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Sgt Sostand
06-26-03, 10:28 AM
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. military vehicle was ambushed Thursday on the western outskirts of Baghdad, and at least one American soldier was killed, soldiers at the scene said Thursday.

The morning attack on the road leading to Baghdad International Airport apparently involved an explosive device operated by remote control, said the U.S. soldiers, who asked not to be named.

The soldier who died suffered a major wound in the face, the soldiers said. Military commanders released no other details.




It was the latest in a spiraling series of attacks against U.S.-led occupation forces in Iraq. At least 19 U.S. soldiers have died in hostile fire since major combat was officially declared over in May.

On Tuesday, six British soldiers were killed in southern Iraq during a shooting rampage by townspeople furious over the killing of four neighbors during a demonstration, apparently at the hands of British troops.

That attack, in the town of Majar al-Kabir, 180 miles southeast of Baghdad, had shattered the peace that had reigned in Shiite-dominated southern Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein - and spurred British authorities to consider requiring troops to wear body armor and helmets.

"My absolute priority is the safety and security of British forces. Already, an urgent review is under way to ensure their safety," Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon told British Broadcasting Corp. radio Wednesday.

Hoon said Britain had "significant forces available should it be necessary. Many thousands, certainly."

Recent attacks on U.S. forces near Baghdad have been blamed on remnants of Saddam's regime or his Sunni followers, but this latest violence came in the mostly Shiite south, where resentment toward Saddam Hussein's government had been strong.

The Shiite gunmen were enraged by the death of their neighbors - allegedly at the hands of British troops during a demonstration earlier in the day - and over weapons searches in homes with women.

On Tuesday, about 100 residents protested the British weapons sweeps in a four-hour demonstration outside the mayor's office, where a dozen British troops were posted, witnesses said. Protesters threw rocks, and British troops fired back with rubber bullets before switching to live ammunition, the witnesses said.

Local police said four Iraqis were killed, and that armed residents then killed two British military policemen. Then, witnesses said, some Iraqis went to their homes to get weapons. At least 20 armed Iraqis stormed the police station, where four British military police were located along with Iraqi policemen.

One British soldier was shot and killed at the station's doorway; the three others were slain after Iraqis stormed the station and cornered them in a single room, said Salam Mohammed, a member of a municipal security force.

British military spokesman in Iraq, Lieutenant-Colonel Ronnie McCourt, said the attack was unprovoked, adding: "It was murder."

"The enemies of peace have claimed that the United Kingdom forces are conducting violent searches of Arab homes and have not respected property. This is simply not true," McCourt said.

In the al-Zahrai Hospital in nearby Amarah, Dr. Mohammed al-Sudani said 10 Iraqi civilians were treated for gunshot wounds, including four children and a woman who was shot in the head.

On Wednesday, there were no British forces to be seen in or around Majar al-Kabir. But U.K. military officials said they were hunting down the gunmen.

"The whole situation is being investigated. We are actively seeking them," said Capt. Gemma Hardy, a British military spokeswoman.

British forces occupying southern Iraq agreed June 23 to stay out of Majar al-Kabir for 60 days and allow local security forces to seize heavy weapons, said Fadhel Radi, a municipal judge and an adviser to the mayor.

Radi said the British violated the agreement by coming into the city, sparking the initial demonstration. He produced a handwritten agreement in English and Arabic, supposedly signed by a British officer.

However, Hardy said she had no information about any such agreement and said it was "highly unlikely" it was valid. British officials said the military police were helping to train local police.

Southern Iraq had been so quiet recently that British troops frequently patrolled without helmets or flak jackets.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair told lawmakers that the region around Amarah was tense because British soldiers had tried to disarm Iraqis who routinely carried weapons, including machine guns.

"There have been problems in relation to that and that may form part of the background to it," he said.

British forces in Iraq have been reduced from 45,000 during the war to 15,500 now, two-thirds of them ground forces. The United States has brought home some 130,000 troops from the region; 146,000 American forces remain in Iraq

thedrifter
06-26-03, 10:34 AM
Another incident.........



June 26, 2003
Release Number: 03-06-84


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


ONE MARINE KILLED, TWO INJURED IN VEHICLE ACCIDENT

AL HILLAH, Iraq – A Marine died and two others were injured here June 25 when the light armored vehicle they were traveling in rolled over on a soft shoulder of the road.

The Marines, part of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, were part of a quick reaction force responding to Marines who were engaged by hostile forces. The vehicle accident occurred prior to arriving at the ambush site.

Three Marines were also wounded as a result of the ambush.

All six Marines were immediately evacuated to a nearby military surgical unit.

Their names are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/news_release.asp?NewsRelease=20030684.txt


Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

thedrifter
06-26-03, 04:33 PM
Four Dead, Two Abducted in Iraq Ambushes

By STEVEN GUTKIN and NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD, Associated Press Writers

BAGHDAD, Iraq - American troops searched Thursday for two U.S. soldiers who were apparently abducted north of Baghdad, while ambushes and hostile fire elsewhere in Iraq (news - web sites) killed two American soldiers and two Iraqi civilians.


