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CNN Live At Daybreak

Weapons Cache Discovered in Afghanistan

Aired September 19, 2002 - 06:02   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A U.S. military operation in southeast Afghanistan has uncovered a huge weapons cache.
CNN's Mike Chinoy is live in Kabul with this story -- Mike.

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

Well, for the U.S. forces here, the war against terror has become a daily grind against an often unseen foe. For weeks, Americans troops have been fanning out in patrols, especially in the wild and mountainous provinces in eastern Afghanistan bordering Pakistan, looking for remnants of al Qaeda and the Taliban, and trying to find their weapons caches.

In an operation in Paktia Province, the U.S. military now says it has uncovered one of the biggest weapons caches in a very long time, including 50 107 mm rockets, anti-tank mines, mortar rounds, rockets for rocket-propelled grenades, 18,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition, and most significantly, four machines guns -- two of them mounted, the kind you can drive around -- configured to be used as anti-aircraft guns.

That's particularly a significant find, because the American military moves around by air largely here in Afghanistan. The roads are too bad and too dangerous, and helicopters are the primary way the troops are ferried from the main bases out into the field. So, to be able to get this kind of potential anti-aircraft guns is a major step forward for the U.S. military.

One other bit of good news. Afghan authorities in southern Afghanistan say they have seized a former provincial governor under the Taliban -- a high-ranking Taliban official -- and three of his aides, and have turned those men over to U.S. forces.

This is the kind of progress that comes in a daily, steady grind, trying to mop up those remnants, which military officials here say still pose a threat to U.S. forces and to the still-fragile Afghan central government -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Mike Chinoy reporting live from Kabul. Thank you, Mike.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired September 19, 2002 - 06:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A U.S. military operation in southeast Afghanistan has uncovered a huge weapons cache.
CNN's Mike Chinoy is live in Kabul with this story -- Mike.

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

Well, for the U.S. forces here, the war against terror has become a daily grind against an often unseen foe. For weeks, Americans troops have been fanning out in patrols, especially in the wild and mountainous provinces in eastern Afghanistan bordering Pakistan, looking for remnants of al Qaeda and the Taliban, and trying to find their weapons caches.

In an operation in Paktia Province, the U.S. military now says it has uncovered one of the biggest weapons caches in a very long time, including 50 107 mm rockets, anti-tank mines, mortar rounds, rockets for rocket-propelled grenades, 18,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition, and most significantly, four machines guns -- two of them mounted, the kind you can drive around -- configured to be used as anti-aircraft guns.

That's particularly a significant find, because the American military moves around by air largely here in Afghanistan. The roads are too bad and too dangerous, and helicopters are the primary way the troops are ferried from the main bases out into the field. So, to be able to get this kind of potential anti-aircraft guns is a major step forward for the U.S. military.

One other bit of good news. Afghan authorities in southern Afghanistan say they have seized a former provincial governor under the Taliban -- a high-ranking Taliban official -- and three of his aides, and have turned those men over to U.S. forces.

This is the kind of progress that comes in a daily, steady grind, trying to mop up those remnants, which military officials here say still pose a threat to U.S. forces and to the still-fragile Afghan central government -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Mike Chinoy reporting live from Kabul. Thank you, Mike.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.