Reporters' roundtable from Afghanistan

(CNN) – CNN anchor Aaron Brown held a reporters roundtable Monday night with Christiane Amanpour (in Kabul), Alessio Vinci (in Mazar-e Sharif), and Nic Robertson (on the Afghan-Pakistan border).

BROWN: Nic Robertson is on the Afghanistan border. Nic, give us the headline from you, please.

ROBERTSON: Well, those U.S. troops on the ground inside the province of Kandahar are causing a tiny handful of Taliban fighters to flee, but also causing Taliban officials to now talk about the surrender of small towns in the province of Kandahar. They warn, however, that loyalists ... to the Taliban leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, may make for a big fight over the control of Kandahar city -- Aaron.

BROWN: Nic, thank you.

Let's go to the capital of Afghanistan -- CNN's Christiane Amanpour in Kabul. Christiane, the headline, please.

AMANPOUR: Northern Alliance intelligence officials, now in control of most of Afghanistan, have been showing all sorts of evidence they say points to Osama bin Laden. They showed us a picture that had been printed by al Qaeda during the Taliban time, of one of bin Laden's Kandahar mountainous hideaways. Also, of course, Konduz, the last Taliban bastion, has now fallen to the Northern Alliance, and there is cheering and celebration in the streets there.

BROWN: Christiane, thank you. And in Mazar-e Sharif on the videophone, Alessio Vinci. The headline, please.

VINCI: Aaron, there was an intense firefight last night, a loud detonation just about an hour ago. It indicates that perhaps the war is coming to an end here around the fortress. Five U.S. special troops have been injured in an incident of friendly fire, but the commanders here are saying that all the Taliban inside the fortress will be killed -- Aaron.

CNN's Nic Robertson again now, watching developments in the Afghan-Pakistan border. Good morning to you, Nic.

ROBERTSON: Good morning, Aaron.

Likely, one of the key elements in that battle, as it plays out in the coming days, will be the involvement of local Pashtun tribal fighters. They reported over the weekend that they had taken a key town on the main highway between the border here and Kandahar. Last night, Taliban officials spoke with us and told us they believe that involved with those ethnic Pashtun fighters were U.S. forces, helping cut that main highway.

These Taliban officials believe that U.S. forces are not only based at that desert airstrip, but also on the strategic highway. We talked with drivers, truck drivers coming out, taking that route out of Afghanistan. They talked about a major detour in that area.

We also talked with Taliban officials here at the border, Aaron. They say that they are ready to negotiate the control of some of the smaller towns, particularly the border town just across ... from here, Spin Boldak. But they say the negotiations with these tribal leaders are not going on. The reason, they say, is that too large a gulf of opinion exists between the Taliban and these tribal fighters.

But it's the hard-liners loyal to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar -- Aaron.

Nic Robertson

BROWN: Nic, these cities where these negotiations are going on, aren't these the same places you reported last week that the Taliban were vowing not to surrender?

ROBERTSON: Indeed, these are exactly the same places. And indeed, the message that we are getting now is there is a large degree more of anxiety. The same Taliban officials we talked to last week, who smiled and seemed confident, this week seem much less confident about their situation, much more concerned about how things are going to develop in the coming days.

That is what we are picking up, a high degree of uncertainty and really now, they recognize that they are under an extreme amount of pressure. Even those more moderate Taliban recognize perhaps that they do need to hand over control to Pashtun elements, because many of the Pashtun tribal leaders here see this as their opportunity to not only stake a claim for territory inside Afghanistan, but begin to get a seat to the talks for the future of Afghanistan. As long as the Taliban remain in control of the south of Afghanistan, these tribal leaders are denied a voice in these talks.

BROWN: And quickly, one other question here. Do you see on your side of the border, any evidence of increased Taliban defections, people crossing the border there?

ROBERTSON: There are Taliban officials coming out. Pakistani border authorities tell us they see them coming into Pakistan, possibly for talks. A small handful of Taliban fighters did try to cross the border when we were there yesterday. They said that they had come for medical aid, food aid. Pakistani officials said they did not appear injured, that they didn't have the proper documentation, and sent them back into Afghanistan.

We have not so far seen wholesale desertions, but certainly, Taliban fighters could get across some of the desert borders that are wide open south of here, Aaron.

BROWN: Nic Robertson on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Now to the north, in Mazar-e Sharif. If there were any question that war is a chaotic, messy business, there's no question of it there. This was the first city liberated, yet today it's also the scene of a very bloody battle, and American casualties. So we head back to Mazar and CNN's Alessio Vinci, who again joins us on the videophone -- Alessio.

