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Troops Raid Baghdad Mosque
Aired January 02, 2004 - 13:07 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, CNN ANCHOR: A U.S. soldier is killed, another wounded, when their helicopter is shot down near Fallujah. Other troops rushed to the crash site, but this time, they're shot at by insurgents posing as journalists.
CNN's Karl Penhaul has the latest now from Baghdad -- Karl.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. military commanders, Kyra, have confirmed to us that one U.S. soldier died, another was injured, when that Kiowa observation helicopter came under fire around the city of Fallujah. That's about 60 miles west of Baghdad, and there have been particular problems with the insurgents there.
Now paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division cordoned off the area where that chopper came down. But, as they were doing that, two Mercedes-Benz cars drove up to that security cordon. Five men dressed in black press vests, with the word "press" clearly written in English, got out of the cars and opened fire on the military with assault rifles and rocket launchers. The paratroopers gave chase and were able to detain four of those men.
General Kimmett (ph), one of the coalition spokesmen, says this is one of the first time insurgents have posed as press in order to launch attacks on the coalition.
Now in another significant incident today, Kyra, in Baghdad, in response to a situation that occurred in fact yesterday morning, U.S. troops, together with members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, and Iraqi police raided a mosque in downtown Baghdad. They went inside, knocked in a few doors, searched through drawers, and ended up detaining 32 people, including the head of the mosque. And what they say are a number of foreign fighters, though U.S. commanders haven't stipulated what numbers of foreign fighters or what nationalities.
In a press conference this afternoon, the U.S. commander showed us a photograph of what they say they seized at that mosque. That included a stash of AK-47 assault rifles, a mortar tube, some high- powered plastic explosive, some dynamite, and more than 3,000 bullets to go in those assault rifles, a real weapons stash.
But in response to this raid, a very sensitive site for Muslims. Today, at Friday prayers, there was a very strong response from worshipers at the mosque. More than 1,000 people staged an impromptu demonstration at the mosque. They were calling President Bush a terrorist, and they say that this raid on mosque has desecrated a holy site. In fact, mosque officials that our team were talking to today, say that one of their holiest examples of the Koran holy book was, in fact, ripped during the parade. They're blaming U.S. troop force that. Coalition members, though, say there is no way soldiers did rip that book, although they haven't been able to explain the incident -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Karl Penhaul, live in 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 January 2, 2004 - 13:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A U.S. soldier is killed, another wounded, when their helicopter is shot down near Fallujah. Other troops rushed to the crash site, but this time, they're shot at by insurgents posing as journalists.
CNN's Karl Penhaul has the latest now from Baghdad -- Karl.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. military commanders, Kyra, have confirmed to us that one U.S. soldier died, another was injured, when that Kiowa observation helicopter came under fire around the city of Fallujah. That's about 60 miles west of Baghdad, and there have been particular problems with the insurgents there.
Now paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division cordoned off the area where that chopper came down. But, as they were doing that, two Mercedes-Benz cars drove up to that security cordon. Five men dressed in black press vests, with the word "press" clearly written in English, got out of the cars and opened fire on the military with assault rifles and rocket launchers. The paratroopers gave chase and were able to detain four of those men.
General Kimmett (ph), one of the coalition spokesmen, says this is one of the first time insurgents have posed as press in order to launch attacks on the coalition.
Now in another significant incident today, Kyra, in Baghdad, in response to a situation that occurred in fact yesterday morning, U.S. troops, together with members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, and Iraqi police raided a mosque in downtown Baghdad. They went inside, knocked in a few doors, searched through drawers, and ended up detaining 32 people, including the head of the mosque. And what they say are a number of foreign fighters, though U.S. commanders haven't stipulated what numbers of foreign fighters or what nationalities.
In a press conference this afternoon, the U.S. commander showed us a photograph of what they say they seized at that mosque. That included a stash of AK-47 assault rifles, a mortar tube, some high- powered plastic explosive, some dynamite, and more than 3,000 bullets to go in those assault rifles, a real weapons stash.
But in response to this raid, a very sensitive site for Muslims. Today, at Friday prayers, there was a very strong response from worshipers at the mosque. More than 1,000 people staged an impromptu demonstration at the mosque. They were calling President Bush a terrorist, and they say that this raid on mosque has desecrated a holy site. In fact, mosque officials that our team were talking to today, say that one of their holiest examples of the Koran holy book was, in fact, ripped during the parade. They're blaming U.S. troop force that. Coalition members, though, say there is no way soldiers did rip that book, although they haven't been able to explain the incident -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Karl Penhaul, live in 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
