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American Morning

Fighting Continues in Konduz Despite Plan for Surrender

Aired November 23, 2001 - 09:14   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Commanders with the Northern Alliance say that they have worked out a plan for a Sunday surrender of Taliban forces now holding the city of Konduz, but you wouldn't know a surrender is imminent based on what's happening there right now.

CNN's Satinder Bindra is on the front lines with Northern Alliance troops near Konduz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm standing on the front lines near Konduz, and it's been a clear, sunny day. In short, conditions are perfect for flying. All this morning, we've seen U.S. planes bombing front-line Taliban positions. So far, there's been no response from the Taliban side.

In the meantime, one senior Northern Alliance commander says, local Taliban fighters and a group of hardcore Taliban fighters, the Pakistanis, the Chechens and the Arabs, will surrender Sunday. So far, we've only seen local Taliban fighters surrendering to the Northern Alliance.

Now, many here remain skeptical that the hardcore group of fighters, and the al Qaeda fighters, will ever surrender. So they are advocating and pushing for an all-out offensive against Konduz.

Now, last night, we witnessed a very intense attack from the Northern Alliance side, and in this attack, the Northern Alliance forces captured the village of Soka (ph), which is six kilometers from here. But then, the Taliban forces launched a massive counteroffensive and recaptured the village. It goes to show that the Taliban fighters, in particular the hardcore group of fighters, still have a lot of fight left in them.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, on the front lines near Konduz.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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