VINCI: Aaron, the battle has lasted two days. Monday, some 100 Taliban prisoners continued to confront some Northern Alliance soldiers and also some U.S. troops. We have witnessed a sporadic but intense firefight, and the reason why this fight is still going on is because inside that fortress there are a lot of weapons. And some details are emerging now about how those prisoners may have gotten hold of some of the weapons by disarming some of the guards, and then beginning the shoot-out.

Also on Monday there was an incident of a friendly fire, when a U.S. military jet bombed a position where they were too close to U.S. troops there, and also Northern Alliance. The Northern Alliance commanders here are telling us that as many as three of their soldiers have been seriously injured, but they have not reported, so far, any deaths as a result of that attack.

Northern Alliance commanders also are telling us that they are planning to bring this battle to a close. And Northern Alliance soldiers here are also telling us they plan to kill all the Taliban prisoners who are still resisting -- Aaron.

BROWN: Alessio, how many Taliban prisoners are still resisting in there? Do we have any idea of how many?

Alessio Vinci

VINCI: On Monday, the soldiers were telling us that between 40 and 100 were still resisting inside a tower. And they had, again, a lot of access to a lot of weapons, including machine guns and mortars. As we actually approached the fortress yesterday, two mortars landed very close to our position. So there was a good indication that the Taliban who were in the fortress were still in a position to fight, and still in a position to strike a target outside the compound -- Aaron.

BROWN: Talk to us, if you can, about what the American role has been in this firefight, if that's the right word for it, and anything more we know about the American casualties there.

VINCI: What we know, first of all, is that the American forces here were helping out with targeting information. U.S. jets bombed this compound for the first time on Sunday, and then again on Monday, when that bomb went astray.

Also, at the time of the uprising there were two U.S. military advisers inside the compound. The role of U.S. troops here has been very sketchy. They've been advising Northern Alliance troops here in their military operations against the Taliban. That, we understand, is mainly their job here.

Also, we understand that Mazar-e Sharif, having a pretty good airport here, could eventually be used as a forward base for U.S. troops in the region -- Aaron.

BROWN: Alessio Vinci in Mazar-e Sharif, and the battle at the fortress there.

Once again now, back to the capital. Christiane Amanpour is in Kabul. Good morning to you, Christiane.

AMANPOUR: Aaron, with the Taliban's days appearing to be seriously numbered, the focus of attention is now on the whereabouts and capture of Osama bin Laden. There are, as you know, conflicting ideas about where he may be. Some in the U.S. administration believe that he might be in mountainous terrain near Jalalabad.

Here in Kabul, the Northern Alliance, both officials and intelligence people here, think that he might be in Kandahar. They showed us a picture that had been printed in an al Qaeda newsletter some time ago -- al Qaeda newsletter printed for the Taliban when they were in control here -- showing one of Osama bin Laden's hideaways in Kandahar.

What they wanted to show us was, that whether he's here or not now, these hideaways deep inside the mountain, they say, accessed only by small trails or even underground irrigation ditches, are extremely hard to reach. They say that he is being given protection by Mullah Omar.

In any event, what they are saying is that they are very pleased that the northern city of Konduz has fallen to the Northern Alliance, and Northern Alliance troops are now inside Konduz. And the scenes that were seen on Monday in there were of people of Konduz celebrating the arrival of the Northern Alliance, and the fall of the Taliban.

Christiane Amanpour

At the same time that this war is shaping up for a decisive phase on the ground, there are also political movements and peace movements. Later this morning in Bonn, Germany, Afghan delegations will sit down for the first time to try to hammer out a road map for the political future of this country -- Aaron.

BROWN: Christiane, how is this being reported, if it's being reported, in Afghanistan?

AMANPOUR: Well, there's a lot of talk increasingly about the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. In Afghanistan, the main way of getting news has been via radio. This is the traditional, solid, reliable way of getting news, especially since television was banned for such a long time. Now with the television restarting, they're getting their nightly newscast now.

And there is quite a bit of talk about Osama bin Laden, and particularly from the officials, who say that now this must be the decisive end to this country as a terrorist haven. They say the U.S. and the UK forces have to get rid of Osama bin Laden. So it is on the top of people's minds here.

BROWN: Is there any talk -- do you hear any talk of the $25-million reward?

AMANPOUR: Yes. Well, for a long time people here were sort of oblivious of that award, and it's been sort of filtering down now. Probably a lot, because reporters have been asking people what they think about this reward. It's hard to tell whether they take it seriously, because it's such a fantastic amount of money that doesn't really sort of make any sense to people here, who are so unbelievably poor. And also, they say, you know, of course we'd do it if we could, but most people know that they don't know how to get to these hideouts. They know that they're very, very difficult to access.

But people do say, if we have any information, we will hand it over.

BROWN: Hard to imagine what $25 million would mean to someone in Afghanistan. Christiane, thank you. Christiane Amanpour in Kabul today.