[Judy Woodruff, Cnn Anchor:] Back now to the situation on the Afghan-Pakistani border today, with that story we told you just a moment about the Taliban commander defecting and what that has meant. For the situation there, let's go to this report, filed not very long ago by CNN's Nic Robertson.
[Nic Robertson, Cnn Correspondent:] Just before sunset, a Taliban commander crossed into Pakistan. He told us that the 25 soldiers under his command had been stood down. He told us that they no longer wanted to fight. He told us the administrator of Spin Boldak had told him so stand his fighters down. He said that he had paid his fighters off, and they had gone back to their families. This is perhaps an indication of deals that are possibly being struck between tribal commanders and the Taliban at this stage that the Taliban should surrender control of Spin Boldak, an indication perhaps as well that the deals being struck allow the Taliban to put down their weapons and return to their families. The commander had been assigned to Kandahar City. He recently reassigned to the border town of Spin Boldak. It's not clear whether other commanders in Spin Boldak have also stood down soldiers under their command. This is a developing situation. Deeper inside Afghanistan, in Kandahar itself, the situation there tense. Truck drivers who left there today told us that the road appears to be under Taliban control. However there are detours on the road to avoid sections of the road that the Taliban have now lost control of. Controversy over who controls those sections of road, possibly, according to Taliban officials, U.S. forces. According to tribal commanders here, tribal commanders now control sections of that highway. Certainly the truck drivers telling us, there are growing concerns inside Kandahar province, inside the city of Kandahar, about what it means to have U.S. troops on the ground so close to the spiritual capital of the Taliban. Nic Robertson, CNN on the AfghanistanPakistan border.