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CNN Saturday Morning News
Taliban Claims to Have Shot Down U.S. Reconnaissance Plane
Aired November 03, 2001 - 08:01 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: We are told that members have been rescued from a U.S. helicopter that crashed in Afghanistan. But an unmanned reconnaissance plane is missing and the Taliban claim they shot it down.
CNN's Jonathan Aiken is at the Pentagon -- Jonathan.
JONATHAN AIKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Marty.
As you mentioned, those four crew members of that search and rescue helicopter reportedly rescued, according to the Pentagon. All are being treated, we're told, for non-life threatening injuries. Now, just where this happened we're not being told. We're told it happened about 11 o'clock Friday night in Afghanistan. That would be about 1:30 Friday afternoon Eastern time.
According to the Pentagon, two choppers were heading in on a search and rescue mission in order to retrieve a member of the armed forces. One chopper went down, making a crash landing. Another chopper landed successfully in bad weather and managed to retrieve the crew members, the four crew members of that first helicopter. Again, everyone said to be OK, being treated for non-life threatening injuries.
After the crew was recovered and the choppers had left the area, we're told that F-14 Tomcats assigned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Arabian Sea went back to that location. They destroyed the helicopter, presumably to prevent the Taliban from getting a hold of any material or information that may have been inside.
Also what we can tell you is that the Taliban is claiming that it, in fact, shot down two U.S. helicopters, killing 40 to 50 Americans in the effort. The U.S. central command with an emphatic denial this morning. They're telling us that no U.S. helicopters were shot down over Afghanistan.
Missing, however, as you mentioned, is an unmanned reconnaissance drone, a Predator drone. These are flying at medium altitudes to survey potential battle sites and also get a look see into areas that may not be safe for manned flight. According to the U.S. military, the Air Force tells us that it went down in bad weather.
The Taliban has another story. It claims that it shot down the drone in eastern Afghanistan. The Air Force says that it's not going to go back and try to retrieve this drone and it says that by not doing so there will be no compromise of any high technology equipment that may be on board.
And just in case you missed the recap at the top of the program, I just want to briefly recap where the fighting has been this morning. More action in the front lines north of Kabul. Also, U.S. fighter jets were busy bombing areas on the western edge of the Shomali Plains and the mountains, and also some activity around Mazir-e Sharif, that strategic crossroad town in northern Afghanistan -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Jonathan, you mentioned two incidents involving weather, at least coming from the Pentagon, the surveillance aircraft and then, of course, the helicopter. How severely is weather curtailing operations for the Pentagon?
AIKEN: It's been a nuisance over the past few days and a growing nuisance at that. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been saying for several days now that U.S. efforts to get special forces teams on the ground to enhance the opportunity to do reconnaissance and targeting for those flights over Afghanistan, well, those efforts have been stymied by bad weather. A couple of opportunities to land troops have come and gone because of freezing rain.
And sleet is also an issue as you get into the valleys and the mountains. Winter is fast approaching and there was snow on the mountains, the mountaintops around Kabul this morning.
So what we're being told is that once the weather lifts there may be a better opportunity to increase the number of U.S. special operations forces on the ground, the people who are able to target those U.S. aircraft. For now, though, it's a problem and as we found out this morning, a potentially fatal one -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: That it is. Jonathan Aiken reporting live from the Pentagon, thanks.
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