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Coalition Launches Heavy Shelling in Fallujah
Aired April 27, 2004 - 14:30 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, ANCHOR: Live pictures now out of Fallujah. You see the fire burning at this moment in an area where talks continue but patrols have become postponed.
Marines trying to keep peace in that area as insurgents continue to come in and continue to battle with the Marines there. The weapons handover continues.
I am told now that Karl Penhaul, who's the pool reporter and also bringing these images to us via the videophone, joins us to tell us what's taking place.
KARL PENHAUL, POOL REPORTER: ... devices, sophisticated devices. We're also told that it has a formidable arsenal at its disposal. It has cannons, it has machine guns. It also has a wide array of ordnance. That's what we hear now, exploding there about a kilometer south of our current position.
We don't know exactly what types of rockets or missiles those are going off, but so far there have been 15 or 20 explosions. And as you can see there in the night sky, we can see flames or certainly orange indicating flames there on the ground. You can see heavy black plume of smoke going across Fallujah's night sky.
The AC-130s are still overhead. Again, we see more explosions there. Missiles and rockets continue to go in. Unclear at this point what kind of height that is flying at. Typically those would fly fairly low and fairly slow to allow them to get on target so that they could fire off these weapons.
Just a few moments ago, we did see a secondary explosion from where that fire is going. This fire also seems to be stoking now. That may indicate -- both no indications precisely what that target is. The heavy secondary explosions there could indicate a possible area where insurgents inside the city of Fallujah may have been storing ammunition or certain kinds of weaponry. These would typically be the kinds of targets that the AC-130 would be looking for.
Again, an explosion there.
All the time that this is going on, a sound that you probably won't hear from our position, from our camera and microphones, but you can also hear along in the distance, the wailing of one of the imams from one of the many, many mosques in Fallujah. This is not the typical time of prayer. From this distance, obviously unclear what the imam may be saying in prayer, in light of what is going on now. Before the explosions started, there was also what the Marines call psy-ops, as those teams conduct psychological operations. Trying, if you like, to spook the insurgents, trying to get messages also to any civilian population out there.
Certainly, though, in this northwest corner of Fallujah, there has been no indication of any civilian activity here over the last few days. The last few days, in fact, the U.S. networks have been here, we haven't seen any civilian activity in the towns here.
The company we are with at the moment is the same company. It's the same Marine company that was involved in a heavy gun battle yesterday, about 200 meters or 200 yards from the position where we are now.
Since that time, since that very heavy gun battle, operations have been continuing from long range also to try and detect insurgent positions deeper inside the city. It's quite obvious that this corner of the city, a city that's home to 300,000 people, is one of the main city strongholds for the Iraqi insurgents.
Yesterday in battle, one Marine died, some nine others were wounded. Indicates that certainly Marine commanders here say that during the two-week or so ceasefire period that was agreed between coalition forces and Fallujah's leaders, there really has been no sign of a ceasefire here.
Mostly, most days, in fact, insurgents have been sent over, automatic weapons fire, rockets and mortars to Marine positions. So for that reason there have been continued intelligence gathering operations and these kind of search and destroy missions that we see now with the Marines going into this sector on foot. It proved very dangerous what they're doing now. They've seen those gunships (ph), pinpoint insurgent activity and instead of using heavy ordnance, can destroy those type of positions.
PHILLIPS: Live pictures via videophone. You could probably just barely hear Karl Penhaul. But he is the pool reporter doing these live shots, bringing us these live pictures for all the networks.
Because of the dangerous situation and the threat there to reporters and civilians, Karl is basically the voice and the journalist for all the various networks. He's starting to talk again. Let's see if we can hear him.
PENHAUL: ... gunships. They believe that weapons being used to destroy positions that we have seen (UNINTELLIGIBLE) probably 105 (UNINTELLIGIBLE) weapons (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they are probably right at the moment south of the position we are.
You can see the secondary effects of the fire, again flames beginning to rise once again from that building. Another cannon round, impact round and even in the darkness here, a heavy plume of black smoke billowing across the night sky.
Again, we can see explosions, those cannon rounds hitting the ground, the AC-130 gunship at this stage firing from a very large distance. We're being told now what we see on the left probably the 105 Howitzer. Round after round as you can see and hear impacting.
