomfortable choice. And while the future stability of Afghanistan is on the line, it may yet fall to these men to defend the government's authority.

Matthew Chance, CNN, southeastern Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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