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American Morning

American and Afghan Troops Say They're Now in Control of Shah- e-Kot Valley

Aired March 13, 2002 - 09:01   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: "Up Front" this morning: Operation Anaconda. American and Afghan troops say they are now in control of the Shah-e-Kot Valley in eastern Afghanistan. The largest and deadliest military mission of the war now enters a mop-up phase with U.S. troops collecting DNA samples of opposition fighters who were killed in this 12-day battle.

At the start of the fighting, it was estimated there we as many as 1,000 Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. Today, it is believed there are only about 100 left.

CNN's Nic Robertson joins us from Gardez. He has this live report.

Nic, what's the latest from there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, literally in the last hour, we've just come back from that valley of Shah-e-Kot, and the village area itself of Shah-e-Kot quite a big area.

What we discovered three dead bodies, three dead, Taliban or Al Qaeda bodies, in their defensive positions, on the outskirts of the village. Massive destruction in the village. The mud-walled compounds that made up that village destroyed by what looked like bombs and missiles.

Also, there many Afghan fighters there loyal to the interim government, part of the coalition forces. Also U.S. special forces.

Now what had happened was overnight the Afghan forces had moved from the south and the north on the village, meeting up with the U.S. special forces on the way.

What the commander told us was they met little resistance as they entered Shah-e-Kot. They said that they saw a lot of destruction along the way. They say that they believe that some of those Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters may have escaped eastward into the mountains, eastwards toward Pakistan. Some others may have escaped westwards toward the Afghan interior.

But the area of Shah-e-Kot certainly very devastated. Certainly no evidence of Taliban and Al Qaeda there, and very firmly on the coalition control -- Paula. ZAHN: You say some of these troops may have escaped toward the Pakistani border, or more to the interior of Afghanistan. What numbers are we talking about here?

ROBERTSON: Nobody has accurate numbers at this time. And this was one of the interesting things about being in the village of Shah- e-Kot. We only saw three dead Taliban or Al Qaeda fighters. Afghan commander said there were a few more around. But there were not massive numbers of dead. Now it was reported that in that village, Al Qaeda, Arab fighters had taken refuge with their families. Now if you go move westward from there into the Afghan interior, you move on to flat, low plains. In that area, historically a lot of support for the Taliban, and it's believed that some elements of the resistance in Shah-e-Kot moved that way, perhaps some of the family members moved down low into the plains.

But other fighters who feared for their lives took off high into the mountains, and that's what U.S. special forces Tommy said, as they came in, they're aware that some Al Qaeda members were getting away into the mountains, heading eastward toward Pakistan, but nobody has any accurate figures at this time -- Paula.

ZAHN: So what is the continuing concern about these soldiers fleeing, then, and their ability to potentially reconstitute their troops?

ROBERTSON: The potential for reconstituting or regrouping in other areas threatens the stability of Afghanistan, because what has been typically happening is the elements that coalesce around Al Qaeda and the Taliban tend to be against the interim government. And there is concern among many politicians here that as better weather improves, as these elements regroup inside the country, they may take upon guerrilla activities against the new interim government, against the new national army that they are trying to form and put in place, and against the power and political structure that they are trying to develop nationally and put across the country.

So if these elements, as far as national government is concerned here, are not brought under control, then they threaten to destabilize the future of Afghanistan, and that is the concern not only of the interim government, but also the coalition forces here as well -- Paula.

ZAHN: I know those were just exclusive pictures we were looking at. Once again, you've gotten extraordinary access.

Thanks once again for the update, Nic.

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