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CNN Live At Daybreak

America Strikes Back: Most Intense Bombing of Kabul Yet

Aired October 15, 2001 - 08:20   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: From the home front to the war front as Operation Enduring Freedom moves into its second week.

For the very latest on that, national correspondent Bob Franken joins us from the Pentagon this morning -- good morning, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

And the second week looks quite a bit like the first week, only more of it. Some of the most intense attacks that have been waged against the city of Kabul, the capital city, have been going on in the last 24 hours -- around-the-clock raids. Some of them as you can see have left quite spectacular results -- this fire burning. Many of the attacks are against military targets that are in the mountains you see in the background.

There was also an attack that was quite debilitating to the forces and the citizens of Afghanistan when U.S. jets knocked out a telecommunications center -- a relatively modern one that had been constructed by the Chinese for the Afghanistan people. That one is now out and making telephone communication and telecommunications in general pretty -- very difficult, which of course, is so essential to life in the city.

There have been other attacks at Jalalabad. There, of course, were attacks at Koram, the village that was visited by the international reporters, including CNN's Nic Robertson.

Officials here say they are checking out the claims that 200 civilians were killed. There were none that were shown to reporters -- no evidence of graves or anything like that, or people who had been killed that were in the city. But nevertheless, intelligence officials here are checking them out.

They, of course, had run that throughout the weekend. There were the disclosures that four civilians had been inadvertently killed, according to the Pentagon, in the case of a bomb that had gone off target.

Now, the raids that are continuing -- these aerial raids are going on, even though officials and military people on the scene are saying they are almost out of targets -- that they continue to hit and rehit targets now and look for targets of opportunity, as we have always said. So comes the question, Paula: What is the next phase going to be? And, of course, the answer everyone gives is some sort of ground operation.

ZAHN: All right, Bob -- thanks so much -- see you throughout the morning.

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