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CNN Saturday Morning News
Major Crackdown in Iraq Following Downing of Black Hawk
Aired November 08, 2003 - 09:07 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. troops launched a major new crackdown in Iraq following the downing of a Black Hawk helicopter. But it doesn't stop the attacks. More Americans are killed today.
CNN's Ben Wedeman joining us now from Baghdad with the very latest. Good morning once again, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Heidi.
Well, it was another day of attacks on coalition forces, this time to the west of Baghdad, outside the town of Fallujah, where two troops from the 82nd Airborne Brigade were killed when their armored personnel carrier drove by a roadside bomb that went off, severely damaging their armored personnel carrier. One soldier was also wounded in the attack.
Now, the blast caused secondary explosions when ammunition inside the armored personnel carrier went off, making it difficult for rescue personnel to get any closer to them.
Now, this brings to more than 35 the number of coalition troops, all of them Americans with the exception of one member of the Polish contingent, killed within the last seven days alone. Certainly the bloodiest week for coalition forces in Iraq since the end of the war.
Now, we just got back from a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a discussion with some senior coalition officials. They're saying that there is also a big raid in Baghdad last night, that they arrested 12 of the 18 people they believe were involved in the October 26 rocket attack on the Rashid Hotel, where one coalition officer was killed. Of course, the Rashid Hotel is where many senior coalition people are staying.
Now, they described those 12 people as cell leaders, planners, operatives, and financiers. The same coalition officials say that they believe there are somewhere between 500 and 1,000 former regime power brokers, as they described them, operating in Baghdad at the moment, in addition to 50 foreign fighters.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross today announced from their headquarters in Geneva that they would be shutting down their offices here in Baghdad, in addition to the southern Iraqi city of Basra, because of the security situation. They have pulled their staff out of their -- their international staff out of the country earlier this week for a reassessment of the security situation. Clearly, they've decided it is just too dangerous at the time to operate here, Heidi.
COLLINS: CNN's Ben Wedeman. Have your plate full today. Thanks so much, live from Baghdad this morning.
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 8, 2003 - 09:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. troops launched a major new crackdown in Iraq following the downing of a Black Hawk helicopter. But it doesn't stop the attacks. More Americans are killed today.
CNN's Ben Wedeman joining us now from Baghdad with the very latest. Good morning once again, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Heidi.
Well, it was another day of attacks on coalition forces, this time to the west of Baghdad, outside the town of Fallujah, where two troops from the 82nd Airborne Brigade were killed when their armored personnel carrier drove by a roadside bomb that went off, severely damaging their armored personnel carrier. One soldier was also wounded in the attack.
Now, the blast caused secondary explosions when ammunition inside the armored personnel carrier went off, making it difficult for rescue personnel to get any closer to them.
Now, this brings to more than 35 the number of coalition troops, all of them Americans with the exception of one member of the Polish contingent, killed within the last seven days alone. Certainly the bloodiest week for coalition forces in Iraq since the end of the war.
Now, we just got back from a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) a discussion with some senior coalition officials. They're saying that there is also a big raid in Baghdad last night, that they arrested 12 of the 18 people they believe were involved in the October 26 rocket attack on the Rashid Hotel, where one coalition officer was killed. Of course, the Rashid Hotel is where many senior coalition people are staying.
Now, they described those 12 people as cell leaders, planners, operatives, and financiers. The same coalition officials say that they believe there are somewhere between 500 and 1,000 former regime power brokers, as they described them, operating in Baghdad at the moment, in addition to 50 foreign fighters.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross today announced from their headquarters in Geneva that they would be shutting down their offices here in Baghdad, in addition to the southern Iraqi city of Basra, because of the security situation. They have pulled their staff out of their -- their international staff out of the country earlier this week for a reassessment of the security situation. Clearly, they've decided it is just too dangerous at the time to operate here, Heidi.
COLLINS: CNN's Ben Wedeman. Have your plate full today. Thanks so much, live from Baghdad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