Heavy movements from the AC-10 gunship. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Unclear if this is a position of safety or if this gunship was actually targeted. We do understand -- we were told that the gunship would be on the lookout for insurgent positions. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Particularly in the light of the fierce gun battle.
In the course of the day, in that gun battle the Marines lost one Marine. One Marine died and nine others were wounded, at least three of them seriously. The Marine commanders here as this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Northwest edge of Fallujah.
Ceasefire that's been in place for the last two weeks. And they had ordered their intelligence gatherer and the gunship to continue operations (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the insurgent positions. What seems now they have managed to detect one of those positions.
We did see earlier the secondary explosions from one of those sites where the flames and smoke were coming from. That may indicate a certain type of ammunition. Certainly, secondary explosions may indicate that type of thing happening.
That said, here on the ground...
OK. OK, OK. We'll try and work on this audio. John, just (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Check. Check.
I can't imagine what -- yes, but I'm not sure -- there hasn't been any change in that sound. Will you let me know what you're hearing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Testing, one, two, three, of the camera mic. Camera mic. Are they hearing me? This is the camera mic. Can they hear me speaking in the microphone? Can you hear me?
PENHAUL: Just stand by that microphone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you hear me speaking or not? Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
PENHAUL: I think they've (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this microphone.
PHILLIPS: Right now you're watching live pictures via the videophone. Karl Penhaul, the pool reporter there, on the ground while heavy shelling taking place in Fallujah. Hearing a number of things.
It is really hard to hear what Karl Penhaul is saying, but what we can tell you by these pictures is a combination of explosions. You actually hear the call to prayer that's takes place also in Fallujah as this air attack continues, in addition to the gunfire and the fighting between U.S. Marines and the insurgents there in Fallujah.
A standoff taking place right now as we get these live pictures. Now, last week when we were talking to you about the situation in Fallujah, there were air strikes that took place in and around a mosque in that area.
And there were air strikes off the USS George Washington that's been in that area, helping with close air support with the Marines on the ground, trying to prevent any type of civilian casualties as these firefights take place with Marines and -- and Iraqi insurgents.
Whether these air strikes are, once again, from those strike fighters off the USS George Washington, we are trying to confirm that, working that as we speak.
But we can tell you heavy gunfire. There is definitely a bit of an air campaign going on here, as U.S. Marines have engaged in a standoff with Iraqi insurgents.
This comes at a time when talks, we are being told, are continuing and the patrols, though, have been postponed. Marines were supposed to be walking side by side with Iraqi police, starting today there in Fallujah. That has been on hold, as a weapons handover is supposed to be continuing, talks are supposed to be continuing.
But obviously the firefights and the air campaign there, the air attack on that area continues right now. As you watch these live pictures via videophone from our pool camera.
O'BRIEN: Just to get a little back story here, of course, there has now been a three-week siege. You remember the flashpoint in Fallujah was the killing of those security guards who were -- ultimately their bodies were desecrated on a bridge in Fallujah.
Fallujah, a Sunni stronghold. The Sunnis, as you well know, an ethnic minority in Iraq. But, of course, under the regime of Saddam Hussein, who was in fact a Sunni, held power. And thus as the transition to some other form of government in Iraq, there's been a great deal of insecurity among this group. And this particular part of Iraq is a Sunni stronghold.
The Marines had indicated they would begin some sort of patrolling with Iraqi defense forces at some point, but that has been delayed and has not materialized just yet.
It is unclear precisely what we're seeing unfold here right now, I must confess. I'm sure you at home had the same reaction. It was very difficult to make out what Karl Penhaul was saying, given precisely what he was -- the conditions that he was facing.
But nevertheless, we are seeing unfold here an escalation of what's going on in Fallujah.
Let's listen to Karl Penhaul. We apologize for the quality of the audio. I think it might be a little better now. Let's listen.
PENHAUL: ... You can still see the glow of orange flames, and you can see a black -- heavy black plume of smoke rising over Fallujah's night sky. This is the result of a hit, of a strike by a coalition AC-130 Specter gunship.
There have been multiple cannon rounds, we're told. We're being told a 105 millimeter Howitzer cannon round from that Specter gunship have slammed into that position.
