Trapped On Baghdad's Deadliest Street
Lara Logan Speaks With A Famous Surgeon Trapped With His Family On Haifa Street
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Play CBS Video Video War Traps Iraqis In Homes For some Iraqi families, there's no escaping the war. Chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan reports on how fierce fighting is trapping Iraqis in their own homes.
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Video Baghdad Reacts To Bush Speech President Bush was adamant that Iraq's military and government must play a larger role in securing the country. Lara Logan reports that many doubt the government is up to the task.
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Dr. Quraish Fajir al-Kasir and his family have been trapped in the bathroom of their home by the fighting on Haifa Street. (CBS)
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After six days of intense fighting, Haifa Street is Baghdad's most violent neighborhood. (CBS)
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Smoke rises over Baghdad's Haifa Street area on Jan. 9, 2007. Fighting in the streets of the capital has trapped many Iraqis in their homes. (AP)
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Interactive Iraq: A Turning Point? New Congress, change at the Pentagon, study group report; what does the future hold?
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Interactive New Plan For Iraq Key elements of the plan, excerpts from the president's speech, reaction and more.
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
U.S. and Iraqi forces are battling gunmen dug into the houses along a main road that runs from the center of the capital down to the heavily fortified Green Zone.
On Friday, CBS News spoke by phone to one of the terrified residents trapped on Haifa Street — Dr. Quraish Fajir al-Kasir, a famous surgeon.
"The problem is that we are living in a dark house, in a dark flat. There is no electricity. We have no water really. We are shivering from cold, from fear. We are afraid from snipers, from the shots," al-Kasir said.
The doctor was the first Iraqi to perform a liver transplant. He's spoken at American medical conventions, and three years ago he was a guest of President Bush at the White House. Now he and his family are pinned down by fierce fighting right outside their door.
"It's difficult to go," he said. "They will kill you because any moving object will be shot."
He said he is hiding in his bathroom with his wife, two sons and daughter because it is between two walls and there are no windows. All of his windows have been shattered by the shooting.
"I don't know why," he said. "I have no guns, I am a doctor, I am a scientist, I spent 32 years working for this country. I have saved so many people in surgery; I have done a lot for the people here. Why I should be killed? Why? I don't know why."
Al-Kasir told Logan that there are many other frightened families trapped like his in the densely populated neighborhood. They venture out only to collect their dead — fearful that if they don't get help soon, they could suffer the same fate.
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More From CBS Evening News
- I feel that president Bush should help this surgeon and his family asap.
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- I feel that president Bush should help this surgeon and his family as soon as possible.
J.Ladeira - Reply to this comment
- This is the horror of war get a real close look.
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