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CNN Live Today
Forty-Six Attackers Killed, 11 Captured in Ambush
Aired December 01, 2003 - 10:02 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: Let's get the latest about what actually has taken place in Iraq. We want to go to Samarra, and that's where our Nic Robertson is standing by live.
Nic -- what do you have for us?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, the latest we have from officials here is that 46 Iraqis were killed, 18 wounded and 11 of them captured. According to intelligence officers we spoke to here, they say that some of those captured were members -- or they believe at least they were members -- of Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen. They say that because they have that they have tattoos on their bodies that would indicate that.
We were also told earlier by coalition officials that the attack on the troops was very sophisticated. The troops were helping deliver substantial quantities of money to two banks into central Samarra Sunday afternoon. They simultaneously came under attack by attackers firing guns, grenade launchers and mortars from multiple different directions. One of the principal points of attacks against one of the sets of troops came from a mosque, we are told.
Now, one of the soldiers who was right in the middle that firefight describes how he tried to get his men out from the middle of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. BRUCE JONES, U.S. ARMY: We did have to ram some vehicles out of the way to get our people out of there safely and securely. But civilians in the area, you know something is going to happen as soon as you get in there and all of the civilians basically clear out of the way. So, if you go into a street or a part of the city that's normally busy and there's nobody around, you better get your guns up and ready to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: But it wasn't just the timed attacks against the troops outside the two banks. When reinforcements came into town, they also were targeted, explosive devices placed on the sides of the road where they came into the center of Samarra.
The people of Samarra we talked today are very angry about what happened Sunday. Some of them say there are no -- there were no insurgents fighting the U.S. troops, some say that there were. One man told us that a very carefully planned battle had, in fact, been planned by the resistance. He said that his brother was a member of the resistance, and it had been planned.
However, the police officials we talked to in Samarra say that only eight people were killed. They say that 50 were wounded, and one of the people they say who was killed was actually an elderly Iranian on a holy pilgrimage to the city -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Nic Robertson in Samarra with the latest from there. Thank you, Nic.
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 December 1, 2003 - 10:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get the latest about what actually has taken place in Iraq. We want to go to Samarra, and that's where our Nic Robertson is standing by live.
Nic -- what do you have for us?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, the latest we have from officials here is that 46 Iraqis were killed, 18 wounded and 11 of them captured. According to intelligence officers we spoke to here, they say that some of those captured were members -- or they believe at least they were members -- of Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen. They say that because they have that they have tattoos on their bodies that would indicate that.
We were also told earlier by coalition officials that the attack on the troops was very sophisticated. The troops were helping deliver substantial quantities of money to two banks into central Samarra Sunday afternoon. They simultaneously came under attack by attackers firing guns, grenade launchers and mortars from multiple different directions. One of the principal points of attacks against one of the sets of troops came from a mosque, we are told.
Now, one of the soldiers who was right in the middle that firefight describes how he tried to get his men out from the middle of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. BRUCE JONES, U.S. ARMY: We did have to ram some vehicles out of the way to get our people out of there safely and securely. But civilians in the area, you know something is going to happen as soon as you get in there and all of the civilians basically clear out of the way. So, if you go into a street or a part of the city that's normally busy and there's nobody around, you better get your guns up and ready to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: But it wasn't just the timed attacks against the troops outside the two banks. When reinforcements came into town, they also were targeted, explosive devices placed on the sides of the road where they came into the center of Samarra.
The people of Samarra we talked today are very angry about what happened Sunday. Some of them say there are no -- there were no insurgents fighting the U.S. troops, some say that there were. One man told us that a very carefully planned battle had, in fact, been planned by the resistance. He said that his brother was a member of the resistance, and it had been planned.
However, the police officials we talked to in Samarra say that only eight people were killed. They say that 50 were wounded, and one of the people they say who was killed was actually an elderly Iranian on a holy pilgrimage to the city -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Nic Robertson in Samarra with the latest from there. Thank you, Nic.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
