Posted on 04/12/2004 6:46:02 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - American troops killed hundreds of insurgents in and around Baghdad in fighting over the past week, but have more work to do to fully secure the city and roads to the south and west that are vital for U.S. supply transport, a top U.S. military official said Monday. In the heaviest battles seen in the capital since the fall of Saddam Hussein a year ago, U.S. troops battled Sunni insurgents on the western edge of Baghdad - at one point for nearly 72 hours straight - and fought rebellious Shiite militiamen in a densely populated neighborhood on the east side, Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling said. The sustained gunbattles, ambushes targeting fuel supplies and a rash of kidnappings that coincided with the violence over the past week marked a dramatic departure from guerrillas' usual tactics of roadside bombs and mortar and rocket attacks. However, coordination between the Shiite and Sunni gunmen, seen most plainly in the northern neighborhood of Azamiyah, proved to be tactical and short-lived, Hertling said. "I got to tell you, we've killed a lot of people carrying weapons and RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) this week," Hertling, a deputy commander of the Germany-based 1st Armored Division said Monday. "And when I say a lot, I am talking in the hundreds." Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said Monday that U.S. troops killed about 700 insurgents across Iraq since the beginning of the month. Around 70 coalition troops - almost all Americans - were also killed. Hertling, whose unit shares responsibility for Baghdad's security with the 1st Cavalry Division, did not have a specific number of insurgent deaths. Also, it was not known if Hertling's estimates were among those 700; if not, the death toll may rise significantly. The battles in Baghdad erupted after U.S.-led forces in Iraq began fighting on two fronts in Iraq, besieging Sunni insurgents in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, and fighting an uprising by the militia of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the south. "There are elements of these militia groups that are forming everywhere and attempting to take advantage of the situation. We are not going to let them do that," Hertling told The Associated Press. "Full security has not been established yet in Baghdad, but it will be. It's stable now," he said. Fighting was most intense Saturday and Sunday when, according to Hertling, an average of 42 engagements took place on each day. "There was a lot of RPG firing and a lot of ambush activities," he said. At one point late last week, he added, soldiers fought insurgents continuously for 72 hours in Abu Ghraib, a neighborhood near the airport on Baghdad's western outskirts. An Apache attack helicopter was shot down Sunday and its two crew members were killed. Most of the fighting in and around Baghdad took place in Abu Ghraib, the eastern Shiite district of Sadr City and the restive Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah. Hertling said most of those who fought U.S. troops last week were members of al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army and the Sunni Mohammed's Army, an organization widely suspected to be an umbrella group of former intelligence agents, army and security officials and members of the banned Baath party. In Abu Ghraib, they included Sunni extremists, criminal gang members and unemployed youths. Details of the fighting have been sketchy, but most areas of the capital have over the past week been frequently rocked by the sound of explosions. Much more gunfire than usual has been heard in Baghdad over the past week. The military must still fully secure Abu Ghraib and the towns of Iskandariyah, Mahmoudiya and Youssifiya to the south of Baghdad, Hertling said. Several fuel trucks were destroyed during the week's fighting. On Monday, gunmen attacked a convoy of flatbed trucks carrying M113 armored personnel carriers south of the capital and set them ablaze. A supply truck was in flames on the road from the airport, near Abu Ghraib. Looters moved in to carry away goods from the truck as Iraqi police looked on. Hertling said it would take "some additional effort to clean it up. We are continuing to fight at Abu Ghraib." He said that U.S. forces planned to restore law and order in the three towns south of Baghdad. Despite the fighting, there was no fear at any time of the situation spiraling out of control and toward a full-blown insurgency in the city of 5 million, he said. "The great majority of the people in the city want to get normal, they want to get stable and secure," he said. --
That's a good start.
Hundreds and hundreds actually. He heard. I keep hearing the words "deadly accuracy" when folks talk about Marines.
Did you notice the demand by that cleric in Fahjullah?
He demanded the withdrawl of the Marine snipers. It must be quite unerving to have the heads of your fellow jihadis continue to dissappear in a cloud of pink mist.
It's weird how our marines never seem to hit the people actually shooting at them.
How can you tell if a Marine sniper is in the area?
Hand your AK-47 to the guy next to you and step away for a moment.
Do you have a link for this ?
This time our media is on its own. They are not liking it. They don't have the guts to go in with no military protection. So they are stuck with words and nothing but the milder pictures taken after areas are secured.
Somehow I don't think Iraq is ready for self government.
It was posted as a FreeRepublic thread this morning. I'll try to find it.
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