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American Morning

Investigation Into Special Forces Casualty Begins

Aired May 21, 2002 - 08:14   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We're turning now to the war in Afghanistan, where U.S. special forces conducted a raid last night at a compound near where one of their own was ambushed and killed over the weekend.

Our Anderson Cooper joins us now from Kabul with the very latest -- good morning, Anderson.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

The U.S. military says it does not know exactly who killed Special Forces Sergeant Gene Arden Vance, Jr. on Sunday in an ambush in eastern Afghanistan, but they want to find out and last night they began to try to do just that. About 100 U.S. special forces launched a raid on a compound in the eastern Afghanistan region where Sergeant Vance was ambushed. The raid was announced earlier today by U.S. military spokesman Brian Hilferty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN HILFERTY: We just had intelligence of where we think that the people who ambushed our soldiers the other night were. So we conducted a raid in that location.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)? Who conducted the raid?

HILFERTY: U.S. special forces.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

HILFERTY: There were some people that we -- we didn't detain anybody because they didn't seem to be of any intelligence value or they weren't guilty of anything. But all I can say is we had some items of intelligence value.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Exactly what those items of intelligence value are and exactly how they will be used, we do not yet know -- Paula.

ZAHN: All right, thanks so much, Anderson. Appreciate that live report.

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