Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Saturday

Al Qaeda, Taliban Forces Pose Challenge to Operation Anaconda

Aired March 09, 2002 - 17:07   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now, on to the ongoing effort to stop terrorism worldwide, Operation Anaconda. In an apparent change in strategy, al Qaeda and Taliban forces are taking refuge deep inside the remote caves of eastern Afghanistan, posing a challenge to U.S. forces fighting from the ground. CNN's Bob Constantini joins us from the Pentagon with the latest on the military offensive there. Good evening.

BOB CONSTANTINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, they are hunkered down. That's the way it was described to us.

Now, the weather in the Shahikat (ph) valley in eastern Afghanistan improved today, but a U.S. military spokesman says hold- out enemy forces have not been firing from the caves and tunnels there and in any other way really showing themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CONSTANTINI (voice-over): Frustrating attempts to hit the enemy harder, the Pentagon says al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are not moving back and forth in the open as they had done previously. It's unclear how many remain, but Afghan reinforcements were rushing to the scene to help fight the enemy forces lodged in mountain positions.

JAMES WOOLSEY, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: It's curious and very interesting and in some ways fortuitous that we're able to take on a large number of these fighters, because they were flooding back into the area where we were already attacking.

CONSTANTINI: The effort to eliminate the hold-outs has now been slowed, with the U.S.-led forces preferring to wait out what Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld admits is a well-supplied enemy.

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I don't believe they are getting reinforcement or supplies. They do have a very large cache of supplies and weapons and ammunition inside those caves and tunnels. So they are not without ammunition or food or water.

CONSTANTINI: Military leaders who hoped Operation Anaconda would be over this weekend now suggest it could take many more days. On Monday, U.S. helicopters were hit by ground fight, and in ensuing battles, eight U.S. troops were killed. But since then, the American military has been more cautious, with no major casualties. LT. COL. RON SMITH, COMMANDING SURGEON, JOINT TASK FORCE: We have seen a lot of low-velocity injuries to their arms and their legs. That is probably the main thing that we've had.

CONSTANTINI: But the dangers of Afghanistan were in evidence once more to U.S. allies, as the bodies of three Danish and two German peacekeepers were sent to Germany. They were killed Wednesday trying to diffuse an old missile in Kabul, part of their peacekeeping duties.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CONSTANTINI: Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai is asking for more international peacekeepers to stabilize his country. British forces lead that contingent now, and the Bush administration remains reluctant to commit U.S. troops to that long-term engagement -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, Bob. Now, early this morning, one Pentagon official said they weren't sure how many ants are in there unless they disturb the ant hill. This evening, are Pentagon officials saying anything more about whether they know just how many al Qaeda or Taliban forces there just might be bunkered down?

CONSTANTINI: They aren't exactly sure, but they still believe they may have at least 200, 300 forces inside there at this point. They can't say for certain, because again, they are not seeing them come in and out or run from cave to cave. They are hoping at this point to maybe flush them out, perhaps with the weather getting better, with some aerial assaults on those caves -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks very much, Bob Constantini from the Pentagon this evening.

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