|
 |
CNN LIVE TODAY
Northern Alliance Encounters al Qaeda Fighters in Konduz
Aired November 15, 2001 - 13:11 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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: We were listening earlier to what the Pentagon was saying about the fighting going on in the northern Afghan city of Konduz. They were saying 30,000 to 40,000 Afghan fight -- I'm sorry, I correct: 2,000 to 3,000 al Qaeda fighters holding up in the city of Konduz. We want to go right now live to our correspondent Ben Wedeman, who is in Afghanistan in the city of Taloqan.
Ben, let me just be clear about exactly where you are and -- is that right? is it Taloqan?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I'm -- Yes, Judy, I'm in Taloqan. And basically we're about a half-hour drive from the edges of Konduz Province. And we've spent the entire day at the front lines, where we saw U.S. B-52s carpet-bombing the Taliban positions.
Now, you mentioned al Qaeda. And we know from the Northern Alliance commanders who listen in to the Taliban radio, and actually speak with them as well, that there are, indeed, fighters -- Arab fighters, Chechen fighters, Pakistani fighters who are holed up in the Konduz Province. And according to our information, and according to what we've seen, actually, it appears that the Taliban fighters, including all of those non-Afghan fighters as well, have been putting up quite a fight.
In fact, the Northern Alliance troops, they went into Konduz expecting, three days ago, that some sort of arrangement had been worked out with the Taliban forces where, essentially, they would give up and switch to the other side. They went into Konduz and they were essentially ambushed, and they retreated in panic. And certainly it seems that those Taliban and al Qaeda elements that are still in Konduz are going to put up quite some resistance.
And what we saw today, this afternoon, as the sun was going down was that the Northern Alliance was sending in significant reinforcements -- more ammunition, more hardware -- to try to make some headway into Konduz. But until some sort of agreement is worked out along the lines of what was worked out, for instance, in Jalalabad, this could end up being the biggest battle of the last week -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: Ben, how much support, if any, can the U.S.-led forces give?
WEDEMAN: I'm sorry, could you repeat the question, please? WOODRUFF: Yes. How much support can the U.S. forces -- Air Force give -- planes dropping either bombs or missiles?
WEDEMAN: Well, what we've seen is that -- here in Konduz and in other places as well -- is usually the Northern Alliance advances coincide with fairly intense U.S. air attacks. And certainly today what we saw was B-52, F-14s and other aircraft attacking the Taliban positions.
But unless the Northern Alliance is willing to move ahead, then those air attacks really don't do much good. And what we've seen, really, over the last week is that arrangements are worked out on the ground so there really isn't much fighting -- the Northern Alliance takes over. But if they can't do that, they really are going to have to go face-to-face and fight the Taliban -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: All right, Ben Wedeman reporting on the situation in Konduz. He is in Taloqan and, again, describing how the opposition forces had expected an arrangement, but when they got into Konduz they found heavy opposition. They found an ambush; they retreated. And now they're in the process of waiting to see if an arrangement can be worked out. Heavy fighting still underway there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
|
|
|
|
|
