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CNN Saturday Morning News

U.S. Bombing Continues Along Taliban Front Lines

Aired November 03, 2001 - 09:01   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: More now from northern Afghanistan. B-52 bombers pummel the Taliban front lines north of Kabul, and there are reports of a pitched battle for the key Taliban-held stronghold of Mazar-e Sharif.

CNN's Satinder Bindra is stationed northeast of that strategic town and filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As night falls in northeastern Afghanistan, we are hearing a heavy exchange of small- arms fire. All through the day today, we've heard and seen U.S. bombers drop several bombs on front-line Taliban positions, which you can see just over my shoulder.

The response from the Taliban side was to fire antiaircraft guns, but it appeared they were ineffective because these U.S. bombers were flying very high. It looked like they were U.S. B-52 bombers. We've been here in this sector for about a week now, but this is the heaviest and most accurate U.S. bombing that we've witnessed.

Elsewhere, just southwest of here towards the strategic city of Mazar-e Sharif, there has been more intensive ground fighting. United Front or Northern Alliance soldiers say their troops have captured significant parts of a district which is just south of Mazar-e Sharif. They say heavy fighting broke out last night. This fighting lasted three hours.

At the end of it, United Front or Northern Alliance troops say, 400 Taliban troops defected, another 200 surrendered. But the United Front also claims that they captured significant and large amounts of military hardware, which included 50 pickup trucks. None of these claims can be independently verified, and all that the Taliban are saying for the moment is there is heavy and intense fighting going on just south of Mazar-e Sharif.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, Ihonam (ph) Hill, northeastern Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: For the latest now on the U.S. military action in the war against terrorism, CNN's Jonathan Aiken is standing by live at the Pentagon with an update -- Jonathan. JONATHAN AIKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Marty, as Satinder tells you from his position near Mazar-e Sharif, activity going on there. We can tell you there's been some other activity too closer to Kabul. And we have a map we want to show you, just to give you some bearings here.

We can tell you the fighter jets, U.S. fighter jets, were busy hitting Taliban front lines north of the capital of Kabul, and in particular we're told that they were focusing their attention on the western edge of the Shomali Plain. That's an area where Northern Alliance troops and Taliban forces are dug in and engaging in trench warfare in that area.

Satinder tells us that B-52s were in evidence in the area where he is, in northern Afghanistan. Northern Alliance commanders on the ground in southern Afghanistan, a little closer to Kabul, tell us no evidence of B-52s, or at least not much B-52 activity, today, though fighter jets were in the air, and very active.

Apparently the bombings that have been taking place all week, at least according to the Northern Alliance commanders, they're having an impact. They say there's been an increase in the number of members of the Taliban who have come over to their side.

Now, as for this helicopter crash that took place, we are told that it occurred -- well, the Pentagon will not tell us where it occurred in Afghanistan, but we're told it happened in bad weather. A crew of four recovered, and again, as you mentioned at the top of the program, no life-sustaining injuries, no life-threatening injuries, rather.

Two choppers apparently were involved. They were heading on a search and rescue mission. One chopper crashed in bad weather, the second one landed OK, managed to get the crew of the first one out.

After the choppers left the area, we're told that F-14 Tomcats assigned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt on station in the Arabian Sea came back into that location, destroyed the helicopter, presumably so that the Taliban could not get its hands on any material that may be inside.

For its part, the Taliban forces say that they shot down two U.S. helicopters and killed somewhere between 40 and 50 Americans. The U.S. Central Command rather emphatically telling us this morning that no U.S. helicopters were shot down in Afghanistan.

And as you mentioned earlier at the top of the program, the Air Force writing off an unmanned reconnaissance drone, a Predator drone, that went down, it says in bad weather. The Taliban says it shot it down in a province over eastern Afghanistan. The Air Force says it will not try to retrieve that drone, saying that there would be no compromise of any high-tech material or information should the Taliban get its hands on that material.

A little defense -- diplomatic action to pass along, excuse me. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Moscow as he's meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ivanov. Sergei Ivanov, the two men talking about the U.S. action in Afghanistan. Rumsfeld is on a five- country, four-day trip to nations in the region in order to bolster support for the U.S. activity and also brief allies on its progress -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Jonathan, is the Pentagon saying anything regarding the effectiveness of the strikes against the Taliban in the north of that country?

AIKEN: The Pentagon itself, no. But quotes that we're getting from commanders on the lines, the Northern Alliance commanders, say that the B-52 activity this week is having an impact. There was some criticism of the B-52 bombing early at midweek, saying that some of the unguided bombs were not quite hitting their targets, they were missing their targets in some areas.

However, they're saying now that the bombing has been much more effective over the past several days, much more pinpoint, and that a large number, as I mentioned before, a large number of Taliban troops are actually crossing over, and in some cases just getting out of the trenches and walking over, according to some of the commanders.

They're very happy, though. They still want to see a more concentrated use of U.S. air power to help them launch an assault on the capital -- Marty.

SAVIDGE: Jonathan Aiken at the Pentagon, thank you for the update.

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