Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
U.S. Military Responds to Ambush in Iraq
Aired June 13, 2003 - 07:03 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. forces responding to an ambush north of Baghdad killed 27 attackers there. The U.S. military says the attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades, RPGs, at the 4th Infantry Division's Tank Patrol.
To Baghdad and Jane Arraf for more on what's happening there.
Jane -- good afternoon.
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Good afternoon, Bill.
Well, it's part of an operation that U.S. military officials call lethal and decisive, and it certainly seems to be lethal. Now, this, as you mentioned, occurred near the city of Balad, which is about 35 miles northwest of Baghdad. On that main highway north and all the way to Kirkuk is where U.S. forces have had trouble that they're trying to clamp down on pockets of resistance, as they call it, as well as west of Baghdad.
Now, in this incident, according to the U.S. Central Command, attackers opened fire on a tank patrol that was patrolling the area. The tank returned fire, and it killed four of those people. Now, after that, the tank, backed by attack helicopters, pursued that group, according to this statement, and killed 23 more people, suspected attackers, according to the U.S. Central Command. That means 27 killed.
And we're not sure exactly how many were killed in that attack on what they are calling a potential terrorist training camp. Now, that also appears to be northwest of Baghdad, and it's an indication that this battle still is far from over. U.S. officials say that camp is believed to have been frequented by people who may have been al Qaeda sympathizers from other countries, but not affiliated to those countries, acting on their own behalf.
Were still waiting for details of that coming in, in what has been the biggest operation since the end of the fighting in this last war -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jane, as you were talking, I could not help but notice and hear the sounds in the background. Are those protesters or what that's taking place out of camera range?
ARRAF: Yes, it's a fairly common occurrence these days. It's a protest here outside the Palestine Hotel, where there are a lot of journalists. And this is a protest called by religious authorities that seem to be protesting against what they say was a violent search of one of the mosques. We have not been able to confirm that, but people in the protest say that U.S. soldiers kicked in the door of a mosque.
Now, that's been one of the problems and one of the things that U.S. forces have been fighting, that, according to General McKiernan, who is the top U.S. military official here, the tactics have changed. And there have been some instances where U.S. troops have come under attack from near mosques, as well as from people saying they're seeking urgent emergency medical attention. It's an indication that this really is far from over, and it's taking some unexpected twists -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jane Arraf live in Baghdad.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired June 13, 2003 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. forces responding to an ambush north of Baghdad killed 27 attackers there. The U.S. military says the attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades, RPGs, at the 4th Infantry Division's Tank Patrol.
To Baghdad and Jane Arraf for more on what's happening there.
Jane -- good afternoon.
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Good afternoon, Bill.
Well, it's part of an operation that U.S. military officials call lethal and decisive, and it certainly seems to be lethal. Now, this, as you mentioned, occurred near the city of Balad, which is about 35 miles northwest of Baghdad. On that main highway north and all the way to Kirkuk is where U.S. forces have had trouble that they're trying to clamp down on pockets of resistance, as they call it, as well as west of Baghdad.
Now, in this incident, according to the U.S. Central Command, attackers opened fire on a tank patrol that was patrolling the area. The tank returned fire, and it killed four of those people. Now, after that, the tank, backed by attack helicopters, pursued that group, according to this statement, and killed 23 more people, suspected attackers, according to the U.S. Central Command. That means 27 killed.
And we're not sure exactly how many were killed in that attack on what they are calling a potential terrorist training camp. Now, that also appears to be northwest of Baghdad, and it's an indication that this battle still is far from over. U.S. officials say that camp is believed to have been frequented by people who may have been al Qaeda sympathizers from other countries, but not affiliated to those countries, acting on their own behalf.
Were still waiting for details of that coming in, in what has been the biggest operation since the end of the fighting in this last war -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jane, as you were talking, I could not help but notice and hear the sounds in the background. Are those protesters or what that's taking place out of camera range?
ARRAF: Yes, it's a fairly common occurrence these days. It's a protest here outside the Palestine Hotel, where there are a lot of journalists. And this is a protest called by religious authorities that seem to be protesting against what they say was a violent search of one of the mosques. We have not been able to confirm that, but people in the protest say that U.S. soldiers kicked in the door of a mosque.
Now, that's been one of the problems and one of the things that U.S. forces have been fighting, that, according to General McKiernan, who is the top U.S. military official here, the tactics have changed. And there have been some instances where U.S. troops have come under attack from near mosques, as well as from people saying they're seeking urgent emergency medical attention. It's an indication that this really is far from over, and it's taking some unexpected twists -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jane Arraf live in Baghdad.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
