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CNN Live At Daybreak
Spin Boldak Still in Taliban Control
Aired November 26, 2001 - 05:01 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Now we're going to take you to CNN's Nic Robertson. He's going to join us on the telephone now. He's actually near the Chaman area of Pakistan border. That's near Kandahar, a couple hours away from Kandahar. Let's get the latest on the situation there -- what can you tell us?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're at the border of Chaman and Spin Boldak. Chaman is in Pakistan, Spin Boldak, a few hundred meters from where I am, is inside Afghanistan. Now, there were rumors earlier today that Spin Boldak had fallen from Taliban control. What we now know to be accurate is that Spin Boldak, the border town on the main highway to Kandahar, about three hours from Kandahar, is under the control of the Taliban.
We spoke with a Taliban foreign ministry official who crossed over into Pakistan about an hour ago. He said that at this stage there were no negotiations going on between Taliban and tribal forces to hand over the control of Spin Boldak. He said that the reason there were no negotiations was that the tribal commanders want too much in the surrender of the Taliban. He said that the tribal commanders want the Taliban to surrender all their weapons and their heavy weapons. And he said that this was too much for the Taliban at this stage.
Now, in the city of Kandahar itself, there were reports overnight of heavy bombing. Around the airport of Kandahar, about 10 miles southeast of the city of Kandahar, there were reports of heavy gunfire in the city of Kandahar today.
However, at this stage we understand from in Kandahar itself the Taliban say they are in control of the city, they are in control of the airport and there is some degree of normal life on the streets of Kandahar. People are going about their shopping in the marketplace there and from our staff inside Kandahar they say that the atmosphere is relatively normal inside the city of Kandahar at the moment.
CALLAWAY: Nic, are you seeing a good number of people fleeing over the Pakistan line there?
ROBERTSON: At this time there's just the normal traffic between the -- between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Usually there are several hundreds of men who cross every day between Pakistan and Afghanistan. These people trade and, on both sides of the border. The towns here at Chaman and Spin Boldak are both busy trading towns. And we understand from Pakistani officials at the border that this is just the regular movement of people across the border.
Also today at the border we have seen about 30 trucks full of food going into Afghanistan. Pakistani officials here at the border say this is a routine supply of food that's in the normal regular marketplace. This is not relief aid that's going into Afghanistan, they say, but just regular food products, a lot of wheat going through on large trucks, about 30 trucks going into Afghanistan from Pakistan today.
And the word from truck drivers who are coming out of Kandahar to the border of Spin Boldak and Chaman tell us that on the main highway there is now a detour around the town, a small town called Tactabol (ph). This town yesterday the tribal commanders saying that they attacked that town and have taken control of it. Today, truck drivers tell us that the Taliban are now detouring drivers around that town, around away from the main highway. So clearly there's the possibility there that the Taliban do not control one part of the main highway linking Kandahar to the border of Spin Boldak and Chaman.
CALLAWAY: Nic, we know that the U.S. marines have..
(AUDIO GAP)
ROBERTSON: ... has troops there. Several weeks ago when the Pentagon, during a nighttime raid into Afghanistan, released some video, they talked about landing at a desert air strip, an air strip that was based on a dried out lake bed some 60 kilometers south of Kandahar. There's no indication that they have gone in again to the same location, though certainly in and around the city of Kandahar we are told there is no U.S. troop presence at this time.
CALLAWAY: All right, CNN's Nic Robertson joining us from the Chaman border.
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