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CNN Saturday Morning News

Ammunition Dump in Baghdad Blows Up

Aired April 26, 2003 - 09:00   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.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Some outraged sadness in the new Iraq today. Baghdad residents furiously digging through the rubble of a home looking for victims of an explosion. As Kelli mentioned before, an Iraqi munitions dump in coalition control blew up this morning, rocking the capital for hours.
Those residents are enraged about the explosion, since they say they had pleaded for the munitions to be removed from their neighborhood.

CNN's Rula Amin is in Baghdad with the reaction. Good morning, Rula.

RULA AMIN, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Anderson.

Anderson, a missile hit a residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Baghdad to the southeast, Zafarania (ph) neighborhood. Four houses were completely destroyed, and a number of civilians have been killed and injured. It's still not clear how many. At least a dozen, it seems, and many are wounded.

What happened is that there were -- there was some kind of a munitions depot, arms collected by the U.S. troops from -- that used to belong to the Iraqi army, missiles, torpedoes, rocket-propelled grenades. And then they were all collected and put in an open airfield surrounded with a high wall.

The troops say that someone fired flares into that ammunition depot, and that set off the munitions depot on fire and detonated a chain of explosions, setting off some rockets and missiles.

Now, we do know that these missiles hit the residential neighborhood. People were very angry. They said that they have pleaded and asked the U.S. troops to remove the ammunition from that neighborhood, because they were concerned, as the U.S. troops were trying to destroy the Iraqi ammunition, something might happen, and today something did happen.

The troops tried to explain to them that this had been a deliberate act by someone who fired the missile into the depot. They didn't -- couldn't listen, they were too angry.

A number of people were wounded. Some were taken into a nearby mosque. They were getting for -- medical aid over there, but it was very primary. And then they were removed to another hospital. At one of the hospitals, the number of the wounded were by the dozens, many of them children. It was 8:00 in the morning when this explosion took place. Many of the Iraqis' families were still at home. Most people still don't go to work, they are -- the children don't go to school. So many of the families were still at home, waking up, some having their breakfast.

So it was a very tragic incident. And we do know so far that a number of civilians were killed. We still can't confirm the number because many are still under the rubble, and people are trying to pull them out, Anderson.

COOPER: Just terrible. Other than this incident, is there any sense of order on the ground in Baghdad, or any growing sense of order?

AMIN: Well, there are attempts. Jay Garner is trying hard to restore basic services to the capital, at least. We know today from the U.S. officials that about 60 percent of the power stations are on, and that there is power. Three major grids are running. But they are still having problems with the transmission lines, with distributing this electricity to all of Baghdad.

At the same time, we do see more people, more cars on the street, but there is still sporadic violence, and people don't feel that the streets are safe at night.

Another problem is the fact that there's no central government. People are not getting paid, they're not going to work. People are not going to universities, the children are not going to school. And most businesses are still shut down.

So it appears a bit more normal, but under the surface, it's very far from normal, Anderson.

COOPER: Yes, it certainly is that, understandably so. Rula Amin in Baghdad, thanks very much.

KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, today's Baghdad explosions come as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld leaves for the Gulf region.

CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the Pentagon this morning. Kathleen, what can you tell us?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kelli, there is still no word from the Pentagon on precisely what happened there in Baghdad, or just why that ammunitions dump was located so close to a residential area. Now, the report that apparently an assailant fired a flare purposefully into that weapons cache to set it on fire did prompt one CENTCOM official to remark that this shows there are still pockets of resistance, and that Baghdad remains a very dangerous place to be.

The official said that while the situation is becoming more and more stable by the day, that the city is obviously still far from safe. Now, as you pointed out, this does come as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld leaves Washington this morning for a week-long visit to the region. He plans to thank regional leaders for their support of the Iraq war, and discuss future U.S. military deployments in the Gulf area. Secretary Rumsfeld is focusing for the moment on U.S. troop strength in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The plan is to increase the number of U.S. forces if they are necessary, and to decrease them if they are not necessary, to get as many other countries' participating coalition forces in there as I possibly can, and to the extent I can, have fewer U.S. forces, and to the extent I can't, cannot, have more U.S. forces. That is the plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Rumsfeld denied that the administration is considering any long-term basing of U.S. forces in a postwar Iraq, saying that such an arrangement would be unnecessary. Indeed, Rumsfeld suggested that the U.S. might actually be able to lower its profile in the region, since Saddam Hussein's regime no longer poses a threat to Iraq's neighbors. And so, therefore, fewer U.S. forces might actually be needed for defensive purposes in the area, Kelli.

ARENA: Kathleen, for lack of a better term, is this being viewed as a victory lap for the defense secretary?

KOCH: I suppose you could call it that, Kelli, but, really, the secretary wants to go and, again, express the U.S.'s deep thanks to some of these regional leaders who took at, you know, a great deal of risks in supporting the U.S. in this war in Iraq. It was very unpopular, as you know, in the Muslim world. And so the secretary believes this is something that it is quite important to do, and also, of course, to bolster U.S. forces in the region, who may be there for some time.

ARENA: And are you getting any sense about whether or not we will get some reaction to those explosions in Baghdad later today?

KOCH: We are hoping to, Kelli, but it may take some period of time. The Central Command spokesman that I discussed this with earlier this morning said it just takes several hours for things to filter down to them. And they don't want to talk about it until they know exactly what happened there on the ground.

