Iraqi Forces Targeted by Airstrikes in Recent Days
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Want to take you to northern Iraq now and Ben Wedeman. Ben, hello.</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi. Well coming up in just a little while, more U.S. bombs continue to fall on Iraqi front line positions or -- while more U.S. troops arrive in northern Iraq.</s>ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, over the last 48 hours or so, there have been a number of airstrikes on Iraqi positions in northern Iraq near the city of Kalak. What kind of an impact do they have? To find out, let's go to our own Ben Wedeman who is there live -- Ben.</s>WEDEMAN: Yes, Anderson, well before we talk about those airstrikes, let me tell you that we're hearing from the Harir Air Base outside of Erbil that U.S. troops continue to arrive. Our producer, Ken Norgard (ph), was up there earlier today saying that the 173rd Airborne Brigade, normally based in Italy, continues to arrive. He saw several truckloads of those soldiers heading out from that air base. Now he was told by officials there that they're continuing to dig in, to strengthen security around the perimeter and to basically continue and strengthen their coordination with the local Kurdish military force, which, of course, has welcomed the arrival of the United States troops. Now here in Kalak, on the front lines between Iraqi and Kurdish forces, today started with another round of bombings. We saw four separate bombs fall on Iraqi positions on the other side of the ridge, the ridge where we've seen over the last month or so Iraqi soldiers digging in and bringing in heavier weapon. Now it appears the area they're bombing is about 10 to 15 kilometers away from here behind the front lines in the direction of Mosul. Now we've been told by our local contacts that they have, in the past, seen a large number of Iraqi artillery pieces and tanks. Now it's not clear whether that has been there for a long time, because of course these front lines date back to 1991 and have been fairly static. So it's not clear whether that is a buildup or that has been -- those emplacements have been here -- been there all along. Now I just want to give you an idea of the geography of this area. What you're seeing now, that is the town of Kalak. Normally has 4,000 or 5,000 inhabitants, Kurdish inhabitants of course. Many of them have left the city for fear of an Iraqi attack. Specifically on the minds of many Kurds here is the possibility that Saddam Hussein will use chemical weapons as he did in 1988 against the Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja in which 5,000 people have been killed -- were killed. Now some people have begun to return. They were urged to do so by Kurdish leaders recently saying that now that the U.S. troops have arrived that the situation has stabilized. Now right above that town of Kalak, the ridge above it stretching all the way basically down the river quite some ways, are the Iraqi positions. They occupy a series of bunkers and trenches that we've seen in recent days being dug ever deeper. We've been able to see through binoculars and very strong camera lenses that they have mortars up there, anti-tank guns. Now yesterday, four U.S. bombs fell on the positions to the south of Kalak. And we are not clear to the extent of damage, but we do know that it did, to a certain extent, unnerve the Iraqi soldiers on the hill. As they heard further U.S. planes fly over, we saw them scurry to their positions. Back to you -- Anderson.</s>COOPER: All right. Ben Wedeman, live in Kalak, 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