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CNN Live At Daybreak

Deadliest Month in Iraqi Conflict Ends in Major Gun Battle

Aired December 01, 2003 - 05:32   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: The deadliest month in the Iraqi conflict ends in a major gun battle. American troops fought off two simultaneous ambushes in the northern city of Samarra.
CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us live on the phone with the latest from there -- hello, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

Well, I've just been talking to U.S. intelligence officials involved in the battles in Samarra. They say the reason that they believe that this was a coordinated attack was because there were six different contacts within the same hour.

They say that as U.S. military police were escorting a delivery of money to the bank in the center of Samarra. Vehicles came in and blocked off the end of the street, starting firing Kalashnikov rounds at the U.S. troops and the people putting the money in the bank. They said heavy machine gun fire came from behind the doors of the mosque in the town.

As the troops responded to that, they were fired at with mortars and rocket propelled grenades. And other attacks started up in the town pretty much at the same time.

According to this intelligence officer, one U.S. soldier, one M.P. was critically wounded -- he is likely on his way to Germany to receive more treatment -- and another military policeman, he said, saved the lives of two soldiers. The two soldiers had run out of ammunition, were pinned down by Iraqi insurgents. This one member of the military police fired all 400 rounds from his Wright machine gun and all 172 rounds from his heavy .50 caliber machine gun, saving the lives of those two soldiers.

Certainly in the town of Samarra, today the police there challenging the numbers of dead. According to the coalition, 54 people dead, 18 wounded, eight captured. According to the police in Samarra, only eight people killed. Two of them, they say, were Iranian -- elderly Iranian tourists visiting the holy shrine.

On the streets of Samarra, a lot of anger directed towards the U.S. troops today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Nic, this seems an unusually large number of insurgents to be attacking an American convoy.

Is it? ROBERTSON: Well, according to this intelligence officer, they believe that three of the six contacts that they had were organized by the same cell. They say that they are receiving information from different people in the town of Samarra and they believe that the ambushes were attacked and that's why, they say, it's led to such a high number of casualties.

It is unusual by standards here. It's the largest -- it appears to be the largest single fatality of Iraqis in one battle since the war back in March and April. And as far as the coalition is concerned, this was a success. They believe that the people that they hit were all members, either members of the Fedayeen or at least anti- coalition forces. They say the reason that they believe some of these people were Fedayeen, they've interrogated some of the people that were captured and some of them, they say, have tattoos on their bodies that indicate they are members of Saddam's Fedayeen -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Nic Robertson on the phone live from Samarra 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




Battle>


Aired December 1, 2003 - 05:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The deadliest month in the Iraqi conflict ends in a major gun battle. American troops fought off two simultaneous ambushes in the northern city of Samarra.
CNN's senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us live on the phone with the latest from there -- hello, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

Well, I've just been talking to U.S. intelligence officials involved in the battles in Samarra. They say the reason that they believe that this was a coordinated attack was because there were six different contacts within the same hour.

They say that as U.S. military police were escorting a delivery of money to the bank in the center of Samarra. Vehicles came in and blocked off the end of the street, starting firing Kalashnikov rounds at the U.S. troops and the people putting the money in the bank. They said heavy machine gun fire came from behind the doors of the mosque in the town.

As the troops responded to that, they were fired at with mortars and rocket propelled grenades. And other attacks started up in the town pretty much at the same time.

According to this intelligence officer, one U.S. soldier, one M.P. was critically wounded -- he is likely on his way to Germany to receive more treatment -- and another military policeman, he said, saved the lives of two soldiers. The two soldiers had run out of ammunition, were pinned down by Iraqi insurgents. This one member of the military police fired all 400 rounds from his Wright machine gun and all 172 rounds from his heavy .50 caliber machine gun, saving the lives of those two soldiers.

Certainly in the town of Samarra, today the police there challenging the numbers of dead. According to the coalition, 54 people dead, 18 wounded, eight captured. According to the police in Samarra, only eight people killed. Two of them, they say, were Iranian -- elderly Iranian tourists visiting the holy shrine.

On the streets of Samarra, a lot of anger directed towards the U.S. troops today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Nic, this seems an unusually large number of insurgents to be attacking an American convoy.

Is it? ROBERTSON: Well, according to this intelligence officer, they believe that three of the six contacts that they had were organized by the same cell. They say that they are receiving information from different people in the town of Samarra and they believe that the ambushes were attacked and that's why, they say, it's led to such a high number of casualties.

It is unusual by standards here. It's the largest -- it appears to be the largest single fatality of Iraqis in one battle since the war back in March and April. And as far as the coalition is concerned, this was a success. They believe that the people that they hit were all members, either members of the Fedayeen or at least anti- coalition forces. They say the reason that they believe some of these people were Fedayeen, they've interrogated some of the people that were captured and some of them, they say, have tattoos on their bodies that indicate they are members of Saddam's Fedayeen -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Nic Robertson on the phone live from Samarra 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




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