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CNN Sunday Morning

Three U.S. Marines Injured at Kandahar Airport

Aired December 16, 2001 - 10:04   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Three U.S. Marines have been injured in the land mining clearing operation at the Kandahar Airport in southern Afghanistan. A military spokesman tells us the injuries are not life threatening and the Marines are now undergoing treatment at nearby Camp Rhino. Marines have found weapons and unexploded ordinance scattered around the Kandahar airport and its runways.

U.S. Military officials in Washington are getting updates on those Marine causalities. Officials are also monitoring reported movement of al Qaeda forces in eastern Afghanistan.

CNN's Kathleen Koch has the latest from the Pentagon -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Miles. And, the U.S. Pentagon, despite these reports, is cautioning that it is not over yet. There are U.S. Special Forces troops on the ground with those Eastern Alliance fighters in the Tora Bora region, and though the U.S. bombs have resumed falling there, the Pentagon at this point is getting no confirmation that al Qaeda forces have fled.

Now, there are still these reports that Osama bin Laden's voice was heard, was picked up, on these battlefield radios in the Tora Bora region. Now the question is, what is the range of those radios and could bin Laden be calling the shots from outside the country say perhaps in Afghanistan? Secretary of State Colin Powell reacted earlier this morning to these reports that bin Laden and al Qaeda may have slipped away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Wherever he is, we will get him. Whether it takes one day, one week, two years, he will be brought to justice. It's important to note though that Taliban is finished and al Qaeda is in the process of being finished off in Afghanistan, but our work is not done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in Afghanistan making his first trip to that country since 10-week campaign against terrorism began. The secretary told reporters traveling with him that a good deal of documentation and other items were found at a suspect weapon site near the U.S. Marine desert base Camp Rhino. That site was believed to be used by al Qaeda for research. The material found there is being examined for chemical, biological and radiation content.

Now, while there Defense Secretary Rumsfeld has met with the interim Afghanistan leader Hamid Karzai, he has assured him that the U.S. troops will not become an occupying force in Afghanistan but instead are only there to root out terrorists. Back to you.

O'BRIEN: CNN'S Kathleen Koch at the Pentagon. Thanks so much.

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