We're seeing some secondary explosions, some sparks coming from there. Unclear what this position was. Certainly we do believe it to be an insurgent position that that AC-130 gunship has detected.
Many, many rounds went into each of those sites. We're talking possibly 20, 25 cannon rounds. Then the AC-130 gunship has been circling around, returning and again firing volleys of 20, 25 cannon rounds into those positions.
Initially there were heavy explosions, sparks flying, and now what we're seeing essentially is the aftermath there, the heavy glow of flames. We can't see above the horizon there and above the buildings, the actual lick of the flame. But we certainly can see the orange glow at the base, and then these heavy plumes of black smoke coming across the night sky.
What we can see from here looks like the two positions have been hit. Those two positions, possibly 100, 150 yards apart. And both those positions, anything between 800 meters or one kilometer, maybe. So we're talking about three-quarters of a mile, possibly, from our position. That's what we're looking at now.
As I say, no confirmation at this stage from U.S. Marine commanders what those positions may have been. But certainly, the indication that those were insurgent positions.
Now, this strike comes the day after a U.S. Marine platoon from the small base where we are now positioned was engaged in a heavy gun battle with Iraqi insurgents taking a stand here in the city of Fallujah. That gun battle lasted for about three or 3 1/2 hours yesterday, Monday, resulting in one Marine dead and at least nine others injured, at least three of those seriously, we're told.
And that was an indication that the insurgents do remain very active and fairly well organized and coordinated in this northwest corner of Fallujah.
Marine commanders have told us that there have been repeated ceasefire violations in this part of the city, a city of 300,000 people. Marine commanders tell us that virtually every day, insurgents have been mortaring and rocketing their positions.
And this is the reason why the coalition is continuing operations to try and detect insurgent positions and destroy those positions if there's any perceived threat.
Today, though, in the course of the day, the situation here on the northwest edge of Fallujah has been relatively quiet. I say relative. There have been one or two mortar rounds coming in from insurgent positions around the area where we are now. There's also been several incidents of sniper fire in the course of the day. And what the U.S. Marines say they are doing is responding to those kind of attacks by Iraqi insurgents.
We can see now going across in the sky, if you managed to see that, the flash tracer fire. Those tracers are going out from a coalition position, a U.S. Marine position a little ways from where we are standing. It's the same Marine company, Echo Company that we're with. That's the position; they've been sending out the tracer fire there.
Unclear what they may have spotted in the distance. Certainly, though, they'll be looking at targets a lot closer than those targets we see further away toward the horizon. The Marines in the positions where we are now will typically be targeting something a lot closer, possibly 200, 300 meters away.
You probably won't be able to pick these sounds up from our camera microphone, but all the time that these attacks have been going on in the distance, we can hear chants and songs from one of the many mosques in Fallujah.
From this distance, it's very difficult to detect what the imams or the faqias (ph) may be saying or may be chanting. Unclear whether this is an extension of prayer time or whether it's a specific act because -- a specific service, because they can see what's going on.
In the distance there, what we've just seen is a fairly large secondary explosion and a small mushroom cloud rising there. Again, this could be another indication that this was some kind of weapons store or an ammunitions store. Certainly that explosion, we don't believe at this stage, was caused by any more coalition strikes on that area. The Specter gunship we can't hear in the air at this time.
So an indication there that the position that has been struck may have been some kind of weapons store, but no confirmation, as I say, of that at this stage from any of the Marine commanders on the ground.
PHILLIPS: You're watching -- If you're just tuning in to CNN right now, you're watching live pictures via the videophone in Fallujah.
Karl Penhaul is the pool reporter for all the networks right now. Because of the security situation and the danger and the threat that exists there in Fallujah, Karl is the sole reporter, doing live shots for all the networks.
So we're sort of listening to him as he's able to get information. He's coming in and out and providing us with as many details as possible.
What we can tell you right now, you're watching live pictures of attacks that are taking place in Fallujah where U.S. Marines are up against Iraqi insurgents.
You're hearing a call to prayer. You're hearing a number of explosions. You are hearing bombs that are being dropped. We're trying to confirm what type of air campaign is taking place.
In this same area last week there were strike fighters coming off the USS George Washington, the Navy carrier out there in the area. They were adding CAS or close air support missions, helping the Marines there on the ground as they go up against Iraqi insurgents.
