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Breaking News

Top Leaders of Taliban, Al Qaeda Reportedly Killed by Airstrikes

Aired November 15, 2001 - 09:21   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: And we have some breaking news to share with you. We are hearing reports that in fact Taliban leaders and some of the leaders of the Al Qaeda network have, in fact, been killed in some of the latest attacks.

Let's move to Bob Franken, who is standing by with the Pentagon. Do you have confirmation of that yet, Bob?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's -- it's an evolving story. We just completed a briefing by Victoria Clarke, who is the assistant secretary defense for public affairs. It's a daily occurrence, and

Now, of course, we've watched the story change from there probably were senior leaders, to there were no senior leaders, and the latest version is they do believe that in both attacks, they got leaders --unwilling to characterize them as senior leaders. Regarding Osama bin Laden, of course, what we had heard was that he definitely was not there. The latest version is, "we have no evidence that he was there," that's an exact quote.

The question was asked, "is he still alive?" Quote -- "I think so. We've heard nothing to believe otherwise." And of course, Paula, as you know, the search for bin Laden and the Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders is a real focus now of the military effort in that country. Those bombing runs on the building are part of a dwindling number of aerial bombing attacks right now. More of the focus is on the ground. Much more of an emphasis on more special operations forces going in to, in effect, act as a police force to try and find their fugitives, who we've heard so much about. Paula.

ZAHN: Bob, I don't know if whether you have just heard my interview with Dick Holbrooke. He said it is his view that the Taliban is sort of --crashing before our eyes here. How critical is it, at this juncture, to get the leadership -- given the context of the overall military campaign going on?

FRANKEN: Well, there, there are a variety of reasons for it. One, of course, those leaders serve rallying points for their various organizations, the Taliban and the Al Qaeda organization. And let us not forget that from almost the beginning, since September 11th, arresting or killing Osama bin Laden, and to a lesser degree, the heads of the Taliban, that -- that has been a stated purpose of the United States' effort. And if the U.S. and the administration wants to be able to declare a really huge victory, in addition to what's going on in the country -- of course, the apprehension or even the -- the provable killing of bin Laden would be something that would be, quite frankly -- as gruesome as that might sound -- in the United States, would be considered a huge victory.

ZAHN: All right, thank you so much for that update. Bob Franken. We'll keep on coming back to you as the events warrant. Appreciate it.

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