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CNN Live Sunday

Reports of the Death of al Qaeda Network May Be Premature

Aired December 16, 2001 - 18:28   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: Now the latest on the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan. There has been no let up in the air strikes on the Tora Bora Mountains where al Qaeda forces and possibly Osama bin Laden himself are holed up.

CNN's Jeff Levine is live at the Pentagon with more -- Jeff.

JEFF LEVINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martin, reports of the death of the al Qaeda terrorist network may be premature. Eastern Alliance leaders say that they've overrun the last of the terrorist positions dug into the caves and mountains of eastern Afghanistan.

Some 200 were reportedly killed in the attacks, another 25 were captured, but Osama bin Laden's whereabouts are still unknown, and top administration officials are saying the war could go on indefinitely.

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CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: There's work to be done in many pockets of Afghanistan, and in fact we are determined to keep our focus on making certain that al Qaeda is really destroyed in Afghanistan, that it can not use Afghanistan as territory to regenerate or to continue to carry out terrorist activities. So there's still a lot of work to do there.

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LEVINE: Many al Qaeda fighters may have fled toward the Pakistani border, but much of the search effort is focused in the Tora Bora mountain range.

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GENERAL TOMMY FRANKS, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: We are, in fact, with these opposition force commanders down in the vicinity of Tora Bora. They are making progress, but I think it's accurate to say that it's going to be a while before we have the area of Tora Bora fully under control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVINE: Meanwhile, three Marines were injured by a mine earlier Sunday. The blast occurred during a mine clearing operation at the Kandahar Airport in the southern part of the country. Now one of those Marines involved in the operation may lose his foot as a result of the explosion. He stepped on the explosive device. Two other Marines are only suffering from minor injuries and they are expected to recover fully -- Martin.

SAVIDGE: All right, Jeff Levine, reporting to us live from the Pentagon, thanks.

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