Marines coming into this area for a while now, trying to negotiate with the insurgents, trying to get them to hand over their weapons. All of that, of course, is still in the works.
But as you can see by these live pictures, the explosions, the fire, you can hear the gunfire. You're obviously seeing what's taking place from the air to the ground, that that standoff continues with Iraqi insurgents and U.S. Marines.
We're going to go back to Karl Penhaul once again.
PENHAUL: ... a distance of about 800 meters or one kilometer. We're talking about three-quarters of a mile from the position where we're now standing.
You may be able to make out plumes of black smoke rising in the distance and blowing across Fallujah's night sky.
We can hear in the air the rumble of an AC-130 Specter gunship, a coalition aircraft that has been blasting those positions that we can see there in the distance, blasting them with what we're told is probably 105 millimeter Howitzer cannons, round after round going in there.
I believe that I counted on the first run by the Specter gunship, possibly 20, 25 rounds going in. That sent up flames and sparks from the ground.
The gunship then made several circles through the sky and returned and started to hit another position again with probably 20, 25 rounds. Big thumps as they left the aircraft. And again these flashes of sparks and flames as they were hitting the ground.
Curiously, also a sound that you may not pick up through the camera microphones at this time. We're hearing chants and songs from several of the many mosques across Fallujah. It's not clear at this stage whether those chants and songs coming from the mosques are in response to this coalition attack or if they are linked in any way.
It is, though, on the ground here now around 11 local time. So a little late for traditional Muslim prayers. The last call to prayers would have come around dusk. And so not clear what these chants are linked to.
Before the attacks started, we did also hear a Marine psy-ops team driving through some of the streets that Marines control on this northwest edge of Fallujah, again sending out messages in Arabic.
Those psy-ops teams, so-called psy-ops -- that stands for psychological operations -- on one level they may have been trying to play mind games with the Iraqi insurgents they believed to be out there. On another level, they may have been sending messages to civilian population about the potential dangers in the event of a coalition strike.
But shortly after those psy-ops teams did the rounds, then the AC-130 gunship arrived on position in the sky and began pounding these two targets from what we can make out, about three-quarters of a mile, one kilometer from where we're standing.
We have seen some secondary explosions coming from those positions. At this stage, a little more. We can see the black plumes of smoke and the glow, the afterglow of a fire, a fire we can't see the actual lick of flames. I would guess that those are probably below the level of the buildings, in between.
But certainly when we did see some secondary explosions earlier on. That may, but only may, I say, indicate that there were some kinds of weapons being stored there and that fire then caused these secondary explosions.
No indications, though, at this time as to what those targets were. But certainly, this AC-130 gunship has been doing the rounds in the sky tonight but also yesterday in the hunt for insurgent positions.
This northwest corner of Fallujah is probably, in the last couple of weeks, been the most active in terms of firefights between coalition forces and Iraqi insurgents.
A ceasefire was agreed between the coalition authorities and the civil and religious leaders of Fallujah, but Marine commanders say that Iraqi insurgents have not taken notice of that agreement and have repeatedly violated that ceasefire. They say that Marine positions have been taking mortar and rocket fire more or less every day.
Certainly we, for the U.S. networks pool, have been in this position now for about the last four or five days. And certainly, every day we've seen rocket attacks, mortar attacks and also sniper fire from insurgent positions.
Yesterday, also, you may remember a very, very heavy gun battle between a platoon of Marines and Iraqi insurgents. That occurred when a Marine platoon pushed out -- pushed out to a position about 200 yards from where I'm standing. They moved across a cemetery and occupied two buildings.
And there a huge gun battle broke out. And that raged for the best part of 3 1/2 hours. One Marine died in that firefight. And nine other Marines were wounded.
It's unclear from that firefight how many insurgents may have died. Certainly, the Marines weren't sticking around to do a body count of the insurgents that may have fallen in battle.
But precisely because of those types of gun battles and because of what the coalition sees as ceasefire violations, then the AC-130 gunship, a very sophisticated aircraft with high tech listening devices, high tech vision and also very high tech weaponry on board, will have been doing the rounds tonight, as it did last night, in the hunt for insurgent positions, in the hunt for any position where the insurgents may launch some kind of attack from, any position that the insurgents may be using as a staging post, either for personnel or for weaponry.