ARENA: Fair enough. Thanks, Kathleen.

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 April 26, 2003 - 09:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Some outraged sadness in the new Iraq today. Baghdad residents furiously digging through the rubble of a home looking for victims of an explosion. As Kelli mentioned before, an Iraqi munitions dump in coalition control blew up this morning, rocking the capital for hours.
Those residents are enraged about the explosion, since they say they had pleaded for the munitions to be removed from their neighborhood.

CNN's Rula Amin is in Baghdad with the reaction. Good morning, Rula.

RULA AMIN, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Anderson.

Anderson, a missile hit a residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Baghdad to the southeast, Zafarania (ph) neighborhood. Four houses were completely destroyed, and a number of civilians have been killed and injured. It's still not clear how many. At least a dozen, it seems, and many are wounded.

What happened is that there were -- there was some kind of a munitions depot, arms collected by the U.S. troops from -- that used to belong to the Iraqi army, missiles, torpedoes, rocket-propelled grenades. And then they were all collected and put in an open airfield surrounded with a high wall.

The troops say that someone fired flares into that ammunition depot, and that set off the munitions depot on fire and detonated a chain of explosions, setting off some rockets and missiles.

Now, we do know that these missiles hit the residential neighborhood. People were very angry. They said that they have pleaded and asked the U.S. troops to remove the ammunition from that neighborhood, because they were concerned, as the U.S. troops were trying to destroy the Iraqi ammunition, something might happen, and today something did happen.

The troops tried to explain to them that this had been a deliberate act by someone who fired the missile into the depot. They didn't -- couldn't listen, they were too angry.

A number of people were wounded. Some were taken into a nearby mosque. They were getting for -- medical aid over there, but it was very primary. And then they were removed to another hospital. At one of the hospitals, the number of the wounded were by the dozens, many of them children. It was 8:00 in the morning when this explosion took place. Many of the Iraqis' families were still at home. Most people still don't go to work, they are -- the children don't go to school. So many of the families were still at home, waking up, some having their breakfast.

So it was a very tragic incident. And we do know so far that a number of civilians were killed. We still can't confirm the number because many are still under the rubble, and people are trying to pull them out, Anderson.

COOPER: Just terrible. Other than this incident, is there any sense of order on the ground in Baghdad, or any growing sense of order?

AMIN: Well, there are attempts. Jay Garner is trying hard to restore basic services to the capital, at least. We know today from the U.S. officials that about 60 percent of the power stations are on, and that there is power. Three major grids are running. But they are still having problems with the transmission lines, with distributing this electricity to all of Baghdad.

At the same time, we do see more people, more cars on the street, but there is still sporadic violence, and people don't feel that the streets are safe at night.

Another problem is the fact that there's no central government. People are not getting paid, they're not going to work. People are not going to universities, the children are not going to school. And most businesses are still shut down.

So it appears a bit more normal, but under the surface, it's very far from normal, Anderson.

COOPER: Yes, it certainly is that, understandably so. Rula Amin in Baghdad, thanks very much.

KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, today's Baghdad explosions come as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld leaves for the Gulf region.

CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the Pentagon this morning. Kathleen, what can you tell us?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kelli, there is still no word from the Pentagon on precisely what happened there in Baghdad, or just why that ammunitions dump was located so close to a residential area. Now, the report that apparently an assailant fired a flare purposefully into that weapons cache to set it on fire did prompt one CENTCOM official to remark that this shows there are still pockets of resistance, and that Baghdad remains a very dangerous place to be.

The official said that while the situation is becoming more and more stable by the day, that the city is obviously still far from safe. Now, as you pointed out, this does come as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld leaves Washington this morning for a week-long visit to the region. He plans to thank regional leaders for their support of the Iraq war, and discuss future U.S. military deployments in the Gulf area. Secretary Rumsfeld is focusing for the moment on U.S. troop strength in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The plan is to increase the number of U.S. forces if they are necessary, and to decrease them if they are not necessary, to get as many other countries' participating coalition forces in there as I possibly can, and to the extent I can, have fewer U.S. forces, and to the extent I can't, cannot, have more U.S. forces. That is the plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Rumsfeld denied that the administration is considering any long-term basing of U.S. forces in a postwar Iraq, saying that such an arrangement would be unnecessary. Indeed, Rumsfeld suggested that the U.S. might actually be able to lower its profile in the region, since Saddam Hussein's regime no longer poses a threat to Iraq's neighbors. And so, therefore, fewer U.S. forces might actually be needed for defensive purposes in the area, Kelli.

ARENA: Kathleen, for lack of a better term, is this being viewed as a victory lap for the defense secretary?

KOCH: I suppose you could call it that, Kelli, but, really, the secretary wants to go and, again, express the U.S.'s deep thanks to some of these regional leaders who took at, you know, a great deal of risks in supporting the U.S. in this war in Iraq. It was very unpopular, as you know, in the Muslim world. And so the secretary believes this is something that it is quite important to do, and also, of course, to bolster U.S. forces in the region, who may be there for some time.

ARENA: And are you getting any sense about whether or not we will get some reaction to those explosions in Baghdad later today?

KOCH: We are hoping to, Kelli, but it may take some period of time. The Central Command spokesman that I discussed this with earlier this morning said it just takes several hours for things to filter down to them. And they don't want to talk about it until they know exactly what happened there on the ground.

ARENA: Fair enough. Thanks, Kathleen.

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