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American Morning

Spin Boldak Falls to Local Tribal Leaders

Aired December 07, 2001 - 08:04   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 NEWS: Anti-Taliban forces control, as you probably heard us report all morning, key areas of Afghanistan. They moved into Kandahar as Taliban troops fled their last major stronghold.

And now the strategic border town of Spin Boldak has fallen to local tribal leaders.

CNN's Nic Robertson was one of the few western journalists on the scene. He now has this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Until a few hours ago, this town of Spin Boldak, just inside Afghanistan, was controlled by the Taliban.

It has been handed over now to three different tribal groups. The Akshun Dai (ph) tribe control this area. Further inside Spin Boldak the Norzai (ph) tribe control another area. And yet a third tribe control a different area.

Three hours up the road from here is Kandahar city. Early in the day, our sources there told us there was widespread looting in the city. But after a few hours, when Mullah Naqibullah, the new commander of Kandahar, he has taken over power from the Taliban there. He represents a group of tribal elders. After his forces arrived in the town, we understand a degree of normality began to return. However, that wasn't before, we are told, several Taliban soldiers were killed.

All the Taliban has now left Kandahar, and there are none here in Spin Boldak. It is not clear whether the Taliban surrendered their weapons before leaving these towns.

What is known now is that Mullah Mohammed Omar is in hiding. His location is unknown. However, the -- Hamid Karzai, the new head of Afghanistan's interim government, has said that Mullah Mohammed Omar should be arrested and tried.

He has also said that al Qaeda leaders and supporters should also be arrested and not allowed to leave the country. He said that they destroyed the country and bought -- and brought mayhem to the people of Afghanistan, and they should stand trial for that. Along the border today, the situation on the Pakistani side has been somewhat tense. Pakistani border guards stepped up their patrols.

The situation inside Spin Boldak at dusk appears to be somewhat chaotic. But there appears also to be no widespread looting, and there appears to be some semblance of calm returning.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Spin Boldak, Afghanistan.

ZAHN: Thank you, Nic.

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