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CNN Live At Daybreak
U.S. Troops on Alert for New Year's Eve Attacks in Iraq
Aired December 31, 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: There will be no formal celebration of the New Year in Iraq. It's just too tense there. They don't want fireworks of any kind.
Let's head live to Baghdad now and Satinder Bindra.
Hello -- Satinder.
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
A very tense and very somber mood here on New Year's Eve, and this is not being helped by the incidents of violence that we keep hearing about. There has been another incident this morning. We're just getting reports from police sources from the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. Kirkuk is about 160 miles north of here.
And police sources are saying this morning Kurdish Peshmerga, or guerrilla fighters, fired into a crowd of demonstrators. Two people were killed, 14 were injured.
Now, most of these demonstrators were Arabs and Turkmen. They were protesting because they want Kirkuk to be a part of Iraq. Of course, the Kurdish majority in the town of Kirkuk wants Kirkuk to be part of a Kurdish autonomous region.
Now, shortly after the violence this morning, Carol, U.S. forces moved into the area. They barricaded the place up.
Just south of Kirkuk, here in Baghdad, the mood is equally tense. Several bombs have gone off in the past two to three days. And this morning, Carol, some 11,000 Iraqi police are joining coalition forces to search for bombs. They're trying their best to give people some safety assurances.
Back to you.
COSTELLO: So, at 4:00 Eastern -- that's 4:00 our time -- it will be midnight there. Are there added precautions just because it's New Year's Eve?
BINDRA: There are many precautions being taken. This morning, the Iraqi newspapers are full of this high alert that's been put out, at least for the Iraqi police and coalition forces. There are barricades everywhere. If you'll remember, close to the Christmas time, there were several bombs that went off here. And certainly, the fear among the people is that there could be violence in the streets. I've talked to several Iraqis, and they say they prefer to stay at home with their families. Normally, Iraqis go out and party. They go to hotels. They go to clubs. But this year, they're saying they're in no mood to do that -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Satinder Bindra reporting 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 December 31, 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: There will be no formal celebration of the New Year in Iraq. It's just too tense there. They don't want fireworks of any kind.
Let's head live to Baghdad now and Satinder Bindra.
Hello -- Satinder.
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
A very tense and very somber mood here on New Year's Eve, and this is not being helped by the incidents of violence that we keep hearing about. There has been another incident this morning. We're just getting reports from police sources from the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. Kirkuk is about 160 miles north of here.
And police sources are saying this morning Kurdish Peshmerga, or guerrilla fighters, fired into a crowd of demonstrators. Two people were killed, 14 were injured.
Now, most of these demonstrators were Arabs and Turkmen. They were protesting because they want Kirkuk to be a part of Iraq. Of course, the Kurdish majority in the town of Kirkuk wants Kirkuk to be part of a Kurdish autonomous region.
Now, shortly after the violence this morning, Carol, U.S. forces moved into the area. They barricaded the place up.
Just south of Kirkuk, here in Baghdad, the mood is equally tense. Several bombs have gone off in the past two to three days. And this morning, Carol, some 11,000 Iraqi police are joining coalition forces to search for bombs. They're trying their best to give people some safety assurances.
Back to you.
COSTELLO: So, at 4:00 Eastern -- that's 4:00 our time -- it will be midnight there. Are there added precautions just because it's New Year's Eve?
BINDRA: There are many precautions being taken. This morning, the Iraqi newspapers are full of this high alert that's been put out, at least for the Iraqi police and coalition forces. There are barricades everywhere. If you'll remember, close to the Christmas time, there were several bombs that went off here. And certainly, the fear among the people is that there could be violence in the streets. I've talked to several Iraqis, and they say they prefer to stay at home with their families. Normally, Iraqis go out and party. They go to hotels. They go to clubs. But this year, they're saying they're in no mood to do that -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Satinder Bindra reporting 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.
