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CNN Live Sunday
Hellfire Missile Attack Takes Place Near Syrian Border
Aired June 22, 2003 - 18:02 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to North Carolina, where some U.S. Marines are making quite an entrance. Fifty members of Task Force Tarawa roared ashore near Camp Lejeune for a spectacular homecoming this morning, and 1,500 more are expected to be reunited with their families today.
Thousands of Marines are heading home this week after serving five months in Iraq.
For their comrades back in Iraq today, it was another deadly day. Another U.S. soldier was killed in a grenade attack, the 56th American to lose his life since President Bush declared major combat operations in Iraq over. CNN's Jason Bellini brings us the latest developments.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another U.S. soldier was killed today in a grenade attack on a U.S. Army convoy near the town of Khan Azad. That's a village about 12 miles south of Baghdad. He died before he reached the hospital. One other person in his Humvee was also injured.
Other news today, an oil pipeline exploded. People nearby described it as looking like a bolt of lightning hit this pipeline, which the oil ministry says is a key pipeline linking the north and south of Iraq.
Despite this, plans went forward today to load up an oil ship with crude oil from Iraq. It was loaded in Turkey, in the CON Oil terminal. Over 7 million barrels of oil are in storage at this terminal. 1 million barrels were loaded up. The coalition is anxious to get the oil flowing, get the oil sold as quickly as they can, because that money is desperately needed for rebuilding infrastructure in Iraq and to help repair the economy after 12 years of U.N. sanctions.
Also, two U.S. soldiers were injured earlier today in Iraq. Their Humvee rolled over what is believed to be a land mine. Both were injured. The severity of injuries is still unknown.
I'm Jason Bellini, CNN, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Did the U.S. launch yet another strike to try to take out Saddam and his sons? What we do know is that U.S. intelligence is assessing a recent attack on the remnants of the Hussein regime using Hellfire missiles. CNN's Chris Plante is at the Pentagon to try to sort things out for us -- Chris.
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Marty.
This attack took place on Wednesday along the Syrian boarder in Iraq, near the town of Al Khime (ph). Special operations forces assigned to Task Force 20 headed the attack, which began with air strikes, including Hellfire missiles, and then ground troops quickly moved into the area to assess the damage.
A number of prisoners, as it turns out, were taken at the scene after the ground troops arrived, and they're being interrogated by U.S. officials there. The strike was based on intelligence that had been gleaned, I am told, by U.S. officials from senior regime leaders who are now in U.S. custody.
Now this also includes a general who was taken on Wednesday by Task Force 20, in fact, who is a very close confidante of Saddam Hussein, General Abid Hamid Mahmoud al Tikriti, who was often see with Saddam Hussein in videotapes, as he is here, always close to Saddam's side. Now in U.S. custody, I'm told that his capture led to some of the intelligence that then led to this strike from the air.
Now, it was initially reported at least by some news organizations that the target of this strike may have been Saddam Hussein and/or one or more of his sons. It turns out according to officials here, that they did not believe that Saddam or his sons were involved in that motorcade or in that convoy. But they are still attempting to identify the remains of the people that were killed. As far as officials here are concerned, Saddam Hussein and his sons are still out there and Task Force 20 is still looking for them -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Chris, tell us what is Task Force 20? How do they operate? How are they made up?
PLANTE: It's a special-operations force, which comes under the umbrella of the special-operations command in Tampa, Florida. They're sort of a shadowy unit. They're made up of Army special forces believed to be from Delta Force, which, believe it or not, the Pentagon still doesn't acknowledge exists.
And also U.S. Navy SEALs are involved in this operation. There are some links to the CIA in terms of intelligence and maybe some of the hardware that Task Force 20 can bring to bear. But their specialty here, their operation even since before the outbreak of hostilities, was to move in on the ground, get to locations where they believed weapons of mass destruction might be stored, and obviously haven't been very successful in that regard so far.
And one of their top priorities now is to target -- as it has been all along -- to target Saddam Hussein, his sons and other regime leaders. As I mentioned there, the unit that did take the general earlier in the week, the close aide to President Saddam Hussein, he was his national security adviser, General Mahmoud Tikriti, and they have been very busy certainly, operating every night, according to what I've been told by sources here, only occasionally showing results but they're still at it -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: They could be busy for some time to come. Chris Plante, at the Pentagon, thanks very much.
