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CNN Saturday Morning News

Northern Alliance Works to Consolidate Hold on Mazar-e Sharif

Aired November 10, 2001 - 11:01   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's focus this hour on the battlefield in Afghanistan. The Northern Alliance is working today to consolidate it's hold on the northern city, Mazar-e Sharif.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Dashtiqala. That's just up the road from this newly captured territory.

What can you see, and what can you tell us Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes -- well it appears that the Northern Alliance is consolidating its control over Mazar-e Sharif. But essential to that control is obviously an expanded area that they control within the northern part of the country. And what we've seen here at Dashtiqala throughout the day is what appears to be an intensified pressure on the Taliban positions, possibly leading to an offensive to clear the Taliban out of the northern part of the country.

We saw throughout the day intense bombardments by Taliban tanks, artillery -- or rather, I'm sorry, Northern Alliance artillery, tanks and missiles on the Taliban positions. These clearly coordinated with U.S. air strikes, including from B-52s.

And according to Northern Alliance commanders, there have been some advances made. One Northern Alliance commander's claiming as many as 70 tanks involved in the action. The Northern Alliance says that one of their commanders has been killed. And a CNN crew saw that several of their soldiers had been wounded, apparently by land mines, which are quite common between the front lines and, in fact, throughout Afghanistan.

Also there was some return Taliban fire. One house was hit in this town of Dashtiqala; one person killed and several wounded -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ben Wedeman, thank you so much.

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