AAM: Baghdad embed


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Length: 2:39


MILES O'BRIEN: Good morning to you, I'm Miles O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.

Two deadly car bombings and an assassination in Baghdad today to tell you about. Four people killed in an attack on Iraq police. Another bomb killed one person in northwestern Baghdad. And a police colonel shot leaving his home in southern Baghdad.

CNN's Michael Ware in Baghdad for us this morning.

He's embedded with U.S. troops -- hey, Michael, good morning.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

What we've also seen here in Baghdad today is an escalation or a new step forward in what's become known as the Battle of Baghdad or Operation Together Forward, the long-running military operation to reclaim the city from militias, insurgents and death squads.

What's happened?

We've just been (AUDIO GAP)...

S. O'BRIEN: All right, it looks like our satellite image from Michael Ware has frozen up. So we're going to see if we can reestablish that and get back to him in just a little bit.

Let's move on.




S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Andrea

Let's get right back to Michael Ware.

As we mentioned, he is embedded with U.S. troops in Baghdad -- Michael, I think we've reestablished our signal.

You were updating us on what's happening there.

WARE: Yes, Soledad.

Sorry about the signal.

We've literally just returned from the combat mission in these Stryker vehicles. What's happened is that for the first time, U.S. and Iraqi forces, thousands of them, have entered a new part of Baghdad. In the past, we've seen them go into areas contested between the two sectarian groups or areas where Shia death squads have been operating.

Well, today U.S.-led forces went into a Shia domain. This is an area that's known to be controlled by the Jayshul Mahdi Militia, loyal to the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

So, for the first time, they've gone into their territory and are touching upon Muqtada al-Sadr's power base -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: How did it go today?

WARE: It was a relatively successful operation so far. I think that this thing is going to continue for some time. We made -- the forces made their first steps, making their way into Muqtada's area.

It was, by and large, a peaceful operation. However, we do know that there was one sniper attack on U.S. forces and an American soldier was wounded. However, I believe it was only slightly. We're waiting for an update on that.

So there was no direct confrontation with Muqtada's forces. They seemed to have dissolved into the neighborhoods and into the people. But this is still very early days -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, we'll continue to follow it.

Michael Ware for us this morning, embedded with U.S. forces.

Thanks, Michael.