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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Strikes Back: Afghanistan's Northern Alliance Assists in Attacks

Aired October 08, 2001 - 07:05   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.
The Northern Alliance in Afghanistan fired rockets at the Taliban during the first round of coalition attacks and now they will help the coalition assess the damage.

For the latest on the Northern Alliance, let's go to CNN's Matthew Chance, who joins us from northern Afghanistan this morning -- good morning, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Paula.

That's right, and it could be a new opportunity for the Northern Alliance, of course, at the expense of the Taliban. Throughout the course of the day on the front lines between the two sides just north of Kabul over here there has been intermittent artillery exchanges and heavy machine gun fire. Commanders of the Northern Alliance, though, say they've been ordered by their political leadership to hold their positions, not to move ahead at this stage into any further Taliban controlled territory,

(voice-over): even though, of course, Taliban forces and their military installations came under heavy attack overnight.

Take a look at those night sight vision pictures that we managed to record last night during the strikes. That's the first military action in America's declared war, of course, against terror. The skies over Kabul lighted up with the cruise missile attacks. Kandahar in the south, also, Jalalabad in the east of Afghanistan was attacked.

The opposition Northern Alliance forces also opened up with missiles and rockets and heavy artillery pieces against the positions of the Taliban, striking at cars which had their headlights on coming down the mountainside, which marks the position of the Taliban away from the Northern Alliance forces. They say those cars were being used to ferry reinforcements by the Taliban to the front line.

Well, commanders of the Northern Alliance say they are cooperating

(on camera): with the United States at this stage in any further military action. One possibility, of course, is further strikes this evening. We'll see what the coming hours bring. But another possibility, of course, is that there may be given an order to move ahead to Kabul. We'll just have to see how the coming days and the coming hours unfold, Paula.

ZAHN: And if they move towards Kabul, what is it they'd likely encounter?

CHANCE: It's difficult to say at this stage. There may be a sense in which they may, the air strikes, if they continue, or if the artillery barrages continue over the next day or so, then that might loosen up any kind of Taliban opposition to a Northern Alliance front or the Northern Alliance resistance.

At the moment, I can tell you the front lines are pretty clear on both sides and pretty entrenched. They both hurl across artillery shells and tank shells and rockets to each other, but there's very little movement between the two sides one way or the other at this stage -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right, Matthew Chance, thanks so much for that update.

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