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CNN Sunday Morning
U.S. Strikes Kandahar Heavily
Aired October 14, 2001 - 08:15 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight air strikes targeted the Afghan cities of Kabul and Kandahar, with Kandahar particularly hard hit.
CNN's Sheilah Kast is at the Pentagon. She has the latest on the U.S.-led attacks -- Sheila.
SHEILA KAST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Martin.
U.S. planes, as you said, pounded Kandahar for several hours. A source told CNN that a Taliban military headquarters in Kandahar was one of the targets hit last night. And U.S. planes also continued to bomb Kabul, not as intense as in Kandahar, where other targets seem to have been the power lines going -- the high-tension power lines going in and out of Kandahar.
But in Kabul, one of it's neighborhoods, where a U.S. bomb fell by mistake on Saturday, residents there continue to clean up in this neighborhood. Reports from the area said that the mistake apparently killed four people and injured another eight. The 2,000-pound bomb had been intended for a military helicopter at the Kabul airport, but it missed its mark by a mile and fell, instead, on neighborhood.
It is called the Joint Direct Attack Munition or JDAM. It is supposed to automatically find its mark after being released from the plane. It can be programmed either before take off or it can be altered manually by the flight crew. A statement by the Pentagon did not make clear what part of the targeting process -- what stage of the process had caused the accident.
The Pentagon's statement did say, quote: "We regret the loss of any civilian life. U.S. forces are intentionally striking only military and terrorist targets. They take great care in their targeting process to avoid civilians."
But Martin, this is the fourth -- I'm sorry -- this is the second accident the Pentagon has acknowledged this week. Four Afghan civilians were killed Monday in a bombing raid on Kabul. And this is the kind of development that is fueling some of the demonstrations in Pakistan and other countries -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: CNN's Sheila Kast at the Pentagon, thank you very much for that update.
Protests near a Pakistani air base hosting U.S. forces have turned violent.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour has been monitoring the situation from Islamabad, Pakistan, and she joins us with a live update -- Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Martin, first to those air attacks on Afghanistan. You just heard Sheila Kast confirm what we've been reporting, and what they've been reporting for the last 24 hours: that the Pentagon admitted a mis-hit near Kabul and that there were casualties.
As you know, there are international correspondents being taken in on an organized tour by the Taliban near Jalalabad where the Taliban reports four days ago a village outside Jalalabad had been hit, and they claim casualties.
Analysts here are wondering whether that might also have been a mis-hit, because they point out that there are known terrorist training camps outside Jalalabad, and they're wondering whether, in fact, that might have been the intended target and whether these reports of civilian casualties are a result of that kind of thing. And it's unlikely that journalists will be able to see any of the military targets or terrorist camps that had been on the target list.
As for the military campaign, yes, there have been demonstrations inside Pakistan in the last week, as there have been over the last month in Pakistan. There has been a particularly unruly and sometimes violent one taking part in the southern Pakistani city of Jacobabad, where -- this is a stronghold of one of the Islamic hard-line parties, the JUI. And they have called out protests today to protest the presence of U.S. troops and hardware at a military base in Jacobabad.
This is one of two military bases that Pakistan says that it has offered the United States for logistics and for search and rescue operations. Pakistan saying that they do not allow combat operations to take part against Afghanistan from here in Pakistan.
CNN has been talking to medical and police sources in Jacobabad. They confirm one person dead. However, party officials of this Islamic party say that they believe six people may be dead including, perhaps, a policeman. We have not been able to verify that.
Apparently some of the protesters were dispersed by tear gas. And these protesters so far have not been able to get into the city of Jacobabad, nor near the actual air base -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Christiane, is there an indication that these protests would end at a certain time -- nightfall, perhaps at war (ph)? Is it the thinking that they may go on and continue?
AMANPOUR: Well, no these have generally not lasted beyond a couple of hours. I think again it's important to point out that these are, if you like, the usual suspects out on the street.
Obviously, tempers and passions have been somewhat heightened since the bombing campaign, but there have been protests, as you know, in Pakistan for the last month of this crisis. But, you know, this is a country of about 140 million people. There are several thousand people at any given time on the street.
Apparently today it was no more than about 3,500 people, according to our sources. And, again, these are the people who have all along called for the protests. They are religious hard-line leaders plus young people who come from the religious schools, the so- called madrases, and they have got an interest in these protests.
But none of the majority of Pakistan who are mostly moderate Muslims have taken part in these protests. And the majority of this country is quiet and peaceful and under control, Martin.
SAVIDGE: CNN'S Christiane Amanpour reporting to us live from Islamabad. Thank you very much.
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