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Posted on 04/04/2004 4:22:35 PM PDT by Happy2BMe
By KHALID MOHAMMED
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NAJAF, Iraq (AP) - Supporters of an anti-American cleric rioted in four Iraqi cities Sunday, killing eight U.S. troops and one Salvadoran soldier in the worst unrest since the spasm of looting and arson immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
The U.S. military on Sunday reported two Marines were killed in a separate "enemy action" in Anbar province, raising the toll of American service members killed in Iraq to at least 610.
The rioters were supporters of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. They were angry over Saturday's arrest on murder charges of one of al-Sadr's aides, Mustafa al-Yacoubi, and the closure of a pro-al-Sadr newspaper.
Near the holy city of Najaf, a gunbattle at a Spanish garrison killed at least 22 people, including two coalition soldiers - an American and a Salvadoran.
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A resident said two Humvees were seen burning in the neighborhood, and that some American soldiers had taken refuge in a building. The report could not be independently confirmed, and it was unclear whether the soldiers involved were those who died.
A column of American tanks was seen moving through the center of Baghdad Sunday evening, possibly headed toward the fighting.
The military said the fighting erupted after members of a militia loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took control of police stations and government buildings in the neighborhood.
Protesters clashed with Italian and British forces in other cities in a broad, violent challenge to the U.S.-led coalition, raising questions about its ability to stabilize Iraq ahead of a scheduled June 30 handover of power to Iraqis.
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"These organizations will give Iraqis the means to defend their country against terrorists and insurgents," L. Paul Bremer said at a press conference.
About three miles outside the holy city of Najaf, supporters of al-Sadr opened fire on the Spanish garrison during a street protest that drew about 5,000 people. The protesters were angry over the arrest of the cleric's aide, said the Spanish Defense Ministry in Madrid.
The attackers opened fire at about noon, said Cmdr. Carlos Herradon, a spokesman for the Spanish headquarters in nearby Diwaniyah.
The Spanish and Salvadoran soldiers inside the garrison fired back, and assailants later regrouped in three clusters outside the base as the shooting continued for several hours.
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More than 200 people were wounded, said Falah Mohammed, director of the Najaf health department. El Salvador's defense minister said several Salvadoran soldiers were wounded.
The death toll of at least 20 included two Iraqi soldiers who were inside the Spanish base, witnesses said.
Spain has 1,300 troops stationed in Iraq, and the Central American contingent is of a similar size. The Salvadorans are under Spanish command as part of an international brigade that includes troops from Central America.
Multiple train bombings in Madrid last month that killed 191 people have been blamed on al-Qaida-linked terrorists, who said they were punishing Spain for its alliance with the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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In El Salvador, the defense minister said the attack will not alter his country's role in reconstruction efforts.
"It reinforces even more our decision to continue helping a country that is suffering," Juan Antonio Martinez said Sunday.
The protesters were upset over the detention of al-Yacoubi, a senior aide to the 30-year-old al-Sadr, who opposes the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. Al-Sadr is at odds with most Shiites, who hope to gain substantial power in the new Iraqi government.
Shiites comprise about 60 percent of Iraq's 25 million people but were brutally repressed by the regime of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim.
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Spanish-led forces said they did not participate in the arrest.
In central Baghdad's Firdaus Square, police fired warning shots during a protest by hundreds of al-Sadr supporters against al-Yacoubi's arrest. At least two protesters were injured, witnesses said.
In Kufa, near Najaf, al-Sadr supporters took over a police station and seized guns inside. No police were in sight.
In the southern city of Nasiriyah, Italian troops traded fire with militiamen demonstrating against al-Yacoubi's detention, said Lt. Col. Pierluigi Monteduro, chief of staff of Italian troops in the region. One Italian officer was wounded in the leg.
Also in the south, British troops clashed with protesters in Amarah, according to the Ministry of Defense in London. It was unclear whether there were casualties.
Al-Sadr's office in Baghdad issued a statement later Sunday calling off street protests and saying the cleric would stage a sit-in at a mosque in Kufa, where he has delivered fiery weekly sermons for months.
Al-Sadr supporters also were angered by the March 28 closure of his weekly newspaper by U.S. officials. The Americans alleged the newspaper was inciting violence against coalition troops.
The two U.S. Marines, both assigned to the 1st Marine Division, were killed by an "enemy action" in Anbar province Saturday, the military said. One died Saturday and the other Sunday, the statement said without providing details.
Anbar is an enormous stretch of land reaching to the Jordanian and Syrian borders west of Baghdad that includes Fallujah, a city where four American civilian contractors were slain Wednesday.
At a checkpoint in Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, that was manned by Iraqi Civil Defense personnel, a bomb killed three security officers and wounded another, workers at Samarra General Hospital said.
In Kirkuk, also in the north, a car bomb exploded, killing three civilians and wounding two others, police said.
Bremer on Sunday announced the appointments of Ali Allawi, the interim trade minister, as the new defense minister and Mohammed al-Shehwani, a former Iraqi air force officer who fled Iraq in 1990, as head of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service.
