Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Another Soldier Killed in Iraq
Aired November 10, 2003 - 06:03 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now it is 38. One more U.S. soldier is killed overnight south of Baghdad -- 38 killed in November alone. U.S. troops are now striking back with 500-pound bombs.
Live to Baghdad and Matthew Chance.
Tell us more about this -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest incident comes just a short distance -- in fact, about 40 miles to the south of the Iraqi capital, near the town of Iskandariyah. But what we understand from coalition officials, a convoy with U.S. forces came under attack from someone firing a rocket-propelled grenade, an RPG. We understand that one member of the U.S. 18th Military Police Brigade was killed as a result of that attack.
That incident comes as U.S. military authorities acknowledge that the downing of a helicopter, a Black Hawk, just outside the town of Tikrit to the north of the Iraqi capital -- the hometown, of course, of Saddam Hussein -- may have been accomplished by some kind of sophisticated surface-to-air missile. That follows, of course, an attack of a similar nature on the previous Sunday in Fallujah, the flashpoint town to the west of Baghdad, where 16 U.S. soldiers were killed, of course, when their Chinook helicopter was downed by what eyewitnesses described as a surface-to-air missile.
So, this is now appearing to be a mounting threat against U.S. and coalition aircraft in the skies over Iraq -- Carol.
COSTELLO: There are airstrikes going on now, too, near Tikrit. Is that right, Matthew?
CHANCE: Well, what the coalition have said is that they're prepared to and are willing and demonstrating their capability to hit hard at the insurgents in various parts of the country. We understand there have been U.S. warplanes dropping some quite heavy bombs on some suspected activity areas of the insurgents in that area of the Sunni triangle.
They've also been investigating, of course -- stepping up their investigation, in fact, into who it is who is carrying out these attacks. There has been some success on that front as well. We mentioned earlier that 12 out of the 18 people believed to be responsible for carrying out a rocket attack earlier this month on the Al Rashid Hotel here in Baghdad have been brought into U.S. custody.
So, some small successes there from the U.S. forces. COSTELLO: All right, 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.
Aired November 10, 2003 - 06:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now it is 38. One more U.S. soldier is killed overnight south of Baghdad -- 38 killed in November alone. U.S. troops are now striking back with 500-pound bombs.
Live to Baghdad and Matthew Chance.
Tell us more about this -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest incident comes just a short distance -- in fact, about 40 miles to the south of the Iraqi capital, near the town of Iskandariyah. But what we understand from coalition officials, a convoy with U.S. forces came under attack from someone firing a rocket-propelled grenade, an RPG. We understand that one member of the U.S. 18th Military Police Brigade was killed as a result of that attack.
That incident comes as U.S. military authorities acknowledge that the downing of a helicopter, a Black Hawk, just outside the town of Tikrit to the north of the Iraqi capital -- the hometown, of course, of Saddam Hussein -- may have been accomplished by some kind of sophisticated surface-to-air missile. That follows, of course, an attack of a similar nature on the previous Sunday in Fallujah, the flashpoint town to the west of Baghdad, where 16 U.S. soldiers were killed, of course, when their Chinook helicopter was downed by what eyewitnesses described as a surface-to-air missile.
So, this is now appearing to be a mounting threat against U.S. and coalition aircraft in the skies over Iraq -- Carol.
COSTELLO: There are airstrikes going on now, too, near Tikrit. Is that right, Matthew?
CHANCE: Well, what the coalition have said is that they're prepared to and are willing and demonstrating their capability to hit hard at the insurgents in various parts of the country. We understand there have been U.S. warplanes dropping some quite heavy bombs on some suspected activity areas of the insurgents in that area of the Sunni triangle.
They've also been investigating, of course -- stepping up their investigation, in fact, into who it is who is carrying out these attacks. There has been some success on that front as well. We mentioned earlier that 12 out of the 18 people believed to be responsible for carrying out a rocket attack earlier this month on the Al Rashid Hotel here in Baghdad have been brought into U.S. custody.
So, some small successes there from the U.S. forces. COSTELLO: All right, 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.
