Skip to main content
CNN.com /TRANSCRIPTS
CNN TV
EDITIONS
SERVICES
CNN TV
EDITIONS


CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL

America Strikes Back: Northern Alliance Trying to Advance Against Taliban

Aired October 10, 2001 - 06:11   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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now we want to go inside of Afghanistan. In northern Afghanistan, CNN's Chris Burns has been traveling with the opposition, the Northern Alliance, in their battles with the ruling Taliban.

Chris, in the news conference that we heard from the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, he is saying that the opposition is lying about the advances it has made inside of Afghanistan. What do you make of that claim?

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well absolutely, the -- that ambassador was saying -- in fact he called it a mere lie the claim of advances by the Northern Alliance. Northern Alliance claiming advances almost every other day.

Also the question of defections of troops and commanders on the Taliban side over to the Northern Alliance. This is what the Northern Alliance has been talking about the last few days. In fact, the most significant one in the last few days was one in which they say that 1,200 troops and 40 commanders abandoned the Taliban, went over to the other side and without firing a shot, the Northern Alliance took control of the main north-south supply route for the Taliban. Again, what we -- we can only pass that word on and say that we cannot confirm that independently. That's -- that we try to do in every single report and we wait for Taliban reaction which up to now has been denial, denial, denial.

So it's a bit of a game of he said, he said when it comes to reporting these because a lot of that fighting, unless it's happening down here along the fronts between here and Kabul, it is in far removed, isolated mountainous, very mountainous and rugged areas, very difficult for us to get to. And Northern Alliance isn't all that anxious to take us up there in the first place, so very, very difficult to confirm any of those reports. All we can do is pass those on.

We did have about a week ago some admission by a Taliban source that they had lost ground in the north. And in fact, the U.S. air strikes in the last 24 hours striking around the bases at Mazar-e- Sharif, that strategic northern town belonging to the Taliban which the Northern Alliance are trying to take, and if they did, they would really gain most -- control over most of the north there. That does indicate that the Taliban are seriously getting hit and it could be -- very well be that the Northern Alliance would make a move on that city if they could in the coming days.

We did also watch some artillery fire down this way. In fact, in the last few minutes, we have heard at least three rounds of heavy artillery fire, presumably from the Northern Alliance, again pounding away at the Taliban along with this heavy windstorm and the -- what -- we had seen that early this morning as well. We saw some Katyusha rockets and some other heavy artillery pounding away at the Taliban, however, the Northern Alliance is holding back on any kind of offensive. They say they would like to see some U.S. air strikes on those Taliban positions before they proceed -- Carol.

LIN: Chris, is the Northern Alliance asking the United States military very specifically for air cover while they try to take more land?

BURNS: Well, I should -- I should qualify that, actually. It's Northern Alliance commanders we spoke to on the ground who obviously would be most attune to what the situation there and what their needs are. However, on the -- on the -- at the upper echelons of power among the Northern Alliance, the Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah we spoke to last night, he said he was very happy with what the air strikes were doing and that he said that they were making a marked affect on the Taliban.

However, if you do talk to the commanders on the ground, they'd like to see those air strikes strike at those Taliban positions. And, no, it's hard to tell really why they're not striking at those positions right now but perhaps it is -- obviously the strategy of the first few days of those strikes is to knock out air defenses so that the jets can fly lower. Perhaps we'll see that in the coming days -- Carol.

LIN: Chris, can you confirm for us whether it's the Northern Alliance's understanding that whether the United States actually puts ground troops inside of Afghanistan may depend on how much success the Northern Alliance has in the territory that it takes?

BURNS: Well absolutely they're very much aware of that. In fact, they're not really -- they tell me they're not really counting on the U.S. forces coming in as ground troops, at least to fight a regular battle as opposed to perhaps commando teams sent in to fight suspected terrorist positions. What they -- what they say would -- they would like to -- they're really counting on air cover. They're hoping for air cover so that they can advance with a fight that they've been doing for the last five, six years -- Carol.

LIN: All right, thank you very much. Chris Burns reporting live from inside of Northern Afghanistan.

And already there you can see how the weather is shifting now. Winter is just around the corner.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, starting to turn. Starting to turn already.

LIN: Yes. HARRIS: It's going to be a problem for some.

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


 
 
 
 


 Search   

Back to the top