Late Sunday, U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and a team that will assist Iraqis in the political transition to an interim Iraqi government arrived in Baghdad, the United Nations said.
No need to apologize, but a source would be nice regarding this organized ambush.
Tell, me General - your military experience?
How many "skirmishes or battles" have you fought -- and what is the difference...
Tell, me General - how many of your family members have gone to Iraq/Afghanistan, and put at risk?
What exactly from MY post, got your shorts in a knot?
Semper Fi
SEVERAL people were killed and others wounded today when US troops fought insurgents in the restive Sunni Muslim town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, a witness said.
There was no official confirmation of the report but US forces sealed all the roads leading to Fallujah, barricading residents inside the flashpoint town
"US forces bombed the Goland residential neighbourhood after coming under mortar attack from unknown assailants," Borhan Abed, a resident of the northern Fallujah neighbourhood, said.
Several people were killed, others wounded and some houses hit, said Abed, adding that he went on to the roof of his house when the fighting started and saw US aircraft overhead.
According to Abed the fighting erupted at 4.00 am (10am AEST) and lasted 90 minutes.
US forces erected sand barricades on roads and bridges leading in and out of Fallujah.
The US-led occupation forces said meanwhile that they had closed the highways linking Baghdad to Jordan that run through Fallujah and the neighbouring town of Ramadi. The roads are normally busy each day with travellers entering and leaving Iraq.
Four US civilian contractors were ambushed last week by gunmen in Fallujah and the bodies of two hacked and mutilated, sending shock waves across the world. The US military has vowed a painful retaliation.
From news.com.au
Don't you get it? There isn't going to be any "Fallujah thing." ....Marines Encircle Fallujah
(Operation Valiant Resolve commencing)
FALLOUJA, Iraq — Thousands of Marines surrounded this anti-American stronghold early today in preparation for a complex raid to retake control of the city and apprehend those responsible for last week's slayings of four U.S. security contractors.
The highly anticipated action, dubbed Operation Valiant Resolve, was expected to be one of the biggest military offensives since the fall of Saddam Hussein's government a year ago.
All roads leading to this city of 300,000 were cut off and barricaded with tanks and concertina wire. Working through the cold and windy desert night, under a large moon, Marines set up camps for detainees and residents who might flee any fighting. Before dawn, several Marine positions were hit by mortar rounds and rocket-propelled grenade fire. Bursts of automatic gunfire could be heard throughout the city.
The name of the operation certainly is impressive; however, a series of "precise raids" falls far short of what Fallujah deserves. We'll see...
Have faith in President Bush and our very capable military.
"April 2 — The four American contractors who were killed and mutilated in Iraq were "targets of opportunity" who had the bad luck to drive into a pre-planned ambush site, U.S. intelligence sources say.
Iraqi insurgents had set up several ambush points around Fallujah, the city west of Baghdad that is a hotbed of anti-American sentiment, and had stocked them with gasoline on the morning of the attack, intelligence sources told ABCNEWS.
Some townspeople had been warned to stay inside.
"This was clearly an attack to get maximum media exposure," said one source.
The four contractors left the Iraqi city of Taji on Tuesday to escort a convoy of several flatbed trucks full of goods. The plan was to spend the night at a U.S. base called TQ, west of Fallujah. Instead, the convoy ended up at a base east of Fallujah.
On Wednesday morning, with two contractors in the lead SUV and two others in an SUV at the rear of the flatbeds, a decision was made to drive through Fallujah.
Each of the security guards was armed with an assault rifle and an automatic pistol. The contractors also had satellite communications on board.
At around 8 a.m., the convoy approached a traffic circle on highway 10 going into the city.
According to intelligence sources, eyewitnesses say a vehicle full of gunmen pulled in front of the lead SUV, while occupants from several other vehicles fired Kalashnikov machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
The contractors were killed, but the truck drivers escaped by driving away. "
Sorry, I don't know how to link, but here is the URL where you can read the rest of the story.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/World/fallujah_attack_040402-1.html
Yeah, all those Mexicans driving planes into buildings are a real threat.
So it's only millions of Mexican's that are ignoring our laws and borders? There couldn't be hundreds, or even thousands entering with them with agendas of death?
And then you make this extremely ignorant statement like this below?
You seem unable to distinguish between military/security matters and social concerns/problems.
You obviously wouldn't know a massive security threat if walked into it face first.
Tell me Mr. Security expert, how you know that there are not north Koreans, terrorist groups, religious fanatics, communist Chinese, drug dealers, and others with agendas of death not pouring in along with the millions of Mexican's that are ignoring our laws?
Could you explain to all of us Mr. security expert how you know this? And why would an enemy NOT take advantage of this?
Bush has provided tremendous leadership in dealing with our principal danger
Then tell me Mr. security expert, why did the President fail to reform our out of control immigration policies, and secure our borders and sovereignty at midnight on 9-11?
If we are so damn concerned about the terrorist threat to America, why in hell are we allowing literally millions, from God knows where, to enter this country illegally, at will, routinely?
Those of us that are not in a coma, understand it's a national security timebomb.
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