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 June 22, 2003 - 18:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to North Carolina, where some U.S. Marines are making quite an entrance. Fifty members of Task Force Tarawa roared ashore near Camp Lejeune for a spectacular homecoming this morning, and 1,500 more are expected to be reunited with their families today.
Thousands of Marines are heading home this week after serving five months in Iraq.
For their comrades back in Iraq today, it was another deadly day. Another U.S. soldier was killed in a grenade attack, the 56th American to lose his life since President Bush declared major combat operations in Iraq over. CNN's Jason Bellini brings us the latest developments.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Another U.S. soldier was killed today in a grenade attack on a U.S. Army convoy near the town of Khan Azad. That's a village about 12 miles south of Baghdad. He died before he reached the hospital. One other person in his Humvee was also injured.
Other news today, an oil pipeline exploded. People nearby described it as looking like a bolt of lightning hit this pipeline, which the oil ministry says is a key pipeline linking the north and south of Iraq.
Despite this, plans went forward today to load up an oil ship with crude oil from Iraq. It was loaded in Turkey, in the CON Oil terminal. Over 7 million barrels of oil are in storage at this terminal. 1 million barrels were loaded up. The coalition is anxious to get the oil flowing, get the oil sold as quickly as they can, because that money is desperately needed for rebuilding infrastructure in Iraq and to help repair the economy after 12 years of U.N. sanctions.
Also, two U.S. soldiers were injured earlier today in Iraq. Their Humvee rolled over what is believed to be a land mine. Both were injured. The severity of injuries is still unknown.
I'm Jason Bellini, CNN, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Did the U.S. launch yet another strike to try to take out Saddam and his sons? What we do know is that U.S. intelligence is assessing a recent attack on the remnants of the Hussein regime using Hellfire missiles. CNN's Chris Plante is at the Pentagon to try to sort things out for us -- Chris.
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Marty.
This attack took place on Wednesday along the Syrian boarder in Iraq, near the town of Al Khime (ph). Special operations forces assigned to Task Force 20 headed the attack, which began with air strikes, including Hellfire missiles, and then ground troops quickly moved into the area to assess the damage.
A number of prisoners, as it turns out, were taken at the scene after the ground troops arrived, and they're being interrogated by U.S. officials there. The strike was based on intelligence that had been gleaned, I am told, by U.S. officials from senior regime leaders who are now in U.S. custody.
Now this also includes a general who was taken on Wednesday by Task Force 20, in fact, who is a very close confidante of Saddam Hussein, General Abid Hamid Mahmoud al Tikriti, who was often see with Saddam Hussein in videotapes, as he is here, always close to Saddam's side. Now in U.S. custody, I'm told that his capture led to some of the intelligence that then led to this strike from the air.
Now, it was initially reported at least by some news organizations that the target of this strike may have been Saddam Hussein and/or one or more of his sons. It turns out according to officials here, that they did not believe that Saddam or his sons were involved in that motorcade or in that convoy. But they are still attempting to identify the remains of the people that were killed. As far as officials here are concerned, Saddam Hussein and his sons are still out there and Task Force 20 is still looking for them -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Chris, tell us what is Task Force 20? How do they operate? How are they made up?
PLANTE: It's a special-operations force, which comes under the umbrella of the special-operations command in Tampa, Florida. They're sort of a shadowy unit. They're made up of Army special forces believed to be from Delta Force, which, believe it or not, the Pentagon still doesn't acknowledge exists.
And also U.S. Navy SEALs are involved in this operation. There are some links to the CIA in terms of intelligence and maybe some of the hardware that Task Force 20 can bring to bear. But their specialty here, their operation even since before the outbreak of hostilities, was to move in on the ground, get to locations where they believed weapons of mass destruction might be stored, and obviously haven't been very successful in that regard so far.
And one of their top priorities now is to target -- as it has been all along -- to target Saddam Hussein, his sons and other regime leaders. As I mentioned there, the unit that did take the general earlier in the week, the close aide to President Saddam Hussein, he was his national security adviser, General Mahmoud Tikriti, and they have been very busy certainly, operating every night, according to what I've been told by sources here, only occasionally showing results but they're still at it -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: They could be busy for some time to come. Chris Plante, at the Pentagon, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