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Aired April 27, 2004 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, ANCHOR: Live pictures now out of Fallujah. You see the fire burning at this moment in an area where talks continue but patrols have become postponed.
Marines trying to keep peace in that area as insurgents continue to come in and continue to battle with the Marines there. The weapons handover continues.
I am told now that Karl Penhaul, who's the pool reporter and also bringing these images to us via the videophone, joins us to tell us what's taking place.
KARL PENHAUL, POOL REPORTER: ... devices, sophisticated devices. We're also told that it has a formidable arsenal at its disposal. It has cannons, it has machine guns. It also has a wide array of ordnance. That's what we hear now, exploding there about a kilometer south of our current position.
We don't know exactly what types of rockets or missiles those are going off, but so far there have been 15 or 20 explosions. And as you can see there in the night sky, we can see flames or certainly orange indicating flames there on the ground. You can see heavy black plume of smoke going across Fallujah's night sky.
The AC-130s are still overhead. Again, we see more explosions there. Missiles and rockets continue to go in. Unclear at this point what kind of height that is flying at. Typically those would fly fairly low and fairly slow to allow them to get on target so that they could fire off these weapons.
Just a few moments ago, we did see a secondary explosion from where that fire is going. This fire also seems to be stoking now. That may indicate -- both no indications precisely what that target is. The heavy secondary explosions there could indicate a possible area where insurgents inside the city of Fallujah may have been storing ammunition or certain kinds of weaponry. These would typically be the kinds of targets that the AC-130 would be looking for.
Again, an explosion there.
All the time that this is going on, a sound that you probably won't hear from our position, from our camera and microphones, but you can also hear along in the distance, the wailing of one of the imams from one of the many, many mosques in Fallujah. This is not the typical time of prayer. From this distance, obviously unclear what the imam may be saying in prayer, in light of what is going on now. Before the explosions started, there was also what the Marines call psy-ops, as those teams conduct psychological operations. Trying, if you like, to spook the insurgents, trying to get messages also to any civilian population out there.
Certainly, though, in this northwest corner of Fallujah, there has been no indication of any civilian activity here over the last few days. The last few days, in fact, the U.S. networks have been here, we haven't seen any civilian activity in the towns here.
The company we are with at the moment is the same company. It's the same Marine company that was involved in a heavy gun battle yesterday, about 200 meters or 200 yards from the position where we are now.
Since that time, since that very heavy gun battle, operations have been continuing from long range also to try and detect insurgent positions deeper inside the city. It's quite obvious that this corner of the city, a city that's home to 300,000 people, is one of the main city strongholds for the Iraqi insurgents.
Yesterday in battle, one Marine died, some nine others were wounded. Indicates that certainly Marine commanders here say that during the two-week or so ceasefire period that was agreed between coalition forces and Fallujah's leaders, there really has been no sign of a ceasefire here.
Mostly, most days, in fact, insurgents have been sent over, automatic weapons fire, rockets and mortars to Marine positions. So for that reason there have been continued intelligence gathering operations and these kind of search and destroy missions that we see now with the Marines going into this sector on foot. It proved very dangerous what they're doing now. They've seen those gunships (ph), pinpoint insurgent activity and instead of using heavy ordnance, can destroy those type of positions.
PHILLIPS: Live pictures via videophone. You could probably just barely hear Karl Penhaul. But he is the pool reporter doing these live shots, bringing us these live pictures for all the networks.
Because of the dangerous situation and the threat there to reporters and civilians, Karl is basically the voice and the journalist for all the various networks. He's starting to talk again. Let's see if we can hear him.
PENHAUL: ... gunships. They believe that weapons being used to destroy positions that we have seen (UNINTELLIGIBLE) probably 105 (UNINTELLIGIBLE) weapons (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they are probably right at the moment south of the position we are.
You can see the secondary effects of the fire, again flames beginning to rise once again from that building. Another cannon round, impact round and even in the darkness here, a heavy plume of black smoke billowing across the night sky.
Again, we can see explosions, those cannon rounds hitting the ground, the AC-130 gunship at this stage firing from a very large distance. We're being told now what we see on the left probably the 105 Howitzer. Round after round as you can see and hear impacting.
