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CNN Live At Daybreak

Northern Alliance Stages Show of Strength For Leaders

Aired November 05, 2001 - 05:04   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: As we heard a little bit earlier, some of the heaviest bombing has taken place along the northern front.

Let's check in in northern Afghanistan with Matthew Chance.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of military activity here in northern Afghanistan with troops of the opposition Northern Alliance staging a show of strength for the benefit of their political and military leadership. Let me just step out of the way for a moment to give you a better idea of exactly what the scene is behind me. That rumbling you can hear in the distance, a lot of tanks passing by, a lot of armed personnel carriers and multiple rocket launchers.

Earlier, thousands of troops gathered here to hear their political and military leaders address them. CNN managed to get an exclusive interview with the military leader of the Northern Alliance, General Mohammed Fahim.

He told us his troops were ready to advance on the Afghan capital, Kabul. He said his forces were strong and that he was confident they were strong enough to defeat the Taliban in their defensive positions. He said the time, though, for that offensive has not yet been decided, nor, he said, had any kind of agreement been made with the United States to provide air cover or ground support in any offensive on the Afghan capital.

Remember, these forces, though, are the de facto allies of the United States. They have shared enemies in the Taliban, in the al Qaeda network. Those are the groups that the Northern Alliance has been fighting for several years now. They're wanting more intensive strikes by the U.S. coalition on those Taliban front lines they fight on a day-to-day basis. If those front lines, of course, are degraded enough, it would open the way for them to sweep into the Afghan capital, Kabul.

We're watching the situation very closely from here in northern Afghanistan.

Matthew Chance, CNN, at the mouth of the Panshir Valley in Afghanistan.

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