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American Morning
Attacks in Iraq
Aired July 01, 2003 - 09:02 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Back to our top story in Iraq where American forces have come under fire again today. And there are questions about what caused an explosion at a Mosque in the city of Fallujah.
Jane Arraf is in Baghdad this morning live on this story.
Hi, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.
Well, that attack indicates how vulnerable, really, American soldiers are, and any soldiers are in this country. There was an attack in a main neighborhood called Sunsuria, just very close to a university and near a gas station, very crowded around the gas stations since people are waiting in line for gasoline.
Now two American Humvees, armored vehicles, were passing by when a vehicle pulled up next to them, a civilian vehicle, according to witnesses, and a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at them. Witnesses say three American soldiers were wounded, two of them believed critically. An Iraqi interpreter with the group was killed in that attack. It wasn't the only attack today, as you know. Residents of the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, are still seething after an explosion near a mosque.
Now witnesses tell us that the explosion occurred at a building right next to the mosque, within the mosque compound. Still unclear what prompted that explosion, whether it was a strike whether it was explosives going off, but what is clear is that several Iraqi were left dead. At least six of them were killed, possibly as many as 10, and many more wounded. No word on American casualties, but the strike apparently prompted an attack on U.S. -- sorry, on a U.S. patrol headquarters in the city afterwards -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Jane, any idea -- who will be investigating this now? What happens next, and where is the priority in all of these things that have happened today?
ARRAF: The priority would be, the first priority would be keeping the soldiers safe. The second one would be investigating what's happened. And that one is really tricky. In a lot of these communities, there is not a lot of opposition, shall we say, to these attacks. In fact, anger is growing in some communities, particularly the more conservative ones, about this continued U.S. occupation.
And as much good as the soldiers try to do, and they do, obviously, try to do a lot of good, as well as keeping the peace and cracking down on dissidents and suspected attackers, there still really is a significant anti-American sentiment in these places, which doesn't help very much at all.
But a sign of an improving atmospheres, in one respect at least, announcing the reopening of the Baghdad Airport is imminent. Now, this is a boost for the economy, according to the coalition, but it's also important because that road to Jordan that it would replace and the road out of here in other directions has just become too dangerous, a sign it is really very unstable in many parts of this country -- Heidi.
COLLINS: A fine line to walk, that is for sure. Jane Arraf, live in Baghdad this morning. 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 July 1, 2003 - 09:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Back to our top story in Iraq where American forces have come under fire again today. And there are questions about what caused an explosion at a Mosque in the city of Fallujah.
Jane Arraf is in Baghdad this morning live on this story.
Hi, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.
Well, that attack indicates how vulnerable, really, American soldiers are, and any soldiers are in this country. There was an attack in a main neighborhood called Sunsuria, just very close to a university and near a gas station, very crowded around the gas stations since people are waiting in line for gasoline.
Now two American Humvees, armored vehicles, were passing by when a vehicle pulled up next to them, a civilian vehicle, according to witnesses, and a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at them. Witnesses say three American soldiers were wounded, two of them believed critically. An Iraqi interpreter with the group was killed in that attack. It wasn't the only attack today, as you know. Residents of the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, are still seething after an explosion near a mosque.
Now witnesses tell us that the explosion occurred at a building right next to the mosque, within the mosque compound. Still unclear what prompted that explosion, whether it was a strike whether it was explosives going off, but what is clear is that several Iraqi were left dead. At least six of them were killed, possibly as many as 10, and many more wounded. No word on American casualties, but the strike apparently prompted an attack on U.S. -- sorry, on a U.S. patrol headquarters in the city afterwards -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Jane, any idea -- who will be investigating this now? What happens next, and where is the priority in all of these things that have happened today?
ARRAF: The priority would be, the first priority would be keeping the soldiers safe. The second one would be investigating what's happened. And that one is really tricky. In a lot of these communities, there is not a lot of opposition, shall we say, to these attacks. In fact, anger is growing in some communities, particularly the more conservative ones, about this continued U.S. occupation.
And as much good as the soldiers try to do, and they do, obviously, try to do a lot of good, as well as keeping the peace and cracking down on dissidents and suspected attackers, there still really is a significant anti-American sentiment in these places, which doesn't help very much at all.
But a sign of an improving atmospheres, in one respect at least, announcing the reopening of the Baghdad Airport is imminent. Now, this is a boost for the economy, according to the coalition, but it's also important because that road to Jordan that it would replace and the road out of here in other directions has just become too dangerous, a sign it is really very unstable in many parts of this country -- Heidi.
COLLINS: A fine line to walk, that is for sure. Jane Arraf, live in Baghdad this morning. 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
