Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

U.S. Bombs Target Konduz

Aired November 17, 2001 - 11:09   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: Taliban troops are so far refusing to surrender their last stronghold in Northern Afghanistan. The battle for Konduz follows Northern Alliance victories in Mazar-e Sharif and Taloqan. Many Taliban troops who fled those cities are now holed up in Konduz, surrounded by opposition forces.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote joins us now by phone with the latest on that fight for control of Konduz -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We spent the day on the Northern Alliance's front lines, watching one B-52 after another drop bombs, for the most part, on Taliban front-line positions in the eastern outskirts of Northern Afghanistan's Konduz Province.

However, we did see one apparently off-target bomb that appeared to be -- that appeared to hit an uninhabited mountainside, well inside territory under the control of the Northern Alliance.

The bombing began early this morning and continued until nearly dusk when we left the front for the safety of our base. The B-52s and, later in the day, fighter jets seemed as if they were on a carousel almost, flying over, dropping their bombs, only being replaced by still more planes.

We have been going to this front now for four days, and this was the most intense bombing we've seen. The U.S. clearly wants to weaken the Taliban's front lines here and clear the way for Northern Alliance fighters to attack the Taliban troops there.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: Ryan, any reports of more defections?

CHILCOTE: One Northern Alliance commander today said that more than 7,000 Taliban troops had defected from Konduz. But of course there's no way to independently verify those reports. We've heard quite a bit about defections, but these are always very difficult to confirm.

PHILLIPS: CNN'S Ryan Chilcote, thank you so much for the latest on that fight for the control of Konduz.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com