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Several Incidents In Iraq Leave Many Wounded, Injured

Aired June 24, 2003 - 14:02   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS: We begin this hour in a very volatile Iraq. Coalition forces under attack again and again. Casualties on all sides. Also what some term a disaster south of Baghdad, radioactive and toxic material at every turn. CNN's Jason Bellini on top of it all.
Jason, what can you tell us?

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra, there's a lot to talk about. A number of incidents, the most important of which we're reporting on now is an incident in (ph) Almarah (ph) which is north of Basra, this is where the British are on patrol, where today seven British, I'm sorry, six British soldiers were killed.

The British military says that they came under enemy fire, their words, also in a second incident near (ph) Almarah (ph) another group of British soldiers came under attack, one was injured, two vehicles were lost in that incident. Then a helicopter, rapid reaction force, came in and seven people on board that helicopter were injured. We're told that three of those have been injured very seriously.

So details are still coming in on that story from the south, but also, elsewhere in Iraq there have been a number of attacks on coalition forces. Two that are here in the Baghdad area, one in (ph) Ramadi (ph) at a checkpoint, where small arms fire greeted U.S. Soldiers at a checkpoint. They returned fire. They killed three Iraqis in that incident. One American soldier was killed and he was medevaced out.

Another incident in (ph) Al Dorah (ph) which is to the east of Baghdad. There someone threw a grenade at a military police vehicle. What happened there the grenade hit the vehicle and bounced off and rolled under a civilian car. It then exploded injuring the passengers inside. They are being treated in the hospital.

Obviously, a lot going on.

One other that I'll tell you about, real quickly Kyra, is at the (ph) Fallujah (ph) power plant, there, another attack last night, late last night, American soldiers who were guarding that power plant, they came under attack from a rocket propelled grenade injuring no one. They returned fire and the early reports are from civilians, from people on the ground, I wouldn't say several civilians were shot in that incident.

Gathering information on all of those as we go on. Also, today, in Baghdad, routine affairs were going on. The protection of areas of Iraq where there are still radiological -- radioactive materials. Greenpeace was here today, and they came and confronted the U.S. military. They said we know of a location where there are extraordinarily high levels of radiation. Asked them to take in some material that they had recovered and the U.S. Military took that in. The Greenpeace is asking that the U.S. Coalition invite in the International Atomic Energy Agency to help with that effort. They are not here now -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jason, on a bit of a lighter note, tell us about the special guests that came through Iraq.

BELLINI: Special quests today, four of them came from New York, the New York Police Department and Fire Department, it's the same people who last year they went to -- they went to Kabul, Afghanistan, bringing in aid to the Afghan people. They did the same here. They visited hospitals. They visited foster home in the Baghdad area. There they brought in food supplies and other relief supplies to help the people here -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jason Bellini, live from Baghdad. Thank you.

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 June 24, 2003 - 14:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS: We begin this hour in a very volatile Iraq. Coalition forces under attack again and again. Casualties on all sides. Also what some term a disaster south of Baghdad, radioactive and toxic material at every turn. CNN's Jason Bellini on top of it all.
Jason, what can you tell us?

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Kyra, there's a lot to talk about. A number of incidents, the most important of which we're reporting on now is an incident in (ph) Almarah (ph) which is north of Basra, this is where the British are on patrol, where today seven British, I'm sorry, six British soldiers were killed.

The British military says that they came under enemy fire, their words, also in a second incident near (ph) Almarah (ph) another group of British soldiers came under attack, one was injured, two vehicles were lost in that incident. Then a helicopter, rapid reaction force, came in and seven people on board that helicopter were injured. We're told that three of those have been injured very seriously.

So details are still coming in on that story from the south, but also, elsewhere in Iraq there have been a number of attacks on coalition forces. Two that are here in the Baghdad area, one in (ph) Ramadi (ph) at a checkpoint, where small arms fire greeted U.S. Soldiers at a checkpoint. They returned fire. They killed three Iraqis in that incident. One American soldier was killed and he was medevaced out.

Another incident in (ph) Al Dorah (ph) which is to the east of Baghdad. There someone threw a grenade at a military police vehicle. What happened there the grenade hit the vehicle and bounced off and rolled under a civilian car. It then exploded injuring the passengers inside. They are being treated in the hospital.

Obviously, a lot going on.

One other that I'll tell you about, real quickly Kyra, is at the (ph) Fallujah (ph) power plant, there, another attack last night, late last night, American soldiers who were guarding that power plant, they came under attack from a rocket propelled grenade injuring no one. They returned fire and the early reports are from civilians, from people on the ground, I wouldn't say several civilians were shot in that incident.

Gathering information on all of those as we go on. Also, today, in Baghdad, routine affairs were going on. The protection of areas of Iraq where there are still radiological -- radioactive materials. Greenpeace was here today, and they came and confronted the U.S. military. They said we know of a location where there are extraordinarily high levels of radiation. Asked them to take in some material that they had recovered and the U.S. Military took that in. The Greenpeace is asking that the U.S. Coalition invite in the International Atomic Energy Agency to help with that effort. They are not here now -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jason, on a bit of a lighter note, tell us about the special guests that came through Iraq.

BELLINI: Special quests today, four of them came from New York, the New York Police Department and Fire Department, it's the same people who last year they went to -- they went to Kabul, Afghanistan, bringing in aid to the Afghan people. They did the same here. They visited hospitals. They visited foster home in the Baghdad area. There they brought in food supplies and other relief supplies to help the people here -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jason Bellini, live from Baghdad. Thank you.

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