Heavy movements from the AC-10 gunship. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Unclear if this is a position of safety or if this gunship was actually targeted. We do understand -- we were told that the gunship would be on the lookout for insurgent positions. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Particularly in the light of the fierce gun battle.
In the course of the day, in that gun battle the Marines lost one Marine. One Marine died and nine others were wounded, at least three of them seriously. The Marine commanders here as this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Northwest edge of Fallujah.
Ceasefire that's been in place for the last two weeks. And they had ordered their intelligence gatherer and the gunship to continue operations (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the insurgent positions. What seems now they have managed to detect one of those positions.
We did see earlier the secondary explosions from one of those sites where the flames and smoke were coming from. That may indicate a certain type of ammunition. Certainly, secondary explosions may indicate that type of thing happening.
That said, here on the ground...
OK. OK, OK. We'll try and work on this audio. John, just (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Check. Check.
I can't imagine what -- yes, but I'm not sure -- there hasn't been any change in that sound. Will you let me know what you're hearing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Testing, one, two, three, of the camera mic. Camera mic. Are they hearing me? This is the camera mic. Can they hear me speaking in the microphone? Can you hear me?
PENHAUL: Just stand by that microphone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you hear me speaking or not? Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
PENHAUL: I think they've (UNINTELLIGIBLE) this microphone.
PHILLIPS: Right now you're watching live pictures via the videophone. Karl Penhaul, the pool reporter there, on the ground while heavy shelling taking place in Fallujah. Hearing a number of things.
It is really hard to hear what Karl Penhaul is saying, but what we can tell you by these pictures is a combination of explosions. You actually hear the call to prayer that's takes place also in Fallujah as this air attack continues, in addition to the gunfire and the fighting between U.S. Marines and the insurgents there in Fallujah.
A standoff taking place right now as we get these live pictures. Now, last week when we were talking to you about the situation in Fallujah, there were air strikes that took place in and around a mosque in that area.
And there were air strikes off the USS George Washington that's been in that area, helping with close air support with the Marines on the ground, trying to prevent any type of civilian casualties as these firefights take place with Marines and -- and Iraqi insurgents.
Whether these air strikes are, once again, from those strike fighters off the USS George Washington, we are trying to confirm that, working that as we speak.
But we can tell you heavy gunfire. There is definitely a bit of an air campaign going on here, as U.S. Marines have engaged in a standoff with Iraqi insurgents.
This comes at a time when talks, we are being told, are continuing and the patrols, though, have been postponed. Marines were supposed to be walking side by side with Iraqi police, starting today there in Fallujah. That has been on hold, as a weapons handover is supposed to be continuing, talks are supposed to be continuing.
But obviously the firefights and the air campaign there, the air attack on that area continues right now. As you watch these live pictures via videophone from our pool camera.
O'BRIEN: Just to get a little back story here, of course, there has now been a three-week siege. You remember the flashpoint in Fallujah was the killing of those security guards who were -- ultimately their bodies were desecrated on a bridge in Fallujah.
Fallujah, a Sunni stronghold. The Sunnis, as you well know, an ethnic minority in Iraq. But, of course, under the regime of Saddam Hussein, who was in fact a Sunni, held power. And thus as the transition to some other form of government in Iraq, there's been a great deal of insecurity among this group. And this particular part of Iraq is a Sunni stronghold.
The Marines had indicated they would begin some sort of patrolling with Iraqi defense forces at some point, but that has been delayed and has not materialized just yet.
It is unclear precisely what we're seeing unfold here right now, I must confess. I'm sure you at home had the same reaction. It was very difficult to make out what Karl Penhaul was saying, given precisely what he was -- the conditions that he was facing.
But nevertheless, we are seeing unfold here an escalation of what's going on in Fallujah.
Let's listen to Karl Penhaul. We apologize for the quality of the audio. I think it might be a little better now. Let's listen.
PENHAUL: ... You can still see the glow of orange flames, and you can see a black -- heavy black plume of smoke rising over Fallujah's night sky. This is the result of a hit, of a strike by a coalition AC-130 Specter gunship.
There have been multiple cannon rounds, we're told. We're being told a 105 millimeter Howitzer cannon round from that Specter gunship have slammed into that position.
We're seeing some secondary explosions, some sparks coming from there. Unclear what this position was. Certainly we do believe it to be an insurgent position that that AC-130 gunship has detected.
