usmc4669
04-24-04, 03:04 PM
Apr 24, 3:24 PM (ET)
By JIM KRANE
Seems as if Iraqis are killing more Iraqis then we are,or are they Iraqis?
BAGHDAD (AP) - Mortar fire slammed into a marketplace in Baghdad's biggest Shiite Muslim neighborhood, and a roadside bomb hit a bus Saturday, a day that saw at least 33 Iraqis killed in multiple attacks. Outside Baghdad, insurgents rocketed a U.S. military base, killing four soldiers.
In Sadr City, the capital's sprawling Shiite slum, angry residents vented anger at Iraq's U.S. occupiers after the mortar barrages, which followed an early morning clash in the neighborhood between U.S. troops and militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite cleric.
The worst single incident of the day came when a bomb exploded on a main road as a bus passed near Haswa, 30 miles south of Baghdad. The back of the bus was shredded and seats crumpled. At least 13 people - including a four-year-old boy - were killed and 17 wounded, said Wasan Nasser, a doctor at Iskan Hospital in neighboring Iskandariyah.
The violence came as U.S. commanders repeated warnings that they may launch a new assault on the besieged city of Fallujah soon, saying guerrillas had not abided by a call to surrender their heavy weapons.
L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, traveled to the U.S. Marines base outside Fallujah for consultations Saturday, while Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told reporters: "Should there not be a good faith effort demonstrated by the belligerents inside Fallujah, the coalition is prepared to act."
The launching of the siege on April 5, along with the revolt in the south by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia, fueled a flare-up of insurgent violence across the country.
The four U.S. solders were killed around dawn, when two rockets were fired from a truck and slammed into the base in Taji, 12 miles north of Baghdad, Air Force Lt. Col. Sam Hudspath said. U.S. helicopter gunships then destroyed the truck, the military said.
Six soldiers were wounded in the attack, three of them critically, the military said. The military had initially reported that a fifth soldier died of his wounds afterwards, but later said that report was incorrect.
The deaths, along with that of a Marine announced Saturday, brought to 106 the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq since the beginning of April. The military announced the death of a soldier in a non-combat incident, bringing to 715 the number servicemembers who have died in the country.
Anywhere from 900 to 1,200 Iraqis have been killed in April - depending on various reports of the death toll from Fallujah.
Some of the mortar shells in Saturday's barrage against Sadr City, which killed at least seven people, hit two miles from any U.S. position - suggesting they may have deliberately targeted civilians in the Shiite neighborhood.
[b]Iraqis gather next to a burnt out bus in Haswa, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, April 24, 2004. A roadside bomb exploded near the bus south of Baghdad Saturday, killing 13 Iraqis, including at least one child, and wounding 17 people, a hospital official said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
By JIM KRANE
Seems as if Iraqis are killing more Iraqis then we are,or are they Iraqis?
BAGHDAD (AP) - Mortar fire slammed into a marketplace in Baghdad's biggest Shiite Muslim neighborhood, and a roadside bomb hit a bus Saturday, a day that saw at least 33 Iraqis killed in multiple attacks. Outside Baghdad, insurgents rocketed a U.S. military base, killing four soldiers.
In Sadr City, the capital's sprawling Shiite slum, angry residents vented anger at Iraq's U.S. occupiers after the mortar barrages, which followed an early morning clash in the neighborhood between U.S. troops and militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite cleric.
The worst single incident of the day came when a bomb exploded on a main road as a bus passed near Haswa, 30 miles south of Baghdad. The back of the bus was shredded and seats crumpled. At least 13 people - including a four-year-old boy - were killed and 17 wounded, said Wasan Nasser, a doctor at Iskan Hospital in neighboring Iskandariyah.
The violence came as U.S. commanders repeated warnings that they may launch a new assault on the besieged city of Fallujah soon, saying guerrillas had not abided by a call to surrender their heavy weapons.
L. Paul Bremer, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, traveled to the U.S. Marines base outside Fallujah for consultations Saturday, while Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told reporters: "Should there not be a good faith effort demonstrated by the belligerents inside Fallujah, the coalition is prepared to act."
The launching of the siege on April 5, along with the revolt in the south by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia, fueled a flare-up of insurgent violence across the country.
The four U.S. solders were killed around dawn, when two rockets were fired from a truck and slammed into the base in Taji, 12 miles north of Baghdad, Air Force Lt. Col. Sam Hudspath said. U.S. helicopter gunships then destroyed the truck, the military said.
Six soldiers were wounded in the attack, three of them critically, the military said. The military had initially reported that a fifth soldier died of his wounds afterwards, but later said that report was incorrect.
The deaths, along with that of a Marine announced Saturday, brought to 106 the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq since the beginning of April. The military announced the death of a soldier in a non-combat incident, bringing to 715 the number servicemembers who have died in the country.
Anywhere from 900 to 1,200 Iraqis have been killed in April - depending on various reports of the death toll from Fallujah.
Some of the mortar shells in Saturday's barrage against Sadr City, which killed at least seven people, hit two miles from any U.S. position - suggesting they may have deliberately targeted civilians in the Shiite neighborhood.
[b]Iraqis gather next to a burnt out bus in Haswa, 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, April 24, 2004. A roadside bomb exploded near the bus south of Baghdad Saturday, killing 13 Iraqis, including at least one child, and wounding 17 people, a hospital official said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)