ugnet_: Re: [Ugandacom] Three U.S. soldiers killed, two wounded in Tikrit ambush

[Mulindwa Edward]

Why are some reports reporting 8?   Em               The Mulindwas Communication Group "With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"             Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2003 10:00 PM Subject: [Ugandacom] Three U.S. soldiers killed, two wounded in Tikrit ambush Last Update: 19/09/2003 01:01 Three U.S. soldiers killed, two wounded in Tikrit ambush By News Agencies TIKRIT/KHALDIYAH, Iraq - Iraqi guerrillas killed three U.S. soldiers and wounded two others in an ambush near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit late on Thursday, a U.S. military spokesman said. Lieutenant-Colonel William MacDonald said the three soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division were killed in small arms fire 8 km (5 miles) south of Tikrit when they were inspecting a suspected weapons site. Earlier in the day, U.S. troops were ambushed on the main road of the central Iraqi town of Khaldiyah, hit by a remote-controlled roadside bomb and then coming under heavy gunfire that destroyed at least two trucks. An Associated Press reporter who arrived on the scene saw five U.S. tanks, two Bradley fighting vehicles and 40 troops surrounding a neighborhood from which gunmen opened fire after the bomb exploded. Helicopters hovered above. Initially as U.S. troops were taking fire from unknown positions, soldiers were firing with no obvious targets, in an apparent effort to protect themselves until reinforcements arrived, a witness said. The U.S. military in Baghdad said two American soldiers were wounded. Al-Arabiya television reported eight Americans were killed and one wounded. An AP driver said a three-year-old Iraqi boy who had been shot in the chest. His condition was not known. The AP reporter was fired on by one of the tanks with three rounds from its 50-caliber machine gun. An AP photographer said his car was shot up by American fire, the windshield blown out and all the tires flattened. The photographer and his driver were not injured. Fifteen kilometers (nine miles) west a second roadside bomb hit a military convoy of three Humvees and a truck shortly after the attack in Khaldiyah. One humvee that served as a troop carrier was engulfed in flames. It was not clear if the military casualty report included the second incident. American forces in the region are extremely jumpy, caught in what increasingly is a classic guerrilla war. Attackers and civilians look the same and when soldiers come under fire, as they did in Khaldiyah, they respond with massive firepower. That is what apparently caused the child, the AP reporter and AP photographer to be shot at. A civilian tanker truck also was hit by American guns and was burning as night fell. As it grew dark, the Americans pulled out, removing the burned truck with a crane. About 100 Iraqis began dancing in the streets and carried a large poster of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein dressed in fatigues. There was celebratory gunfire and the people chanted: "With our blood, with our souls we sacrifice ourselves for you, Saddam." Hours after incident soldiers pointed tank cannons at reporters every time they tried to approach to find out what had happen. As it grew dark, the Americans pulled out, removing the burned truck with a crane. About 100 Iraqis began dancing in the streets and carried a large photo of Saddam dressed in fatigues. There was celebratory gunfire and the people chanted: "With our blood, with our souls we sacrifice ourselves for you, Saddam." Khaldiyah is a town in the so-called "Sunni Triangle" in central Iraq, the heartland of support for ousted Iraqi leader Saddam and the focus of an anti-American insurgency. Khaldiyah's police chief was killed in an ambush on Monday as he was returning to his home in Fallujah. The brazen shooting of Col. Khedeir Mekhalef Ali was the latest attack targeting Iraqis who work with coalition forces. About 30 kilometers (18 miles) to the east in Fallujah, neighbors said a 14-year-old boy was killed late Wednesday and six people were wounded in a shooting incident that started after people at a wedding fired guns into the air to celebrate and a passing U.S. military patrol opened fire believing it was under attack. The neighbors who witnesses the incident said the boy and the wounded were hit by American fire from a passing convoy of Humvees. In Baghdad, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the coalition military commander in Iraq, said he could not confirm that a boy was killed. He said the incident was under investigation. Adel Hmood, a neighbor, told The Associated Press that the Americans opened fire in a circle around themselves. He said the dead boy was Sufyan Daoud al-Kubaisi who was on his way to buy cigarettes when he was killed. Bullet holes in homes and buildings in the area suggested there was heavy firing by the Americans during the incident which occurred about two blocks off the main street in Fallujah, a key city for the opposition to the U.S. occupation. A policeman in the city who spoke on condition of anonymity said he had heard identical reports. There were no U.S. forces to be found in the city Thursday. Last week American soldiers from the 82 Airborne Division mistakenly opened fire on Iraqi police cars chasing highway bandits just outside Fallujah, killing eight Iraqi officers. The military has apologized for the friendly fire incident and opened an investigation into what was the worst such incident since U.S. President George W. Bush declared major fighting over on May 1. North of Baghdad, there was an explosion along a pipeline carrying crude oil from the oil fields near Kirkuk to Iraq's largest refinery at Beiji, the U.S. military said in Tikrit. Witnesses said the explosion occurred just north of Beiji, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Baghdad. The cause of the blast could not be immediately determined and the extent of damage was unclear. The military said the cause of the fire was not yet known because it was raging so fiercely investigators could not get close. Maj. Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division based in Tikrit, 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Baghdad, said valves on the 20-inch (50.80-centimeter) pipeline were being closed to shut off fuel to the fire. Initial reports said the fire was on the main export pipeline to Turkey, but the military said it broke out on a feeder line from the Kirkuk fields, Iraq's second biggest. "The fire won't affect oil production or the timetable for resuming exports," Aberle said. The line to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan has been hit by a string of sabotage attacks just days after it was reopened. L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, said the line's closure was costing the country US$7 million each day. The military says the line should be back in operation in about a month. In Baghdad, police backed by U.S. soldiers and helicopters sealed a large part of the center of the city Thursday in a raid to capture car thieves. Two men were arrested at an auto repair shop on suspicion of having stolen a police vehicle. Despite the ongoing tension, Sanchez, the U.S. commander, said coalition authorities were considering relaxing the 11 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. curfew in Baghdad and were also looking into the possibility of withdrawing U.S. troops from cities where local Iraqis were capable of maintaining security. Sanchez also said coalition authorities were aiming to reopen the 14th of July Bridge, a major Baghdad artery, around the middle of next month. Such moves would ease the burden on ordinary Iraqis at a time when the coalition leadership is concerned about rising public resentment to the occupation. It would also lower the U.S. military profile in population centers and reduce their vulnerability to guerrilla attacks. Sanchez also said no Americans or Britons were currently being held by coalition forces in Iraq. On Tuesday, Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who is in charge of coalition detention centers in Iraq, said six people claiming to be Americans and two who said they were British are among those held for suspicion of involvement in attacks against coalition forces. She said the claims had not been confirmed and "the details become sketchy and their story changes." Sanchez said at least one American was arrested around the end of major combat operations May 1 but he was released after an investigation determined he was not involved in illegal activities. Sanchez gave no further details. American officials have spoken of foreign involvement in some of the attacks against U.S. and other coalition forces but had not mentioned any Westerners. Top Articles Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.