MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the latest military advances by the Northern Alliance. The opposition forces claim to have sieved -- seized, that is, several Taliban strongholds. CNN's Satinder Bindra is in Northern Afghanistan, and joins us with more -- Satinder.</s>SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Martin, as night falls here we are seeing some very intense artillery fire from Northern Alliance positions on towards the Taliban positions -- their front-line positions, which are about five kilometers from here. Now earlier today, Northern Alliance forces claiming they've entered the central Afghan city of Bamiyan. Northern Alliance commanders say several thousand Taliban troops defected to their side. One Northern Alliance commander even saying that Bamiyan has fallen to them. Martin, at this point, there is no way we can independently corroborate this claim. But what is for sure is the fighting here in north and central Afghanistan is intensifying. In Bamiyan, if you will recall, just about nine or 10 months ago the eyes of the international community had focused there because two huge Buddha statues were destroyed by the Taliban, despite pleas from the international community to save them. Now, many people here saying that if Bamiyan has fallen, then it will be a critical victory for the Northern Alliance, because Bamiyan straddled some key supply lines that run north into Taliban territory. Martin, back to you.</s>SAVIDGE: CNN's Satinder Bindra reporting to us live from Northern Afghanistan, where it is -- as you see -- evening. Thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Northern Alliance Reports Progress in Central Afghanistan