[Phillips:] Let's go straight to Fredricka Whitfield working a story for us in the newsroom. Fred.
[Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] More on that suicide attack in Kandahar involving the death of one and the wounding of nine. Let's check in with Tom Coghlan, who's in Kabul. He's a reporter there that we often like to refer to and, Tom, what's your understanding as to what happened in Kandahar?
[Voice Of Tom Coghlan, Journalist:] Well, this evening, a Canadian military convoy was passing through the center of Kandahar. This is near where there have been frequent suicide bomb attacks on coalition forces in the past few months. That convoy was hit by a suicide car bomb at around 7:30 p.m. Now, one person, a bystander, was killed, nine others injured, as you say. Two Canadian soldiers are also confirmed injured in that attack in the last few moments.
[Whitfield:] And, Tom, it seems as though in recent weeks, perhaps even recent months, we've heard of a lot more suicide attacks taking place in various locations in Afghanistan. How are authorities able to handle this?
[Coghlan:] Well, that's correct. At least 30 suicide attacks have taken place in Afghanistan so far this year. Now, those suicide attacks are obviously extremely difficult to guard against. They're often individuals, sometimes in cars, sometimes on motorbikes, sometimes on foot. Now, the many people that are suffering as a result of these attacks are actually ordinary Afghans because when these attacks take place against armored convoys, usually the convoys, people in the convoy aren't killed, but often large numbers of ordinary Afghans in these built-up areas like Kandahar are killed. So, they're a pretty indiscriminate weapon. The Taliban has obviously decided that these generate big news headlines. They're very high-profile attacks, but they're not a terribly effective military tool as far as trying to kill coalition soldiers is concerned.
[Whitfield:] And Tom as we say, it was a military convoy which was near where this attack took place. Is there any way of confirming whether the military convoy only involved Canadian forces or coalition forces as a whole, including that of the U.S.?
[Coghlan:] My understanding at the moment is that this was only Canadian convoy. The Canadians are the main, the main nation taking on policing duties in and around Kandahar. They often post convoys through that city. At the moment, there are a small number of American soldiers still operating in that theater of operations, that is, southern Afghanistan. But the majority of U.S. forces are now based in the east of the country and other nations such as Britain and Holland have moved troops into that southern area and they're taking up the slack where those U.S. forces were before. So it is possible that there may have been U.S. forces involved, but it's actually pretty unlikely at the moment. And certainly, I don't have any confirmation on U.S. forces being involved at this time. WHITFIELD All, right Tom Coghlan, journalist in Kabul, Afghanistan. Thank you so much. Kyra, one more time taking place in Kandahar, a suicide attack taking place near a military convoy, nine reported wounded, one dead and among those wounded, two Canadian soldiers.
[Phillips:] We'll keep on the story, Fred, thanks so much. Dozens of Iraqi factory workers are now in the hands of insurgents. Gunmen hijacked five buses carrying at least 50 Iraqis today and drove off with them. The workers had just finished their shift at a plant that makes school benches and black boards just north of Baghdad. Also today, a car bomb went off outside a Baghdad restaurant. Two people are dead, four others wounded. Defending Saddam Hussein once again, it's cost a lawyer his life. Today, police in Baghdad found the bullet-riddled body of one of Hussein's lead attorneys, the third defense counsel to be killed since the trial started late last year. There's word that a group of insurgents dressed as Iraqi police stormed the lawyer's home and just took him he way. The scenery is spectacular. This week though, it's also frightening in Sedona, Arizona. A huge wildfire is threatening hundreds of homes right now and some fear it may reach Flagstaff, month are than 20 miles away. KTVK's Javier Soto is on the scene in Sedona Javier.
[Javier Soto, Ktvk:] Good day to you, Kyra. This fire is a very serious situation. As it has dropped to the bottom of Oak Creek Canyon, it is threatening highway 89 and that's where ground crews have set up and that is where they are going to meet this fire face to face. Now, all along, they've had trouble in fighting this fire. They've mostly used helicopters and fought this fire from the air. However, as it inches down that canyon wall, they are starting to set back burns. Now, it's dropping in between two campgrounds, that is the Incinosa campground and also the Manzanita campground and fire officials say the good news, it is not moving laterally. It is actually moving closer and closer to 89A. Fire officials say if that fire jumps highway 89A, it could be catastrophic, as you just mentioned a little while ago. That fire could rip through very dry pine and move all the way up into Flagstaff. There are about 300 homes and businesses through that area and as of yesterday afternoon, when that fire inched into the canyon area, they evacuated everyone out of Oak Creek Canyon. Right now, about 500 residents remain evacuated from Oak Creek Canyon through Sedona. However, the good news is this fire is pushing away from Sedona and about 100 residents through the Soldier Pass area will be allowed back into their homes about 5:00 this afternoon. Also, the governor is touring this fire sometime between 11:00 and 3:00 Arizona time. And she will give an update and there will be a huge community meeting sometime around noon where all residents will be advised of this very serious situation.
[Phillips:] All right, Javier Soto, thanks so much. We'll stay on top of that story as well. We're going to take a quick break. We're LIVE FROM right after this.