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CNN Live At Daybreak

Northern Alliance Says It Is Ready for a Fight

Aired November 05, 2001 - 06:29   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: Want to go ahead and check in in Northern Afghanistan now, an area that is seeing increased bombing and it looks like more support for the Northern Alliance forces. Let's go ahead and check in with Matthew Chance. Matthew hello.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right Daryn, a lot of military activity here in northern Afghanistan. We're getting a lot of reports filtering down to us from the strategic northern city of Mazar-e Sharif about fears fighting going on there. Certainly there's been a lot of military activity there in recent weeks, a lot of U.S.- led coalition airstrikes pounding Taliban frontlines around that strategically important city.

Also a lot of military activity in this location where I'm standing now a short distance from the Afghan capital Kabul just to the north of there. A big military parade by the opposition forces of the Northern Alliance -- certainly the biggest show of force that we've witnessed being staged by the Northern Alliance in the weeks since we've been here.

Political and military leaders address the thousands of troops that gathered along those dusty planes, along the Shamali Planes overlooking the frontlines between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. General Mohammed Faheen (ph) is the military commander of the Northern Alliance and he told CNN his troops were now ready for a fight.

GENERAL MOHAMMED FAHEEN (through translator): This parade is intended to demonstrate the military power of the Islamic state of Afghanistan. If the order for an attack is given, we're confident these troops will achieve their mission.

CHANCE: There's no indication yet, though, about when that advance on the Afghan capital may be. General Faheen (ph) told us that that hasn't been decided yet. There was a live fire exercise, though, it was staged just after the initial military parade to give us an idea of the kind of rocket and tank fire power these forces of the Northern Alliance have at their disposal.

The big question though is of course to what extent the Taliban military forces have been weakened by the weeks of U.S.-led bombardments from the air and whether these forces of the Northern Alliance, even though they look pretty strong there, whether they're strong enough, though, to advance and to take the Afghan capital Kabul.

Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Matthew, give us a sense of how strong the Northern Alliance is in terms of its unity. I know it's made up of a bunch of different groups, so how united are they as a front?

CHANCE: Well increasingly united it seems over the past few months. They've managed to bring in into a very tight knit coalition the minority ethnic groups, the Tajiks and the Uzbeks particularly. Now their dominance, of course, in the Northern Alliance, but a minority in Afghanistan as a -- as a whole. They're also Pashtun elements there as well.

The big concern, though, certainly the United States and for much of the international community is that this Northern Alliance of mainly Tajiks and Uzbeks may not be representative enough to form a post Taliban government. All the diplomatic efforts over the past few weeks have been focused on trying to certainly have the Northern Alliance involved in a post Taliban government, but also to bring in more of the Pashtun tribesmen that make up the most, the biggest ethnic group in Afghanistan into any kind of post Taliban regime that's being discussed.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Matthew Chance in northern Afghanistan. Matthew, thank you very much.

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