Hundreds of Soldiers Fanning Through Tikrit Raiding Homes, shops, Looking for Insurgents
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is being called a major sweep in Iraq. Three hundred American soldiers fanning out through the city of Tikrit, raiding two dozen homes and shops, looking for insurgents. Details now from CNN's Karl Penhaul. Let's take you live to Baghdad -- hello, Karl.</s>KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Military authorities from the 4th Infantry Division have told us this morning that from that raid they now have 12 suspected members of Saddam Hussein's old paramilitary Fedayeen militia now in custody, those they believe were leading the insurgents in Saddam's hometown, Tikrit. Now, the raid was larger than many of the raids we've seen in recent days. We're told that 300 members of the 4th Infantry Division swept through Tikrit, backed by armored vehicles, raiding more than 20 homes and a number of shops and capturing these suspects. At the same time early this morning, the 101st Airborne Division staged another raid in a town near the city of Mosul. They netted six people that they suspect of leading the insurgency in that area. Now, while we may not report these raids every day, each day there are a number of smaller raids around the country and these are part of the coalition's continuing efforts to break the back of the insurgency. In another incident that occurred here in Baghdad this morning, quite a dramatic event at the Burj al-Hayat Hotel, not far from, actually, where we're staying. Guards there tell us that four men got out of two vehicles and fire rocket propelled grenades at that hotel, which is used often by U.S. contractors and was formerly used by weapons inspectors. There was a brief gun battle there. The attackers took off. We're told that there were no casualties, only damage to the outside of the building.</s>COSTELLO: Karl, is there any update on that Black Hawk helicopter crash?</s>PENHAUL: So far, coalition authorities are still investigating the cause of that attack -- or that crash, rather, I should say. As we mentioned yesterday, the military was describing it as an emergency landing. The nine occupants aboard died. But so far they haven't specified whether they believe hostile fire was involved, although witnesses at the scene did tell us that they saw the flash of what they thought was a missile hitting the helicopter seconds before it hit the earth.</s>COSTELLO: Karl Penhaul reporting 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 shops, Looking for Insurgents>