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CNN Sunday Morning
Renewed Air Strikes Near Gardez
Aired March 03, 2002 - 11:11 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: More now on the War on Terrorism in eastern Afghanistan, renewed U.S. air strikes hit suspected al Qaeda and Taliban positions today near Gardez. CNN's Brian Palmer is covering the front line developments and he joins us now from the capitol city of Kabul. Good morning, Brian.
BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka. About 100 miles south of here, U.S. forces who are joining their Afghan counterparts, are fighting al Qaeda and Taliban remnants in the mountainous Pachtia (ph) Province of eastern Afghanistan.
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MAJOR A.C. ROPER, U.S. ARMY PUBLIC AFFAIRS: To date, more than 80 pieces or ordinance have been dropped from aircraft in support of Afghan, U.S. and coalition forces.
Afghan, U.S. and coalition forces are involved in eliminating al Qaeda and non-Afghan Taliban forces in the area. There has been one U.S. service member killed and three Afghan forces members killed. An unspecified number of U.S. and Afghan forces have been injured.
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PALMER: Fredricka, the operation began over 48 hours ago with U.S. B-52s striking targets in this very inaccessible and snowy mountainous region and was followed on Saturday by an Afghan ground offensive, joined by those U.S. troops. The numbers we were given, about 500 to 600 Afghan troops, total number of Afghan troops who are allied with the American troops about 1,500.
They're opposing a force, again the numbers are rather sketchy, but the high end we've been told up to 5,000 Taliban and al Qaeda troops. Now an Afghan intelligence ministry official tells us that this operation has been months in the planning. Residents of a neighboring province say that U.S. forces were recruiting there among local commanders and local soldiers to join this campaign. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And, Brian, you know I've read already that for the first time some Army, regular Army soldiers will be hitting the ground there, moving in to the eastern Afghanistan area, more specifically from the 101st Airborne Division. Are you being abreast at all of what kind of role they might be playing? PALMER: Well, we have heard that from a variety of sources, but the source that could really confirm that, that's the Pentagon, is not talking to us at this point about the exact role that any of its forces are playing. We've been told that there should be some statement coming up from the Pentagon sometime in the next hour or so. But again, we have no confirmation of the exact role that those forces are playing, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: OK. Of course the Pentagon being very tight-lipped about the intricacies of their plan there. Thanks very much, Brian Palmer, reporting from the capitol city of Kabul in Afghanistan.
For more on the U.S. military strategy and the War on Terrorism, we turn to CNN's Kathleen Koch. She joins us now from the Pentagon. Good morning, Kathleen. Any new confirmation on the movement in Afghanistan, as it pertains to the U.S. involvement?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, what we have gotten some news on is U.S. casualties in the region. The Pentagon is now reporting that that one U.S. service person who was killed yesterday in the fighting was indeed a member of the U.S. Army. We don't know again if he was a member of the 101st Airborne or not.
Also, the Pentagon is saying now that there were several dozen Afghan and U.S. coalition forces who were wounded. So that is a larger number than we had heard initially. And as Brian reported, the Pentagon is telling us as well that this mission was several months in the planning. They've been keeping a close watch on this area around Gardez.
The CINTCOM spokesman, Admiral Craig Quigley put it to us at CNN a few minutes ago that they were confident that these were "bad guys." The strikes by U.S. aircraft in the region have stepped up today. The weather, we're told, is cold and clear so there are no restrictions on their operations.
Quigley says that overnight, AC-130s and other U.S. aircraft dropped 250 pieces of ordinance, including precision guided munitions and gravity bombs, less sophisticated weapons.
Now yesterday, a new and especially lethal weapon made its debut, a deadly new 2,000-pound bunker buster bomb that enters a cave and sends out a cloud of explosive particles. The bomb, once it burrows deep into the earth, uses a delayed fuse then to ignite those particles, allowing them to penetrate deep into a cave or tunnel and then produce a high heat explosion.
What you're seeing video there is of the testing of it, that occurred in the Nevada desert back in December. Now while the weather in Afghanistan is clear and good for flying today, the Pentagon says there is a good deal of snow on the ground, making for slow going and lots of slogging around for U.S. and coalition forces. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Well, Kathleen as you said, as more ordinance is now moving into that area, is the Pentagon kind of reiterating that this is just the beginning of a new intensified war effort, since this was the greatest buildup since mid-December as you mentioned?
KOCH: The Pentagon isn't really stating that this is a new, more stepped up sort of deployment. They have been saying all along that this war was not over yet, that they were keeping an eye on these pockets of resistance, and that they would put them down quickly whenever they found them.
So I think it may be a little difficult right now to say that this signals a build-up or increased, you know, step up in U.S. forces there in the region. But certainly they're going to be continuing their policy of stamping out those pockets wherever they find them. Back to you.
WHITFIELD: Thanks very much, Kathleen Koch from the Pentagon this morning.
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