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CNN Live At Daybreak
A Hammer Strike in Baghdad
Aired November 13, 2003 - 05:30 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: A hammer strike in Baghdad. U.S. forces try to put pressure on insurgents making daily attacks on coalition troops.
Ben Wedeman live in Baghdad -- hello, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hello, Carol.
No let up in those attacks on coalition forces. Overnight, one soldier with the 1st Armored Division was killed, another wounded by a roadside bomb. And now we're also hearing from one of our CNN stringers in Falluja that there may have been another attack, another roadside bomb. In that incident, we are being told, there were American casualties.
Meanwhile, down in southern Iraq, in the town of Nasiriyah, Italian troops continue to clear up the devastation left behind by that massive car bomb yesterday. The death toll at this point stands at 26, with 18 dead Italians, that's civilians as well as soldiers and police, as well as eight Iraqis.
Now, today the Italian defense minister, Antonio Martino, is on the site. He's surveying the devastation. He's expressed Italy's continued determination to remain part of the coalition to assist in the reconstruction of this country. The bodies of those Italians killed in the bombing will be flown home tomorrow.
Now, overnight in the U.S., or, rather, excuse me, overnight in Baghdad, the U.S. is putting into action its promises of a get tough policy, this coming in the form of Operation Iron Hammer. We saw two incidents last night, one of them rather noisy, shook this hotel, in which an AC-130 Specter gunship blasted a warehouse in southwest Baghdad. According to coalition sources, that building was a meeting, storage and rendezvous point for what that described as belligerent elements.
Also, in another part of Baghdad, in the north, the U.S. Apache attack helicopters spotted a van that apparently was being used to fire mortar rounds in the direction of coalition forces. They disabled that van, killed two of the men inside, wounded three and took five prisoner -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Ben Wedeman bringing us up to date live from Baghdad 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 13, 2003 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A hammer strike in Baghdad. U.S. forces try to put pressure on insurgents making daily attacks on coalition troops.
Ben Wedeman live in Baghdad -- hello, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hello, Carol.
No let up in those attacks on coalition forces. Overnight, one soldier with the 1st Armored Division was killed, another wounded by a roadside bomb. And now we're also hearing from one of our CNN stringers in Falluja that there may have been another attack, another roadside bomb. In that incident, we are being told, there were American casualties.
Meanwhile, down in southern Iraq, in the town of Nasiriyah, Italian troops continue to clear up the devastation left behind by that massive car bomb yesterday. The death toll at this point stands at 26, with 18 dead Italians, that's civilians as well as soldiers and police, as well as eight Iraqis.
Now, today the Italian defense minister, Antonio Martino, is on the site. He's surveying the devastation. He's expressed Italy's continued determination to remain part of the coalition to assist in the reconstruction of this country. The bodies of those Italians killed in the bombing will be flown home tomorrow.
Now, overnight in the U.S., or, rather, excuse me, overnight in Baghdad, the U.S. is putting into action its promises of a get tough policy, this coming in the form of Operation Iron Hammer. We saw two incidents last night, one of them rather noisy, shook this hotel, in which an AC-130 Specter gunship blasted a warehouse in southwest Baghdad. According to coalition sources, that building was a meeting, storage and rendezvous point for what that described as belligerent elements.
Also, in another part of Baghdad, in the north, the U.S. Apache attack helicopters spotted a van that apparently was being used to fire mortar rounds in the direction of coalition forces. They disabled that van, killed two of the men inside, wounded three and took five prisoner -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Ben Wedeman bringing us up to date live from Baghdad 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