Officials played down the violence, which came a day after a U.S. Marine was killed while responding to an ambush in which three Americans were wounded, as a "spike" rather than a trend.


But with shattered glass, blood stains and mangled vehicles littering the landscape, the upsurge in attacks is causing concern that the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq could be turning into a guerrilla war.


Reports of attacks on U.S. troops appeared almost hourly — too frequent for military press officers to keep up with. Most of the information came from witnesses at the attack scenes.


Between Wednesday and Thursday, assailants blew up a U.S. military vehicle with a roadside bomb, dropped grenades from an overpass, destroyed a civilian SUV traveling with U.S. troops, demolished an oil pipeline and fired an apparent rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. Army truck.


In the latest reported attack, a member of a U.S. special operations force was killed and eight were wounded Thursday morning by hostile fire southwest of Baghdad, the U.S. military said, giving no further details.


Also Thursday, a bomb exploded on the Baghdad airport road, killing a U.S. soldier and wounding another, the military said. The road — heavily used by U.S. forces — has been the scene of several attacks using trip wires dangling from overpasses or grenades tossed from bridges.


In another ambush, assailants threw grenades at a U.S. and Iraqi civilian convoy in west Baghdad, killing two Iraqi employees of the national electricity authority, U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police said. The convoy had U.S. Humvees at the front and the back and two Iraqi civilian vehicles in the middle. The victims were traveling in the same car.


A military spokesman, Maj. William Thurmond, said the spate of ambushes could be a response to recent U.S. raids on Baath party strongholds.


"There have been more attacks recently, but it's probably premature to say this is part of a pattern," Thurmond said. "We've kicked open the nests of some of these bad guys."


An Iraqi police official, Brig. Ahmed Khazem, called the ambushes "isolated actions ... carried out by individual mercenaries."


The Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera, however, aired statements Thursday from two previously unknown groups urging assaults on U.S.-led forces in Iraq.


One, by a group calling itself the Mujahedeen of the Victorious Sect, claimed responsibility for recent attacks and promised more. The other, by the Popular Resistance for the Liberation of Iraq, called for "revenge" against America.


Al-Jazeera said it could not verify the statements.


Two U.S. officials familiar with intelligence information said they had not previously heard of the groups issuing the statements and had no way to know whether they were credible.


Meanwhile, Pentagon (news - web sites) officials said Thursday that two American soldiers apparently have been abducted.


The men and their Humvee were stationed at an observation post near the town of Balad, north of Baghdad, when they were noticed missing Wednesday night, according to the Pentagon officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.





A search by Apache attack helicopters began immediately, one official said, declining to say how their absence was noticed.

Even before the latest violence began, U.S. intelligence officers had warned ground commanders to expect an increase in attacks against U.S. forces between June 25 and July 10. It was not clear on what intelligence the warning was based.

The U.S. military has blamed attacks on isolated remnants of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime and his Sunni Muslim followers, claiming there was no organized resistance.

But the attacks have now spread to Shiite areas south of Baghdad that had been largely free of the violence plaguing the Sunni areas north and west of the capital — where Saddam had enjoyed a degree of support.

On Tuesday, gunmen furious over the killing of five civilians during a demonstration, allegedly at the hand of British troops, shot and killed six British troops in the southern town of Majar al-Kabir. A day later, an ambush wounded three Marines in Hillah, 45 miles south of Baghdad.

A Marine was killed and two were injured when their vehicle — part of a quick reaction force dispatched in response to the Hillah ambush — rolled over on the soft shoulder on the way to the scene.

The names of the American and Iraqi victims of the latest attacks were not immediately released. The killings raised the American death toll to 196 since the start of the war on March 20. At least 20 U.S. soldiers have died as the result of hostile fire since major combat was declared over in May.

Responding to the violence, U.S. forces pressed ahead with aggressive patrols throughout Iraq, conducting 1,185 day patrols and 975 night patrols, a U.S. military statement said. They also conducted 199 day patrols and 122 night patrols jointly with Iraqi police, the statement said.

U.S. soldiers in Khaldiyah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, raided three homes and arrested four suspects after an informant provided them the names of six men allegedly involved in ambushes against American forces.

Backed by Bradley fighting vehicles, a platoon of about 35 soldiers from A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division rushed toward the homes.

An old women in one of the houses shouted "Dogs! Dogs!" at the troops.

___

Associated Press correspondent Chris Tomlinson contributed to this report from Khaldiyah.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=4&u=/ap/20030626/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq
Sempers,

Roger
:marine:

Sgt Sostand
06-27-03, 02:29 PM
Armed resistance rising in Iraq

4 U.S. soldiers killed in 2 days amid report of new assaults

BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 27 — U.S. soldiers in Iraq fell victim to more deliberate attacks on Friday, as armed resistance to American and British military occupation appeared to be rising. In one incident, a U.S. soldier reportedly was shot in the head while buying digital video discs at a shop in Baghdad. Separately, another soldier was killed in an ambush in southern Iraq, the fourth U.S. military personnel killed since Thursday, although not all in combat-related incidents. Meantime, the hunt continued for two soldiers who went missing north of Baghdad.