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American Morning
U.S. Bombs North of Kabul
Aired October 19, 2001 - 10:05 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Overseas, where CNN's Matthew Chance watching the military movement from the vantage point of Northern Afghanistan with the Northern Alliance.
And Matthew joins us live now, where it is already nightfall there.
Matthew, hello.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right; indeed, Bill, darkness has fallen here.
But I just want to bring you up to date on some military developments that have just been getting through to us. There seems to be a renewed and quite intensive bombardment that's been taking place on the front line positions just north of Kabul, just a short distance from where we're standing right now. There's been rocket fire and artillery fire and tank shells flying across from Northern Alliance positions across to those Taliban front line positions north of Kabul.
We've also been told there's a lot of artillery and tank shells coming in the other direction, in this direction, from the Taliban towards those strongholds of the Northern Alliance.
No firm indication as yet, though, of a Northern Alliance push deeper into Taliban controlled Afghanistan -- that much vaunted offensive on Kabul that we've all been waiting for. Obviously, though, we're watching that situation very closely. We'll bring you details as soon as they come through to us here.
In the meantime, there have been renewed reports of mass defections from the ranks of the Taliban to those of the Northern Alliance over the past few weeks. There's been a lot of talk from the Northern Alliance of hundreds of defectors coming across, literally switching sides just today. They're reporting 800 defectors in the western city of Herat, another 150 reported just north, a short distance from here, north of Kabul.
We can't substantiate those figures. We were taken, though, to see one group who said they came across from the Taliban to the Northern Alliance in the past few weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former fighters of the Taliban, now heavily armed defectors to a resurgent opposition. For weeks, the Northern Alliance has claimed mass defections to its ranks. Hundreds are said to have switched sides. These are the first of those calling themselves ex-Taliban fighters we actually met. They number just 10.
Abdel Kayoom (ph) says he fought with the Taliban for three years, and as his new comrades in arms looked on, he told us why he left. "They exploded bombs in America, and they killed the Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Masoud," he says. "We don't have any good memories of the Taliban; they're just terrorists."
It seems the line between the Taliban and associates of Osama bin Laden simply isn't acknowledged here.
Away from the crowds, we sat with a second self-declared defector, Abdul Gefal (ph), another long-serving Taliban fighter. He told us his group came from front lines, north of Kabul. Three hundred Taliban, he said, wanted to switch sides, but he and his nine friends were the only ones that came.
"The Taliban are demoralized and scared," he said. "I can't say how long they will last, but their days are numbered."
Alliance commanders say the more U.S. bombs that fall on Taliban positions, the more defectors they're likely to see.
(on camera): It may seem like an easy way of scoring publicity points at the expense of the Taliban, but attracting defectors is a key military strategy of the Northern Alliance. For an army with limited weapons and ammunition, each defector is one less man to fight.
(voice-over): As yet, these isolated defections fall short of collapse in the Taliban ranks. But this conflict is no stranger to changing alliances and fighters switching sides, and the hope of the opposition is that more of this will turn the tide.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE: Well it could well turn the tide, Bill.
We're watching, though, closely, this confirmation that there's been U.S. troops deployed in the south of Afghanistan. No indication yet, though, from the Northern Alliance about what role, if any, their forces will play -- if they'll be cooperating or coordinating their military action with those U.S. forces. We're watching it closely, though. Back to you.
HEMMER: Indeed you are. Matthew, many thanks. In Northern Afghanistan, CNN's Matthew Chance.
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