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Explosions in Baghdad as Sirens Blare

Aired November 25, 2003 - 12:59   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We're keeping our eye on Baghdad. After a new round of explosions apparently from the so-called Green Zone around coalition headquarters, sirens went off at that former presidential palace, loud speakers blaring, this is not a test.
CNN's Walt Rodgers joins us from his vantage point in the capital right in that part of the capital. Walt, what are you seeing and hearing?

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's quiet now, Miles. But just almost exactly an hour ago, there were two very loud explosions as I was leaving this camera position on the roof of the hotel.

What we heard sounded to me like mortars, though that's an educated guess. It could just as easily have been rockets. They were loud, just across the Tigris River. And as soon as they occurred, sirens were sounded in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. The sirens warning people, with accompanying loud speakers, this is an attack. This is not a test. They urged the citizens of Baghdad to take cover. '

We understand that the area in which the shells fell was around the old Iraqi Ministry of Information and the television tower, it actually fell in some Iraqi citizens and see back yard. And he is reportedly slightly injured. We don't know more about it than that.

It is not at all clear what the exact target was. The nearest U.S. troops from the point of impact are probably a quarter to a third of a mile away.

Interesting in terms of the climbing in all of this, of course, is that the U.S. had earlier said today that there had been a reduction in these kinds of attacks in and around Baghdad and they said they tried to give us the impression they were getting a handle on this while it appears that the Iraqi insurgents have kind of a rejoinder of their own, firing those shells or mortars into the capital again this evening -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Walt, you almost have the sense that they're hearing the statements and responding to them with this. Give us a sense, any idea if there were western targets of any kind that were the focus, or are they just lobbed into the general area?

RODGERS: Well it's hard to tell. Remember, it takes some skill to fire a mortar and to fire it accurately. And as I say, these shells, whatever they were, landed in someone's back yard. The nearest U.S. troops were some distance away, a quarter to a third of a mile.

We're really not sure what the targets were or whether they had targets. They may just have been firing them to send a message, we're still here. You may think we've got to ground or you may think you're getting a handle on the insurgency here, but you're not.

It seems almost a deliberate rat message, giving what the administrator, Ambassador Paul Bremer, said earlier today. They were trying to ask him, it seems -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Walt Rodgers in Baghdad, thank you very much. Keep us post.

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 November 25, 2003 - 12:59   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: We're keeping our eye on Baghdad. After a new round of explosions apparently from the so-called Green Zone around coalition headquarters, sirens went off at that former presidential palace, loud speakers blaring, this is not a test.
CNN's Walt Rodgers joins us from his vantage point in the capital right in that part of the capital. Walt, what are you seeing and hearing?

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's quiet now, Miles. But just almost exactly an hour ago, there were two very loud explosions as I was leaving this camera position on the roof of the hotel.

What we heard sounded to me like mortars, though that's an educated guess. It could just as easily have been rockets. They were loud, just across the Tigris River. And as soon as they occurred, sirens were sounded in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. The sirens warning people, with accompanying loud speakers, this is an attack. This is not a test. They urged the citizens of Baghdad to take cover. '

We understand that the area in which the shells fell was around the old Iraqi Ministry of Information and the television tower, it actually fell in some Iraqi citizens and see back yard. And he is reportedly slightly injured. We don't know more about it than that.

It is not at all clear what the exact target was. The nearest U.S. troops from the point of impact are probably a quarter to a third of a mile away.

Interesting in terms of the climbing in all of this, of course, is that the U.S. had earlier said today that there had been a reduction in these kinds of attacks in and around Baghdad and they said they tried to give us the impression they were getting a handle on this while it appears that the Iraqi insurgents have kind of a rejoinder of their own, firing those shells or mortars into the capital again this evening -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Walt, you almost have the sense that they're hearing the statements and responding to them with this. Give us a sense, any idea if there were western targets of any kind that were the focus, or are they just lobbed into the general area?

RODGERS: Well it's hard to tell. Remember, it takes some skill to fire a mortar and to fire it accurately. And as I say, these shells, whatever they were, landed in someone's back yard. The nearest U.S. troops were some distance away, a quarter to a third of a mile.

We're really not sure what the targets were or whether they had targets. They may just have been firing them to send a message, we're still here. You may think we've got to ground or you may think you're getting a handle on the insurgency here, but you're not.

It seems almost a deliberate rat message, giving what the administrator, Ambassador Paul Bremer, said earlier today. They were trying to ask him, it seems -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Walt Rodgers in Baghdad, thank you very much. Keep us post.

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