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CNN Live At Daybreak

Report: U.S. Forces Kill Iraqi Police Officers by Mistake

Aired September 12, 2003 - 06:07   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: On to Iraq now. We are getting reports that U.S. troops have mistakenly killed some Iraqi police officers at a checkpoint near Fallujah.
We'll take you live to Baghdad now and Walter Rodgers.

Walter -- what happened?

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're being told, Carol, is that shortly after midnight, a BMW in the town of Fallujah was driving past the Jordanian hospital. It opened fire on the hospital. At that point, three pickup trucks full of Iraqi police -- those are the friendlies -- three pickup trucks full of Iraqi police began pursuing what was called a car full of highway bandits.

There was apparently some shooting in their chase, and the chase approached a U.S. military checkpoint there. The U.S. soldiers at that checkpoint were unable to distinguish between police and the bandits they were chasing. Indeed because they were in pickup trucks and it was night, the U.S. soldiers probably were unaware that these were Iraqi police.

The U.S., with its overwhelming fire power with machine guns atop tanks and machine guns atop Humvees, just laid into this convoy of Iraqi police. Apparently eyewitnesses say all of the pickup trucks were burned and charred, and one account says that the BMW with the highway bandits was also burned and charred as well.

Again, the report CNN is getting ranges from anywhere between 11 to 14 Iraqi policemen killed. Again, those numbers will probably change in the course of the day as the events become more clear -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Walter Rodgers reporting live from Baghdad. We'll let you go to get more information 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.






Aired September 12, 2003 - 06:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: On to Iraq now. We are getting reports that U.S. troops have mistakenly killed some Iraqi police officers at a checkpoint near Fallujah.
We'll take you live to Baghdad now and Walter Rodgers.

Walter -- what happened?

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're being told, Carol, is that shortly after midnight, a BMW in the town of Fallujah was driving past the Jordanian hospital. It opened fire on the hospital. At that point, three pickup trucks full of Iraqi police -- those are the friendlies -- three pickup trucks full of Iraqi police began pursuing what was called a car full of highway bandits.

There was apparently some shooting in their chase, and the chase approached a U.S. military checkpoint there. The U.S. soldiers at that checkpoint were unable to distinguish between police and the bandits they were chasing. Indeed because they were in pickup trucks and it was night, the U.S. soldiers probably were unaware that these were Iraqi police.

The U.S., with its overwhelming fire power with machine guns atop tanks and machine guns atop Humvees, just laid into this convoy of Iraqi police. Apparently eyewitnesses say all of the pickup trucks were burned and charred, and one account says that the BMW with the highway bandits was also burned and charred as well.

Again, the report CNN is getting ranges from anywhere between 11 to 14 Iraqi policemen killed. Again, those numbers will probably change in the course of the day as the events become more clear -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Walter Rodgers reporting live from Baghdad. We'll let you go to get more information 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.