Return to Transcripts main page

Breaking News

Kabul, Afghanistan Bombed by Terrorist Attacks

Aired September 11, 2001 - 19:00   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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: To viewers joining us at this time, what has been a very long and horrendous day in the U.S. we are going to quickly recap the developments.

It began with a series of coordinated terrorist attacks against the U.S. Then at the top of this hour, less than 60 minutes ago, explosions were seen in Kabul. That is the Capital City in Afghanistan. However, reporters traveling with the president and the White House tell us these explosions are not part of a U.S. strike against the country. Afghanistan's Taliban has been harboring fugitive terrorist Osama Bin Laden.

U.S. intelligence officials have told CNN there are good indications that persons linked to Osama Bin Laden may be responsible today's terrorist attacks in the U.S., however that is far from confirmed at this point. Both towers of New York's World Trade Center and a section of the Pentagon have been destroyed.

At this time, Nic Robertson by videophone, join us from Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan. Nic, what do you have for us at this point?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, we can confirm that the Northern Alliance -- the alliance fighters if fighters fighting the Taliban, will hold the last five percent of the Northeast of Afghanistan that the Taliban have yet to conquer -- they have confirmed to us from their spokesman there in the north of Afghanistan that they were responsible for the explosions here in Kabul this evening.

They also say they plan more such attacks. They don't say where. And they don't say when. They say that they will brief us shortly on that, but they are claiming responsibility for attacks we've seen here in Kabul this evening. It's not normal for them to attack Kabul, but their leader, Akhmad Shah Masood, a very key commander, who holds together the alliance of fighters in the north of Afghanistan, he rose to fame during the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) occupation in the 1980s when it was undefeated (AUDIO GAP)

HEMMER: Clearly, we have a breakup of our video signal there from Nic Robertson in Kabul, Afghanistan. What you are seeing though, is the videophone, late technology, that allows us to see these nighttime pictures here. It is not nearly as clear as a regular television monitor would provide, but we can see the images of a quieter capital city of Kabul. And Nic Robertson's audio clearly has dropped off at this point.

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