Alleged terrorist Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda fighters exchanged mortar fire with local Afghan forces around Melawa mountain in eastern Afghanistan Saturday, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
At the same time around 10:30 am (0600 GMT) an American B-52 heavy bomber was seen cruising at high altitude over the snow-capped range, but it had not dropped any bombs.
Afghan commanders in Nangarhar province, bordering Pakistan, have been advancing steadily in the face of stubborn resistance from bin Laden's mainly Arab al-Qaeda forces.
The commanders are convinced that bin Laden, blamed for the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States, is hiding in the Tora Bora cave complex used by Afghan mujahedin against the Soviets during the 1979-89 war.
US Taliban Member Interrogated by CIA Agent
One of the last actions undertaken by CIA agent Johnny Micheal Spann before he died in an Afghan prison uprising was to interrogate American Taliban John Walker, who was uncooperative during the interview, according to US media reports.
Several US television networks aired excerpts of the encounter Friday at the prison near Mazar-i-Sharif. The interview was captured by an Afghan cameraman just a few hours before the CIA agent died during the revolt near the northern Afghan city.
The revolt erupted November 25 when armed Taliban prisoners rose up against their Northern Alliance captors at the prison, prompting counter-attacks and US air strikes that left hundreds dead.
Spann, 32, an officer in the CIA's directorate of operations, was in the fortress where Taliban prisoners were being held and questioned when the uprising broke out. The CIA confirmed his death late last month, making him the first US combat death in Afghanistan.
The film shows Walker, 20, his long hair pulled back, lying on his back, being interrogated in English by Spann and another CIA agent, who was only identified as "Dave."
According to Newsweek magazine, which provides an account of the meeting in its December 10 edition, Walker was unresponsive during the brief interrogation.
"Where are you from? Where are you from? You believe in what youre doing here that much, youre willing to be killed here? How were you recruited to come here? Who brought you here?" Spann asked.
Later Spann is heard telling the US-born Taliban fighter: "Do you know the people here youre working with are terrorists and killed other Muslims? There were several hundred Muslims killed in the bombing in New York City.
"Is that what the Koran teaches? I dont think so. Are you going to talk to us?" he continued.
The newsmagazine reports that Walker did not respond.
Spann was killed a short time later in the early stages of the prison uprising while his colleague Dave reportedly was extracted from the compound by US and British special forces -- AFP
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
