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American Morning

Military Mission to Find Osama Bin Laden Well Under Way

Aired December 05, 2001 - 07:05   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The military mission to find Osama bin Laden is well under way. Heavy fighting is reported in the Tora Bora region, a mountainous area in eastern Afghanistan where he may be hiding.

CNN's Jim Clancy is in Kabul, the Afghan capital -- Jim, what do we know at this hour?

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we know is that local commanders on the ground have moved not only their fighters now, but also aging Soviet T-55 tanks that they've had for some years, as well as artillery, into the fray. Both sides standing off about two kilometers apart. That's a moderate range, very close for that kind of weaponry.

At the same time, U.S. B-52 aircraft are targeting the Al Qaeda supporters in those mountains in the eastern part of Afghanistan, where it is believed that Osama bin Laden has a network of caves and fortified tunnels for the protection of as many as 1,000 fighters inside the cave complexes.

Now, this is where there have been reports that Osama bin Laden is hiding. However, there is no confirmation of that. Local commanders on the ground, of course, carrying the fight to the al Qaeda supporters in those mountains right now.

Now, that whole mountainous region there in eastern Afghanistan, the so-called White Mountains, is a very formidable area, indeed. But it is not beyond the reach of any military forces, as we are seeing now. Just how long this battle is going to go on, no one can guess. But clearly it is shaping up now that the net is closing, circling in closer and closer on this suspected stronghold of Osama bin Laden or his supporters -- Paula.

ZAHN: Jim Clancy, thanks so much for that report.

As we told you, the Pentagon says two American soldiers have been killed and 20 others injured in an accidental bombing, that during the heavy fighting around Kandahar, the last remaining major stronghold of the Taliban.

Let's get the very latest now from CNN's Walter Rodgers, who joins us from Kabul, the capital, by telephone -- Walter.

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Paula.

The information you've been given by the Pentagon is precisely what we're receiving here. But many of the Americans injured in that accidental bombing by a B-52 bomber are being transferred to this marine base in the southern Afghan desert, where medical facilities do exist. Some of the injured soldiers, the U.S. forces, will be treated here in, by the marine medical teams. Also, others -- you can hear the helicopters now, helicopters which are bringing in those injured U.S. forces.

But the marines also confirmed what you're hearing from the Pentagon, that a B-52 bomb went off course at 12:30 a.m. Eastern time. It killed two U.S. servicemen north of Kandahar, wounded 20 other American soldiers. Additionally, we're told that an unknown number of Afghan opposition forces were also killed and injured in that same accidental B-52 bombing -- Paula.

ZAHN: Walt Rodgers, is there any discussion on how the role of the B-52 might be altered as a result of this accident?

RODGERS: No, this is, there has been certainly no discussion of that here. Remember, this is a marine base and those B-52s are flying out of Diego Garcia, a base in the Indian Ocean. Having said that, this kind of action and however tragic is what Clausewitz called the fog of war. It happens. It is, I believe even in the Gulf War, there were more American soldiers killed by friendly fire, and that's exactly what we're seeing here, than by enemy fire. That's the situation which any soldier risks when he goes into a combat arena and, indeed, the Americans who were collaborating with the Northern Alliance and the opposition, Afghan opposition forces knew they were risking their lives on many theaters and one of them was obviously the theater of accidental fire. That's what happened here when the B-52 bomb went astray.

The B-52s are simply too effective a weapon to stop using because of the results they produced up at Mazir-i-Sharif when the Taliban was forced to capitulate there and retreat to Kabul and then subsequently to Kandahar. Massive bombing is not always pinpoint accurate -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right, Walt Rodgers, thanks so much for the update.

He is reporting or was reporting from southern Afghanistan, where he is tracking the progress of what the marines are doing in that part of the country.

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