Many, many rounds went into each of those sites. We're talking possibly 20, 25 cannon rounds. Then the AC-130 gunship has been circling around, returning and again firing volleys of 20, 25 cannon rounds into those positions.
Initially there were heavy explosions, sparks flying, and now what we're seeing essentially is the aftermath there, the heavy glow of flames. We can't see above the horizon there and above the buildings, the actual lick of the flame. But we certainly can see the orange glow at the base, and then these heavy plumes of black smoke coming across the night sky.
What we can see from here looks like the two positions have been hit. Those two positions, possibly 100, 150 yards apart. And both those positions, anything between 800 meters or one kilometer, maybe. So we're talking about three-quarters of a mile, possibly, from our position. That's what we're looking at now.
As I say, no confirmation at this stage from U.S. Marine commanders what those positions may have been. But certainly, the indication that those were insurgent positions.
Now, this strike comes the day after a U.S. Marine platoon from the small base where we are now positioned was engaged in a heavy gun battle with Iraqi insurgents taking a stand here in the city of Fallujah. That gun battle lasted for about three or 3 1/2 hours yesterday, Monday, resulting in one Marine dead and at least nine others injured, at least three of those seriously, we're told.
And that was an indication that the insurgents do remain very active and fairly well organized and coordinated in this northwest corner of Fallujah.
Marine commanders have told us that there have been repeated ceasefire violations in this part of the city, a city of 300,000 people. Marine commanders tell us that virtually every day, insurgents have been mortaring and rocketing their positions.
And this is the reason why the coalition is continuing operations to try and detect insurgent positions and destroy those positions if there's any perceived threat.
Today, though, in the course of the day, the situation here on the northwest edge of Fallujah has been relatively quiet. I say relative. There have been one or two mortar rounds coming in from insurgent positions around the area where we are now. There's also been several incidents of sniper fire in the course of the day. And what the U.S. Marines say they are doing is responding to those kind of attacks by Iraqi insurgents.
We can see now going across in the sky, if you managed to see that, the flash tracer fire. Those tracers are going out from a coalition position, a U.S. Marine position a little ways from where we are standing. It's the same Marine company, Echo Company that we're with. That's the position; they've been sending out the tracer fire there.
Unclear what they may have spotted in the distance. Certainly, though, they'll be looking at targets a lot closer than those targets we see further away toward the horizon. The Marines in the positions where we are now will typically be targeting something a lot closer, possibly 200, 300 meters away.
You probably won't be able to pick these sounds up from our camera microphone, but all the time that these attacks have been going on in the distance, we can hear chants and songs from one of the many mosques in Fallujah.
From this distance, it's very difficult to detect what the imams or the faqias (ph) may be saying or may be chanting. Unclear whether this is an extension of prayer time or whether it's a specific act because -- a specific service, because they can see what's going on.
In the distance there, what we've just seen is a fairly large secondary explosion and a small mushroom cloud rising there. Again, this could be another indication that this was some kind of weapons store or an ammunitions store. Certainly that explosion, we don't believe at this stage, was caused by any more coalition strikes on that area. The Specter gunship we can't hear in the air at this time.
So an indication there that the position that has been struck may have been some kind of weapons store, but no confirmation, as I say, of that at this stage from any of the Marine commanders on the ground.
PHILLIPS: You're watching -- If you're just tuning in to CNN right now, you're watching live pictures via the videophone in Fallujah.
Karl Penhaul is the pool reporter for all the networks right now. Because of the security situation and the danger and the threat that exists there in Fallujah, Karl is the sole reporter, doing live shots for all the networks.
So we're sort of listening to him as he's able to get information. He's coming in and out and providing us with as many details as possible.
What we can tell you right now, you're watching live pictures of attacks that are taking place in Fallujah where U.S. Marines are up against Iraqi insurgents.
You're hearing a call to prayer. You're hearing a number of explosions. You are hearing bombs that are being dropped. We're trying to confirm what type of air campaign is taking place.
In this same area last week there were strike fighters coming off the USS George Washington, the Navy carrier out there in the area. They were adding CAS or close air support missions, helping the Marines there on the ground as they go up against Iraqi insurgents.
