(28 Jan 2002)
1. Wide shot of hospital
2. Mid shot of hospital
3. Various of hospital - AUDIO gunshots
4. US special forces and Afghan soldiers outside hospital
5. Panning shot of hospital - AUDIO gunfire
6. Black smoke rising from hospital
7. Various of hospital exteriors and soldiers
8. Various of dead fighters inside hospital
9. Various of debris inside room
10. Shell cases on floor
11. Various bodies
12. Afghan soldiers walking down hospital corridor
13. Soldiers looking inside hospital
14. Exterior of damaged hospital
STORYLINE:
US Army Special Forces in Afghanistan blasted their way into a hospital ward on Monday and killed six al-Qaida gunmen who had vowed to never surrender, ending a nearly two-month standoff in a blaze of gunfire, smoke and explosions.
Afghan police commanders, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that all the gunmen - who were thought to be Arabs - had been killed in the assault on the hospital in Kandahar.
They said there had been no fatalities among American or Afghans who joined in the assault.
There was no immediate word on casualties from U-S officials.
The operation - launched by U-S and Afghan forces supported by helicopters before dawn - appeared to have settled into a standoff before the American troops lobbed about 16 grenades through the windows to blast out the last surviving gunmen.
Afghan police commanders, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that all of the gunmen were dead.
The assault had dragged on nearly nine hours when, shortly after the mid-day call to prayers, the Americans moved in, coming out of cover on the side of the building to toss in the grenades.
A string of explosions was heard, followed by pop-pops of pistol shots and a shrieks of automatic weapons fire.
Wounded and ill, the gunmen, at least some of whom were believed to be Arabs, had barricaded themselves inside the Mir Wais Hospital for nearly two months.
They were trapped by the rapid collapse of the Taliban regime last year during the U-S-led military campaign.
The men had vowed to kill themselves rather than be captured and medical staff had feared they would wreak enormous violence if attempts were made to take them.
A spokesman at the U-S military base at Kandahar airport said the Afghan authorities decided to end the siege and asked for U-S help.
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