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CNN Live At Daybreak

Hunt For Bin Laden Continues in Tora Bora

Aired December 14, 2001 - 05:00   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: Well, there are new reports this morning regarding Osama bin Laden's whereabouts. The Associated Press quotes an Eastern Alliance commander as saying that his troops seized a cave that was recently occupied by bin Laden. Details are still sketchy and the commander couldn't say how long ago bin Laden was there.

Let's go to CNN's Brent Sadler, who's in the Tora Bora area, where opposition forces are and where -- and also word on the intense U.S. bombing that's going on there -- Brent, what's the latest from there?

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For many hours now, we've seen stepped up air activity, U.S. war planes really pounding those mountain positions behind me over there. You can just see one of the recent plumes of smoke rising in the White Mountains behind me. And this is going on at the same time as the Eastern Alliance Afghan forces are pushing ahead, trying to mop up what they say are remnants of al Qaeda terror operators still in the mountains.

Now, they're talking still about several hundred al Qaeda resistance fighters, terror groups still operating, still in radio contact with each other and this really is a continuation of the attempt to try and wipe out their hold on those White Mountains behind me.

Now during the night we saw continuing air strikes. This night scope video shows you what it was like in the hours of darkness here. All night intermittent bombing attacks against those same positions and also we heard behind the explosions the drone of the engines of C- 130 American gunships working, we believe, in conjunction with special forces on the ground, special forces, we understand, very active at night, laying up during the day but then moving in the nighttime using the cover to get closer to al Qaeda positions to report back to aircraft controllers for precision bombing during the hours of daylight.

Now, daylight hours, again, soon after daybreak this morning bomb blasts again in the areas against the trenches, tunnels, cave complexes, all the targets that they've been able to locate over this more than two weeks of bombing, some repeatedly struck and other new targets also have been located and attacked.

Now during the day time bombing raids, it was quite clear that one of the bombs or missiles missed its target by several miles. We saw the smoke rising just a couple of miles from our tent encampment where the world's media is reporting this ongoing mountain war. It rattled all our positions here a couple of miles from the media, but several miles from the apparent target in the mountains behind me, where much of the fire has been concentrated.

Now we've also heard from Hazarat Ali, who is one of the Eastern Alliance's main commanders, he's been telling journalists that they've been able to consolidate their positions that they took earlier this week. They've been able to push back al Qaeda. They've not been taking any incoming fire from this advanced position and really are making some considerable progress, according to Eastern Alliance commanders.

So certainly no let up in the U.S. air war. Certainly continuing drive by Afghan forces on the ground. It's reported now from some of those commanders that they believe Osama bin Laden may be holed up in what they call some special place. That perhaps refers to some deep underground complex of tunnels and caves. Of course, no one has any idea for sure.

So certainly no let up in this ongoing mountain war.

Brent Sadler, CNN, near Tora Bora in the White Mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

CALLAWAY: All right, thank you, Brent.

And not too far from him on the front lines of the fighting going on there in the Tora Bora region is CNN's Ben Wedeman.

He's joining us now by phone with the very latest on -- Ben, what's the situation there?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Catherine, well, the bombing continues. We've had a pretty much a front row seat in watching this bombing. We've also seen that the Eastern Alliance is firing tanks onto the hills where the al Qaeda positions are located.

Just a little while ago we came under fire, had to duck down behind cars and rocks, wherever we could find cover. And right now I'm hearing overhead yet another aircraft, probably a U.S. fighter bomber, an f18 or an F-14 coming in for another run.

The Eastern Alliance, the commander in this area, Hazarat Ali -- OK, there you could, may have been able to hear that blast, just another bomb falling on the hills here.

As I was saying, the Eastern Alliance commander Hazarat Ali says that he believes al Qaeda is finished. But as we saw when we came under fire from their snipers, they still have a little bit of juice in them yet. He said that he believes Osama bin Laden, as Brent just mentioned a little while ago, that they do believe Osama bin Laden is still in these hills. He said he, that bin Laden could be in what he called a special place, possibly a bunker -- Catherine. CALLAWAY: Ben, obviously we can hear what's going on there where you are. You mentioned the sniper fire. Other than that, what kind of resistance is the al Qaeda and the Taliban giving them?

SADLER: Not too much at the moment. There was one incoming, I believe 120 millimeter mortar round, earlier this morning. It fell on an abandoned hilltop. Other than that it seems like they're just trying to keep the Eastern Alliance forces at bay with heavy machine gun fire -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, thank you.

CNN's Ben Wedeman, who's right there, as you could hear, on the front lines in the fighting that's going on in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan.

And as we have said, the U.S. officials believe that that is where Osama bin Laden may be hiding and that he is surrounded.

CNN's Bob Constantini now is joining us from the Pentagon with the latest on the hunt for bin Laden. What can you tell us this morning?

BOB CONSTANTINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Catherine, a senior U.S. official tells CNN al Qaeda soldiers in the Tora Bora region are "fighting damned hard, as though there's something there worth fighting for." And he points to local tribal fighters who claim to have seen Osama bin Laden in the region, plus what he called unspecified intelligence information.

Now, all those factors add up, according to this senior official, to lead the U.S. to believe that bin Laden is still in the area and still poses a threat and still has not escaped capture at this point.

Now, there are reports that several dozen U.S. special forces are on the ground in the Wazir and Agam Valleys south of Tora Bora, searching for bin Laden and calling in air strikes. At the southern end of the valleys, the defense official says Pakistani troops are stationed along the border in case bin Laden or al Qaeda terrorists would try to cross and that that, as that official put it, there are a lot of plugs no matter where you look.

And yesterday, meanwhile, brought the much anticipated release of the home video supposedly showing Osama bin Laden speaking freely of the September 11 attacks and the plans leading up to that day. It shows bin Laden sitting with a man identified as Saudi Sheikh Suleyman (ph). Both praised Allah and at times laughed at the thought the attacks had killed many more people than expected at the World Trade Center.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "Bin Laden Tape")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONSTANTINI: In the tape bin Laden indicates he was in on the plan. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "Bin Laden Tape")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONSTANTINI: The Bush administration decided to release the tape and make it public to help bolster its case for bringing bin Laden to justice within the international community -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: That was Bob Constantini at the Pentagon. Thank you, Bob.

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