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American Morning
Major Battle May Be Brewing in Afghanistan
Aired May 01, 2002 - 07:01 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, a major battle may be brewing in Afghanistan, as U.S. troops amass in the eastern part of the country along the Pakistan border.
CNN's Barbara Starr joins us now from the Pentagon with this developing story -- good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. Well, CNN has confirmed that about 1,000 U.S. and coalition troops are on the move inside Afghanistan this morning headed for the region near the Pakistan border. Sources tell CNN that the troops, which include about 300 U.S. forces from the Army's 101st Airborne Division, will go to several locations inside Afghanistan but close to the Pakistan border, places that they believe the al Qaeda may be hiding out.
The troops are being supported by Apache gunships and a variety of other weapons. We are told hat troops are ready for combat, if they find al Qaeda and the al Qaeda challenge them.
The troops are going to do a lot of what they have been doing for the last several weeks, searching caves, looking at buildings, looking at possible al Qaeda hideouts, destroying weapon stockpiles where they find them. But this mission today that is now beginning to be under way is significantly larger and it is different in one key respect, and that is the troops, the teams of U.S. and coalition forces, will simultaneously go to several locations. They hope to cut off escape routes, cut off communications, freeze the al Qaeda in place where they find them, keep them from moving around.
Now, all of this comes at a time when the entire region along the border with Pakistan, of course, is very volatile. There are al Qaeda in the region, according to all intelligence reports, and the U.S. troops are on the watch.
Now, they don't specific permission to cross into Pakistan if they find al Qaeda on the run. But we are told that the arrangement is this. If they find al Qaeda, the U.S. troops will communicate with the Pakistani military. They will come to a quick decision about whether or not the U.S. and coalition troops then cross into Pakistan, essentially to chase them down.
And the U.S. has put one very essential thing into place to make that happen, of course. Several days ago, a group of Special Forces went into Pakistan. They are now on that side of the border ready to get that communication from the U.S. troops if it comes their way -- Paula.
ZAHN: But is President Musharraf even in control of some of those tribal areas along the border there?
STARR: Well, there is -- in some areas, there is certainly not 100 percent central government control in Pakistan. There is no question about that. Everyone does, of course, understand that. But the Pakistani military has essentially moved into the region in recent weeks in greater and greater numbers, sealing off many escape routes across the border.
Those U.S. Special Forces are with them now. And what they have is communications and liaison. So if the forces on the Afghan side of the border say there is al Qaeda headed your way, the two governments can rapidly communicate, the two militaries, come to a decision about what to do.
And we are told if the Pakistani military, if the Pakistani government gives the go ahead, the U.S. troops would then cross into Pakistan and hunt down al Qaeda.
ZAHN: What about the latest reports that Osama bin Laden has been sighted in and around either Khost or Peshawar?
STARR: Well, the gossip -- the rumor mill is hot and heavy, as always, in that part of the world. There are a number of reports out of local tribal leaders, local militias of course, that bin Laden is in this region, that he has been crossing back and forth, and that he is now operating out of this tribal area inside Pakistan.
The U.S. says it can't confirm any of that, but clearly, they are putting an awful lot of fire power, a lot of manpower into the region on the Afghan side, and they are going to have a real good look around to see what they can find.
ZAHN: All right. Barbara Starr, thanks so much for that update.
STARR: OK.
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