IRAQ: WHILE U.S. TROOPS SEARCH BAGHDAD AS PART OF OPERATION IRON HAMMER, AN OIL PIPELINE IS ON FIRE

Record ID: 584767

  • Title: IRAQ: WHILE U.S. TROOPS SEARCH BAGHDAD AS PART OF OPERATION IRON HAMMER, AN OIL PIPELINE IS ON FIRE
  • Date: 17th November 2003
  • Summary: (U4) ABU GHRAIB AREA, WESTERN OUTSKIRTS OF BAGHDAD (NOVEMBER 17, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. SLV U.S. HUMVEE AND A TANK HEADING TOWARDS ABU GHRAIB AREA (2 SHOTS) 0.18 2. SV U.S AND IRAQI FORCES HEADING TOWARDS A HOUSE 0.24 3. SV/SLV U.S. AND IRAQI TROOPS ENTERING A HOUSE (3 SHOTS) 0.41 4. SV IRAQI AND U.S. SOLDIERS ENTERING A HOUSE AND A WOMAN TELLING THEM HER DAUGHTERS ARE INSIDE 0.47 5. SV WOMAN'S DAUGHTERS LEAVING THE HOUSE 0.56 6. SLV U.S. SOLDIERS MOVING INTO A HOUSE 1.03 7. SV U.S. SOLDIER TALKING TO A MAN (HOLDING A BOY) THROUGH TRANSLATOR, SAYING ASK HIM IF HE HAS ANY WEAPON. THE MAN ANSWERS 'NO WEAPON' 1.10 8. SLV WOMAN ROCKING CRADLE 1.14 9. SLV IRAQI SOLDIER SEARCHING A BEDROOM, LOOKING UNDER MATTRESS 1.21 10. SLV U.S. SOLDIERS AND IRAQI PEOPLE IN STREET 1.24 11. SV U.S. TROOPS ENTERING A HOUSE (2 SHOTS) 1.43 12. CU TWO IRAQI CHILDREN 1.45 13. SLV U.S. SOLDIERS SEARCHING WARDROBES 1.50 14. LV U.S. HELICOPTER HOVERING OVERHEAD 1.56 15. SV U.S. SOLDIER ON TOP OF HIS VEHICLE OUTSIDE A HOUSE 2.01 16. SV IRAQI DETAINEE WITH TWO U.S. SOLDIERS 2.06 17. CU HANDS TIED BEHIND BACK OF A DETAINEE 2.09 18. MCU (English) U.S. OFFICER, COLONEL RUSS GOLD, COMMANDER OF THE 3RD BRIGADE, 1ST ARMOURED DIVISION, SAYING "Sir, he had a weapon. We asked him where it was and he denied having a weapon and we asked him several times that if you do not tell us where it is and we will find them we are going to detain him." 2.21 19. LV/SLV U.S. SOLDIERS ESCORTING A DETAINEE TO A VEHICLE (2 SHOTS) 2.37 20. SV WEAPON CONFISCATED, CARRIED BY U.S. SOLDIER 2.42 21. CU THE TAG ON THE MAN'S HANDCUFFED WRISTS 2.46 22. SLV DETAINEE SAT FACING THE WALL WITH HIS HANDS TIED BEHIND HIS BACK 2.50 (U4) BEIJI, 225KM NORTH OF BAGHDAD, IRAQ (NOVEMBER 17, 2003) (REUTERS) 23. GV/LV/SLV/CU VARIOUS OF PIPELINE ON FIRE (6 SHOTS) 3.28 24. GV BLACK SMOKE RISING TO AIR FROM BURNED GAS PIPE (2 SHOTS) 3.40 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 2nd December 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BABU GHRAIB AREA, BAGHDAD/BEIJI, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVAD7IPKS9ORQUQKRQO7CMMW98BO
  • Story Text: While U.S troops searched Baghdad as part of
    Operation Iron Hammer looking for weapons, an oil pipeline
    was on fire.



    U.S. troops in Iraq scoured the Abu Ghraib area on
    Monday (November 17) as part of Operation Iron Hammer, to
    crack down on guerrilla fighters following a spat of
    attacks against coalition forces.

    About 400 heavily-armed U.S. troops backed by armoured
    vehicles, aircraft and helicopters moved into the area in
    western Baghdad, a cauldron of anti-American violence. They
    sealed off roads and launched house-to-house searches.

    The raids, conducted jointly by U.S. troops and Iraqi
    Civil Defence Corps (ICDC), come in the wake of a spate of
    ambushes by Saddam loyalists in the last few weeks in
    Baghdad.

    Soldiers detained three people and netted a number of
    weapons.

    U.S. forces in Iraq have adopted tough new tactics this
    month in response to deadly guerrilla attacks and the
    downing of several American helicopters. Several times this
    month, guerrillas have fired mortars or rockets at the
    headquarters of the U.S.-led administration in Baghdad. In
    response, the U.S. Army has launched Operation Hammer, a
    series of air and ground strikes against suspected
    guerrilla hideouts.

    A pipeline carrying oil or oil products in northern
    Iraq continued to burn furiously on Monday, 24 hours after
    local residents say it was hit by an explosion.

    A section of the pipeline, located in Al-Burjwari
    village, north of Baghdad near Beiji, where an oil refinery
    exists, is part of a Iraq's vital oil infrastructure and
    according to local residents was hit after sunset, causing
    a large explosion.

    Pipelines in northern Iraq have been plagued by blasts
    and fires, halting oil exports to Turkey.

    Iraq has the world's second-largest proven crude
    reserves, at 112 billion barrels, but its pipelines,
    pumping stations and oil reservoirs are dilapidated after
    more than a decade of neglect. The giant Kirkuk oil fields
    account for 40 percent of Iraq's oil production, but
    attempts to resume exports have been crippled by sabotage.

    Income from oil exports are crucial to the American
    plans for rebuilding Iraqi infrastructure.


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