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CNN Live Saturday

CENTCOM: Unidentified Iraqi Assailants Responsible for Explosion in Baghdad

Aired April 26, 2003 - 17:10   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.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. Central Command says six Iraqis are dead and four are hurt following an explosion in Baghdad today. This is a story we have following all day long. CENTCOM says it happened after unidentified assailants -- Iraqi assailants fired an incendiary device into an ammo dump. The explosion also rocked already rocky relations between the U.S. and residents of Baghdad. CNN's Nic Robertson is monitoring developments, he joins us live fro Baghdad with the latest -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, those explosions at the weapons dump began early in the morning here, literally shaking buildings in downtown Baghdad. When we got out to the site it was surrounded by U.S. troops from the 101st Airborne. They were trying to secure the area, stop local residents from getting in harm's way. But when we were there we could see rocked cart wheeling through the air.

One of the soldiers who'd been -- who've been -- who'd been involved in the collection of weapons at that particular site and ammunition said that he knew there were rocket-propelled grenades. He said there were some rockets there that were as large as trucks. He also said that as far as he knew, there were four torpedoes that were stored at the site that were awaiting deconstruction and demolition in the coming days.

What happened there, the ammunition dump becoming ignited according to coalition sources saying that a -- than an incendiary device, a flare was fired to it by Iraqi's. One of the rockets appeared to come out of that ammunition's dump on fire, fly through the air about half a mile, and land on a residential area, completely demolishing one house. When we arrived there, residents were extremely angry, telling us that they had told the U.S. forces that they didn't want all these weapons stored so close to their houses. They said that they believed that this was an unsafe situation, they'd asked for it not to happen; now they're incredibly angry. We were first taken in and shown the site, then we were thrown out again by the people there, taken to a local mosque by the local mullah who showed us a number of women and children who were being treated for cuts to their faces, hands, and legs. Then we went back to the site again, this time with some engineers from the 101st Airborne, they tried to help, then the crowd turned on them, they were thrown out, they tried again, they were thrown out again.

An incredibly volatile situation according to the people there at that site, they say 14 people died in this particular house. Members of the Red Cross, however, have later said that they believe only six people died and 50 were injured. But it has certainly highlighted for many people, not only Iraqis, but for the coalition just the juxtaposition of normal civilian life with military activities is still a very dangerous situation and the tensions that exists between the civilian population, here, and the U.S. troops, the coalition forces is one that can at times can be very tense and flare up, Anderson.

COOPER: Nic, any explanation on your end from U.S. troops you talked to about why this cache of weapons ignited?

ROBERTSON: They believe that a flare was fired in, they say, by Iraqi assailants, civilians, they say, fired a flare into this ammunition's dump. Now, the soldiers for their part, the 101st Airborne soldiers were living right by this weapons cache. One soldier I talked to this morning said, literally the thing went up, began to burn and they were told, get out, get out, get out. They were about 20 yards away were they were living and they literally got out of the base, got out of what was formerly a military compound as quickly as they could. This is a very wide open area and this area of residential housing is an isolated area of residential housing and what -- in what appears to be a vast area of wasteland, of factories, of former military compounds. So, perhaps, unfortunate that a civilian structure should be struck, but given the proximity to the weapons cache, maybe not that surprising, Anderson.

COOPER: And any explanation about why the weapons cache wasn't moved? It was, as you say, very close to a residential area, apparently, at least according to these residents they had asked for it to be moved several days before.

ROBERTSON: They say they'd also asked for the demolition deconstruction, the blowing up, if you will, of some of these ammunition caches that have been kept there. They'd asked for that to be stopped as well. We hear quite often here, maybe once or twice a day, maybe more, occasionally, ammunitions, dumps, caches being blown up by coalition forces around Baghdad. We often hear of a -- we often here of explosions coming from that particular direction where that military camp is. And it seems that that was a site that the coalition had been using quite regularly. Why they had not responded to the concerns of the local residents isn't clear at this time. It does seem to be a site, a former military site where 101st Airborne engineers were based. Very likely the troops whose responsibility it would have been to dispose of this ordinance, to dig holes, cover it up, set the fuses, set the timers, dispose of the munitions in a safe way. So, possibly, because this was their base of operations, it was a logical place where this process was normally carried out, Anderson.

COOPER: And as you said, U.S. -- many U.S. soldiers was sleeping right by the cache, so it's a miracle, I suppose, that more people were not injured. Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thanks very much.

