Posted on 10/08/2006 5:39:14 AM PDT by Aussie Dasher
US and Iraqi troops killed 30 militants early today in fierce fighting in the southern Shi'ite city of Diwaniya, the US military said.
It said an M1A2 Abrams tank was severely damaged in the battle, which began when militants opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) on US and Iraqi forces, who were on a mission to detain a "high-value" target. Diwaniya's southern districts are a stronghold for the Mehdi Army militia of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose movement is a key player in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government of national unity.
A Mehdi Army official, who declined to be named, denied any involvement in the fighting and blamed rogue gunmen. He said Sadr had issued orders to the Mehdi Army "not to attack anybody, including the Americans".
Another Mehdi Army official denied reports that 30 militants had been killed and said only three people had been wounded.
Hospital sources said four civilians had been wounded, three men and a woman.
Maliki, under increasing pressure from Washington, has vowed to crack down on militias, which are blamed for much of the violence fuelling the Sunni-Shi'ite sectarian conflict.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
Sounds like the militants are staging their "Little Big Horn."
There were 10 RPG teams and a couple dozen bad guys protecting this HVT...makes you wonder who this guy was...people fought to the death to keep him out of our hands.
"At least 13 were reported at the time to have been executed after they ran out of ammunition."
It really angers me that 13 Iraqi troops were executed by the enemy because they ran out of ammo. Someone ought to lose his stripes for that.
Maybe they had some Iranian guests?
Media trying to turn a US victory into a terrorist PR victory..
We got him, though. Notice that he was taken alive. These Islamofascists are good about getting their men killed, but they always surrender before the bullets get to them.
If we can NOW get our Iraqi friends to actually shoot reporters instead of shooting in the air...
LLS
"an M1A2 Abrams tank was severely damaged in the battle"
Sounds like the anti-tank weapons used in lebanon against the Israeli tanks. The sustained a lot of damage, too.
FNG's tend to spray and pray.
The Ak 's used by the IA are full auto, the standard issue M-16 will only give a three round burst and you have to pull the trigger again for the next three.
Some troops do not care for this but it reinforces fire control.
Water, body armor,weapon, ammo... you can only hump so much.
Badly written headline; makes it sound like U.S. and Iraqi troops are shooting each other.
Too bad we can't do a bit more of that sort of thing here.
Exactly. But, as you hint, if you exercise fire discipline, which troops with less training and experience often do not do, you should *usually* get resupply before you run completely dry. But, er stuff happens.
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