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A Deadly Day in Baghdad

Aired July 31, 2003 - 10:29   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It was another deadly day, though, for U.S. troops who are still in Iraq. Two U.S. troops are killed in separate incidents.
Our Rym Brahimi in Baghdad and has details -- Rym.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hello, Daryn.

Indeed two U.S. soldiers killed, one of them on the highway to the airport. His convoy apparently hit a land mine. He was from the First Armored Division. Three other U.S. soldiers were wounded in that same attack. Now that highway is known to be a very dangerous highway. There are a lot of patrols on that road at all time, and there are checkpoints, U.S. military checkpoints as well.

The other U.S. soldier that was killed was killed last night, in fact, near the town of Bakuba (ph), which is northeast of the Iraqi capital, and he was killed when his convoy fell under small arms fire. Six other people were wounded along in that attack, two of them U.S. soldiers, also from the Fourth Infantry Division, like the first soldier who was killed, and four of them Iraqis.

And now, of course the situation is -- there are security problems for U.S. troops here in Iraq, as you know, Daryn. But also, the problem of security is one of the main problems that Iraqis complain about since the toppling of the regime, if you will, and the arrival of U.S. troops.

So U.S. troops, or the U.S. coalition authorities, have been extremely key to be seen as adopting very aggressive measures to face that problem. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez spoke to reporters today, and he said that in the past few weeks, they adopted very intensive operations, very aggressive measures, again, to deal with the security issue. Let me just give you a couple figures. He said they've conducted more than 280 raids in the past week, and that had led to the arrest of 200 people, mostly criminals, but also some Fedayeen, which are the people believed to be behind most of the attacks against U.S. soldiers -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Rym Brahimi, bringing us the latest from Iraq. Thank you for that.

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Aired July 31, 2003 - 10:29   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It was another deadly day, though, for U.S. troops who are still in Iraq. Two U.S. troops are killed in separate incidents.
Our Rym Brahimi in Baghdad and has details -- Rym.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hello, Daryn.

Indeed two U.S. soldiers killed, one of them on the highway to the airport. His convoy apparently hit a land mine. He was from the First Armored Division. Three other U.S. soldiers were wounded in that same attack. Now that highway is known to be a very dangerous highway. There are a lot of patrols on that road at all time, and there are checkpoints, U.S. military checkpoints as well.

The other U.S. soldier that was killed was killed last night, in fact, near the town of Bakuba (ph), which is northeast of the Iraqi capital, and he was killed when his convoy fell under small arms fire. Six other people were wounded along in that attack, two of them U.S. soldiers, also from the Fourth Infantry Division, like the first soldier who was killed, and four of them Iraqis.

And now, of course the situation is -- there are security problems for U.S. troops here in Iraq, as you know, Daryn. But also, the problem of security is one of the main problems that Iraqis complain about since the toppling of the regime, if you will, and the arrival of U.S. troops.

So U.S. troops, or the U.S. coalition authorities, have been extremely key to be seen as adopting very aggressive measures to face that problem. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez spoke to reporters today, and he said that in the past few weeks, they adopted very intensive operations, very aggressive measures, again, to deal with the security issue. Let me just give you a couple figures. He said they've conducted more than 280 raids in the past week, and that had led to the arrest of 200 people, mostly criminals, but also some Fedayeen, which are the people believed to be behind most of the attacks against U.S. soldiers -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Rym Brahimi, bringing us the latest from Iraq. Thank you for that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com