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U.S. Army Patrol Unit Attacked in Iraq, one Soldier Killed
Aired May 27, 2003 - 06:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Live to Iraq now, where an American has been killed in yet another firefight, this one quite intense. It happened in Fallujah, a city west of Baghdad that has been a thorn in the side of U.S. troops.
Matthew Chance live in Baghdad.
Trouble there, too, right -- Matthew?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, and there has been an upswing, in fact, across the country of violence against the United States forces on the ground here.
Fallujah was just one example, and we'll start there. It's a town about 70 kilometers, 40 miles or so, to the west of the capital city, Baghdad, there. We're told by U.S. forces in the early hours of this morning -- that's Tuesday morning here local time -- that a hostile force of unknown size opened fire on a U.S. Army patrol walking through the streets of the center of Fallujah. U.S. officials say they believe that fire was coming from the mosque in the center of the town.
They got in that firefight. One of their soldiers was killed, another seven were injured. They returned fire, of course, and killed, they say, at least two of the attackers, taking into custody six further individuals.
It's been confirmed also that a helicopter was damaged during the incident. It was a U.S. Army helicopter being used to Medivac those injured out of the area. It wasn't damaged by hostile fire, though. Apparently, according to U.S. officials, it was damaged by a Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicle, sort of striking it, in the words of the U.S. authorities, as it maneuvered into a firing position. So, a picture of a very confused situation there coming out of Fallujah.
Other incidents, too, just hours before this latest one on the road to the airport on the outskirts of Baghdad, just outside of the city here, we understand from U.S. officials that an attacker threw what they call a satchel bomb underneath a U.S. armored Humvee vehicle. The bomb exploded, of course, killing at least one U.S. soldier inside and injuring several others.
On top of that in the north of this country, in Haditha, another attack against a U.S. convoy, another U.S. soldier killed, bringing to three in the past 24 hours, and several others injured.
So, it's still, Carol, a very, very dangerous place out there. COSTELLO: Understand. Matthew Chance reporting live from Baghdad for us this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Killed>
Aired May 27, 2003 - 06:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Live to Iraq now, where an American has been killed in yet another firefight, this one quite intense. It happened in Fallujah, a city west of Baghdad that has been a thorn in the side of U.S. troops.
Matthew Chance live in Baghdad.
Trouble there, too, right -- Matthew?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, and there has been an upswing, in fact, across the country of violence against the United States forces on the ground here.
Fallujah was just one example, and we'll start there. It's a town about 70 kilometers, 40 miles or so, to the west of the capital city, Baghdad, there. We're told by U.S. forces in the early hours of this morning -- that's Tuesday morning here local time -- that a hostile force of unknown size opened fire on a U.S. Army patrol walking through the streets of the center of Fallujah. U.S. officials say they believe that fire was coming from the mosque in the center of the town.
They got in that firefight. One of their soldiers was killed, another seven were injured. They returned fire, of course, and killed, they say, at least two of the attackers, taking into custody six further individuals.
It's been confirmed also that a helicopter was damaged during the incident. It was a U.S. Army helicopter being used to Medivac those injured out of the area. It wasn't damaged by hostile fire, though. Apparently, according to U.S. officials, it was damaged by a Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicle, sort of striking it, in the words of the U.S. authorities, as it maneuvered into a firing position. So, a picture of a very confused situation there coming out of Fallujah.
Other incidents, too, just hours before this latest one on the road to the airport on the outskirts of Baghdad, just outside of the city here, we understand from U.S. officials that an attacker threw what they call a satchel bomb underneath a U.S. armored Humvee vehicle. The bomb exploded, of course, killing at least one U.S. soldier inside and injuring several others.
On top of that in the north of this country, in Haditha, another attack against a U.S. convoy, another U.S. soldier killed, bringing to three in the past 24 hours, and several others injured.
So, it's still, Carol, a very, very dangerous place out there. COSTELLO: Understand. Matthew Chance reporting live from Baghdad for us this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
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