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CNN Saturday Morning News

U.S. Warplanes Concentrate on Tora Bora

Aired December 08, 2001 - 11:04   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the hunt for Osama bin Laden. U.S. warplanes are concentrating efforts on Afghanistan's eastern Tora Bora region, and that's where bin Laden is believed to be hiding and commanding his fighters. Anti-Taliban forces are facing stiff resistance on the ground.

CNN's Brent Sadler has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An unbroken pattern of bombing on the Tora Bora front. U.S. warplanes hit al Qaeda fighters hiding in woods and countless caves. But after what seemed a promising start to combined aerial and ground attacks, al Qaeda is striking back, firing a barrage of mortars from the high ground, cutting off a vital road leading to the mountaintops.

The bursts of shell fire were accurate and effective, sending jitters through the lightly armed Afghan tribal gunmen falling back to less exposed ground. It seems to sew confusion and impatience.

Gunmen order back journalists expecting to witness gains, not setbacks. Assessing al Qaeda's strength and deployment is difficult. But the Eastern Alliance is understood to have help on the ground, unidentified military advisers reportedly inside this vehicle, behind blackened glass.

SADLER (on camera): Even with sustained U.S. help, this is no rout. Al Qaeda's defenders are proving more than a match for what started out as a slow-moving assault, which now appears to have stalled.

(voice-over): Eastern Alliance commanders claim a fully coordinated attack is still on the way, but at sunset a despondent- looking fighter; while at dusk repositioning tanks, moving back to where they started.

Brent Sadler, CNN, in the White Mountains of Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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