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CNN Live Saturday

U.S. Warplanes Resume Air Strikes in Eastern Afghanistan

Aired January 12, 2002 - 17:12   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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: We're seeing more bombs falling on the Khowst region now of eastern Afghanistan. U.S. warplanes hitting the area overnight. They're targeting suspected al Qaeda and Taliban hideouts. Let's go to CNN's Jonathan Aiken who is standing by at the Pentagon with more on this. Hello again, Jonathan.

JONATHAN AIKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi again, Catherine. You're absolutely right, "targets of opportunity" is what the Pentagon calls them, and after the first initial wave of bombings, where all the major targets were hit, the obvious targets were hit, the Pentagon has made clear that if it sees a chance to hit something or some group of fighters, it's going to go after them.

And such has been the case not only today, but also several days this week, and the target has been pretty much the same: A sprawling al Qaeda camp in an area known as Schwarkili (ph), which is about 30 miles southwest of Khowst. CNN's Kamal Hyder reported this morning that he saw B-52s firing laser-guided weapons on that area. It has also been hit in the past several days by B-1 bombers, carrier-based F-18s coming off carriers in the Arabian Sea, and even hit by heavy gunfire from AC-130 gunships. These are heavily armored aircraft that fly low. They fly slow, and they rake an area with gunfire.

And this camp has been a focus of Pentagon activity now for several days. They're being hit as al Qaeda and probably remnants of Taliban -- road Taliban fighters in the area tend to regroup, and as they regroup, they're going to gravitate to these structures that are already in place. A lot of them, these terror training camps that we've heard so much about.

Most, if not all of these camps, have already been hit by U.S. fighters and they're going to be hit again. But again, the Pentagon says as the situations crop up, as the fighters tend to regroup, and gravitate toward these camps, the Pentagon has made it clear it will go after them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: There are unquestionably a number of pockets of Taliban and al Qaeda fighters that remain and have to be dealt with. They continue to pose a threat to coalition forces, as well as the Afghan people. Coalition forces will continue to deal with the Taliban and al Qaeda targets, both from the air and on the ground as we find them, and they are doing so. (END VIDEO CLIP)

AIKEN: We should tell you that the camps at Schwarkili (ph) are a very popular target this week for U.S. fighter jets. Seven strikes in the past four days. A sprawling complex, the Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff, General Richard Myers telling us that the Schwarkili (ph) camp consist of 60 above ground buildings and more than 50 caves, a logical place in that region -- a region with strong al Qaeda support for these fighters to regroup as they tend to find themselves on the run and then get back together again.

But again, the Pentagon has said and they said again today that as long as these fighters continue to reassemble, they are going to continue to go after them and this camp is likely to be an ongoing target for several days now -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Thank you. CNN's Jonathan Aiken at the Pentagon. Thanks Jonathan.

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