Marines coming into this area for a while now, trying to negotiate with the insurgents, trying to get them to hand over their weapons. All of that, of course, is still in the works.
But as you can see by these live pictures, the explosions, the fire, you can hear the gunfire. You're obviously seeing what's taking place from the air to the ground, that that standoff continues with Iraqi insurgents and U.S. Marines.
We're going to go back to Karl Penhaul once again.
PENHAUL: ... a distance of about 800 meters or one kilometer. We're talking about three-quarters of a mile from the position where we're now standing.
You may be able to make out plumes of black smoke rising in the distance and blowing across Fallujah's night sky.
We can hear in the air the rumble of an AC-130 Specter gunship, a coalition aircraft that has been blasting those positions that we can see there in the distance, blasting them with what we're told is probably 105 millimeter Howitzer cannons, round after round going in there.
I believe that I counted on the first run by the Specter gunship, possibly 20, 25 rounds going in. That sent up flames and sparks from the ground.
The gunship then made several circles through the sky and returned and started to hit another position again with probably 20, 25 rounds. Big thumps as they left the aircraft. And again these flashes of sparks and flames as they were hitting the ground.
Curiously, also a sound that you may not pick up through the camera microphones at this time. We're hearing chants and songs from several of the many mosques across Fallujah. It's not clear at this stage whether those chants and songs coming from the mosques are in response to this coalition attack or if they are linked in any way.
It is, though, on the ground here now around 11 local time. So a little late for traditional Muslim prayers. The last call to prayers would have come around dusk. And so not clear what these chants are linked to.
Before the attacks started, we did also hear a Marine psy-ops team driving through some of the streets that Marines control on this northwest edge of Fallujah, again sending out messages in Arabic.
Those psy-ops teams, so-called psy-ops -- that stands for psychological operations -- on one level they may have been trying to play mind games with the Iraqi insurgents they believed to be out there. On another level, they may have been sending messages to civilian population about the potential dangers in the event of a coalition strike.
But shortly after those psy-ops teams did the rounds, then the AC-130 gunship arrived on position in the sky and began pounding these two targets from what we can make out, about three-quarters of a mile, one kilometer from where we're standing.
We have seen some secondary explosions coming from those positions. At this stage, a little more. We can see the black plumes of smoke and the glow, the afterglow of a fire, a fire we can't see the actual lick of flames. I would guess that those are probably below the level of the buildings, in between.
But certainly when we did see some secondary explosions earlier on. That may, but only may, I say, indicate that there were some kinds of weapons being stored there and that fire then caused these secondary explosions.
No indications, though, at this time as to what those targets were. But certainly, this AC-130 gunship has been doing the rounds in the sky tonight but also yesterday in the hunt for insurgent positions.
This northwest corner of Fallujah is probably, in the last couple of weeks, been the most active in terms of firefights between coalition forces and Iraqi insurgents.
A ceasefire was agreed between the coalition authorities and the civil and religious leaders of Fallujah, but Marine commanders say that Iraqi insurgents have not taken notice of that agreement and have repeatedly violated that ceasefire. They say that Marine positions have been taking mortar and rocket fire more or less every day.
Certainly we, for the U.S. networks pool, have been in this position now for about the last four or five days. And certainly, every day we've seen rocket attacks, mortar attacks and also sniper fire from insurgent positions.
Yesterday, also, you may remember a very, very heavy gun battle between a platoon of Marines and Iraqi insurgents. That occurred when a Marine platoon pushed out -- pushed out to a position about 200 yards from where I'm standing. They moved across a cemetery and occupied two buildings.
And there a huge gun battle broke out. And that raged for the best part of 3 1/2 hours. One Marine died in that firefight. And nine other Marines were wounded.
It's unclear from that firefight how many insurgents may have died. Certainly, the Marines weren't sticking around to do a body count of the insurgents that may have fallen in battle.
But precisely because of those types of gun battles and because of what the coalition sees as ceasefire violations, then the AC-130 gunship, a very sophisticated aircraft with high tech listening devices, high tech vision and also very high tech weaponry on board, will have been doing the rounds tonight, as it did last night, in the hunt for insurgent positions, in the hunt for any position where the insurgents may launch some kind of attack from, any position that the insurgents may be using as a staging post, either for personnel or for weaponry.
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