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Explosion in Baghdad>


Aired April 26, 2003 - 17:10   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. Central Command says six Iraqis are dead and four are hurt following an explosion in Baghdad today. This is a story we have following all day long. CENTCOM says it happened after unidentified assailants -- Iraqi assailants fired an incendiary device into an ammo dump. The explosion also rocked already rocky relations between the U.S. and residents of Baghdad. CNN's Nic Robertson is monitoring developments, he joins us live fro Baghdad with the latest -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, those explosions at the weapons dump began early in the morning here, literally shaking buildings in downtown Baghdad. When we got out to the site it was surrounded by U.S. troops from the 101st Airborne. They were trying to secure the area, stop local residents from getting in harm's way. But when we were there we could see rocked cart wheeling through the air.

One of the soldiers who'd been -- who've been -- who'd been involved in the collection of weapons at that particular site and ammunition said that he knew there were rocket-propelled grenades. He said there were some rockets there that were as large as trucks. He also said that as far as he knew, there were four torpedoes that were stored at the site that were awaiting deconstruction and demolition in the coming days.

What happened there, the ammunition dump becoming ignited according to coalition sources saying that a -- than an incendiary device, a flare was fired to it by Iraqi's. One of the rockets appeared to come out of that ammunition's dump on fire, fly through the air about half a mile, and land on a residential area, completely demolishing one house. When we arrived there, residents were extremely angry, telling us that they had told the U.S. forces that they didn't want all these weapons stored so close to their houses. They said that they believed that this was an unsafe situation, they'd asked for it not to happen; now they're incredibly angry. We were first taken in and shown the site, then we were thrown out again by the people there, taken to a local mosque by the local mullah who showed us a number of women and children who were being treated for cuts to their faces, hands, and legs. Then we went back to the site again, this time with some engineers from the 101st Airborne, they tried to help, then the crowd turned on them, they were thrown out, they tried again, they were thrown out again.

An incredibly volatile situation according to the people there at that site, they say 14 people died in this particular house. Members of the Red Cross, however, have later said that they believe only six people died and 50 were injured. But it has certainly highlighted for many people, not only Iraqis, but for the coalition just the juxtaposition of normal civilian life with military activities is still a very dangerous situation and the tensions that exists between the civilian population, here, and the U.S. troops, the coalition forces is one that can at times can be very tense and flare up, Anderson.

COOPER: Nic, any explanation on your end from U.S. troops you talked to about why this cache of weapons ignited?

ROBERTSON: They believe that a flare was fired in, they say, by Iraqi assailants, civilians, they say, fired a flare into this ammunition's dump. Now, the soldiers for their part, the 101st Airborne soldiers were living right by this weapons cache. One soldier I talked to this morning said, literally the thing went up, began to burn and they were told, get out, get out, get out. They were about 20 yards away were they were living and they literally got out of the base, got out of what was formerly a military compound as quickly as they could. This is a very wide open area and this area of residential housing is an isolated area of residential housing and what -- in what appears to be a vast area of wasteland, of factories, of former military compounds. So, perhaps, unfortunate that a civilian structure should be struck, but given the proximity to the weapons cache, maybe not that surprising, Anderson.

COOPER: And any explanation about why the weapons cache wasn't moved? It was, as you say, very close to a residential area, apparently, at least according to these residents they had asked for it to be moved several days before.

ROBERTSON: They say they'd also asked for the demolition deconstruction, the blowing up, if you will, of some of these ammunition caches that have been kept there. They'd asked for that to be stopped as well. We hear quite often here, maybe once or twice a day, maybe more, occasionally, ammunitions, dumps, caches being blown up by coalition forces around Baghdad. We often hear of a -- we often here of explosions coming from that particular direction where that military camp is. And it seems that that was a site that the coalition had been using quite regularly. Why they had not responded to the concerns of the local residents isn't clear at this time. It does seem to be a site, a former military site where 101st Airborne engineers were based. Very likely the troops whose responsibility it would have been to dispose of this ordinance, to dig holes, cover it up, set the fuses, set the timers, dispose of the munitions in a safe way. So, possibly, because this was their base of operations, it was a logical place where this process was normally carried out, Anderson.

COOPER: And as you said, U.S. -- many U.S. soldiers was sleeping right by the cache, so it's a miracle, I suppose, that more people were not injured. Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thanks very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Explosion in Baghdad>