Ordinary Iraqis Wage a Successful Battle Against Insurgents (Citizens stop terrorists)

NY Times ^ | March 22, 2005 | ROBERT F. WORTH

[neverdem]

BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 22 - Ordinary Iraqis rarely strike back at the insurgents who terrorize their country. But just before noon today, a carpenter named Dhia saw a troop of masked gunmen with grenades coming towards his shop and decided he had had enough.

As the gunmen emerged from their cars, Dhia and his young relatives shouldered their own AK-47's and opened fire, police and witnesses said. In the fierce gun battle that followed, three of the insurgents were killed, and the rest fled just after the police arrived. Two of Dhia's young nephews and a bystander were injured, the police said.

"We attacked them before they attacked us," Dhia, 35, his face still contorted with rage and excitement, said in a brief exchange at his shop a few hours after the battle. He did not give his last name. "We killed three of those who call themselves the mujahedeen. I am waiting for the rest of them to come and we will show them."

It was the first time that private citizens are known to have retaliated successfully against insurgents. There have been anecdotal reports of residents shooting at attackers after a bombing or assassination. But the gun battle today erupted in full view of half a dozen witnesses, including a Justice Ministry official who lives nearby.

The battle was the latest sign that Iraqis may be willing to start standing up against the attacks that leave dozens of people dead here nearly every week. After a suicide bombing in Hilla last month that killed 136 people, including a number of women and children, hundreds of residents demonstrated in front of the city hall every day for almost a week, chanting slogans against terrorism. Last week, a smaller but similar rally took place in Baghdad. Another demonstration is scheduled for Wednesday in the capital.

Like many of the attacks here, today's gun battle had sectarian overtones. Dhia and his family are Shiites, and they cook for religious festivals at the Shiite Husseiniya mosque, across from Dhia's shop. The insurgents are largely Sunnis, and they have aimed dozens of attacks at Shiite figures, celebrations, even funerals. The conflict has grown sharper in the past year, with Shiites now dominating Iraq's new police force and army and holding a narrow majority of seats in the newly elected national assembly.

The attack unfolded in Doura, a working-class neighborhood in southern Baghdad where much of the capital's violence is concentrated. A number of assassinations and bombings have taken place here in recent weeks, and the police openly acknowledge they have little control.

Just hours before the gun battle this morning, an Interior Ministry official was gunned down in Doura as he drove to work, officials said.

Elsewhere in Iraq, insurgents continued their campaign of violence. In the northern city of Mosul, four civilians were killed this morning and 14 wounded when a roadside bomb detonated near an American military convoy, health officials said. The bomb did not appear to have harmed the convoy, witnesses said, but destroyed four or five civilian cars that were passing near it on the Sunharib bridge, in the city center.

In Anbar province, the troubled area west of Baghdad, gunmen kidnapped six Iraqi soldiers today as they walked to a bus station, The Associated Press reported.

Just before the gun battle in Doura began, witnesses saw the gunmen circling near the Husseiniya mosque in three cars, said Amjad Hamid, 25, who works in Iraq's Ministry of Justice. They stopped near Dhia's shop, across from the mosque.

The men carried pistols and guns, and one had a belt full of hand grenades, Mr. Hamid said. They drove an Oldsmobile, a gray Honda, and a red Volkswagen Passat.

When the shooting began, Mr. Hamid said, his mother ran outside shouting his name, and was struck by bullets in the leg and the ear.

After a group of insurgents fled, leaving the Honda and three of their dead behind them, one was left behind, said the Doura police chief. The gunman broke into a nearby house and hid there, holding the residents at gunpoint, until his friends arrived and drove him away, the police chief said.

The owner of the house, who spoke on condition that he not be named, said the gunman entered through the garage and made his way to the living room.

"I heard the screaming of the women, so I went to see what was the matter and I saw a guy holding an AK-47," the man said.

The homeowner said the gunman then shouted: "Keep me here for a short time until I can leave the area or I will kill you all. I don't want anyone to leave this room."

They obeyed. The gunman telephoned some friends, and stayed for about an hour until they arrived to pick him up. Before he left, the owner of the house said, he issued a final warning: "If you scream or call the police, my friends will come and kill you. They know where you are."

Two of Dhia's nephews who were with him during the attack, one aged 13, one 24, were wounded, family members said. After the police arrived, they recovered the bodies of the three dead insurgents, who were identified through documents in their clothing as Abdul Razzaq Hamid, Abdul Hamid Abed, and Zaid Safaa, officials said.

Hours later, Dhia was still furiously cursing the mujahedeen when he spoke to a reporter in his carpentry shop. A Shiite cleric quickly told him to stop talking, and he complied.

Meanwhile, a group of armed neighborhood men stood watch on the roof of the house, guarding the streets leading to the Husseiniya mosque and Dhia's shop.

"I am sure they will be back," one of the guards said. "We killed three of them."

Layla Isitfan contributed reporting for this article.

[neverdem]

The real militia stop the enemy. Woe is the NY Times!

[pkp1184]

God Bless 'Em!!

[finnman69]

Amazing but to be expected. Osama's last video to Zarqawi was the breaking point. A Saudi telling a Jordanian to kill Iraqis was the last straw.

Soon even the Times will be hard pressed to call them terrorists. Its transitioning from a terrorist problem to a criminal problem

[Future Snake Eater]

Wow. An armed society is (or will be) a polite society.

[anonymoussierra]

Iraq Ping

[Dr. Frank fan]

Awesome.

[Dutchgirl]

good news bump.

[SittinYonder]

Who would have thought we'd be cheering RKBA in Iraq? This is great! Hope this guy sleeps with one eye open tonight.

[OXENinFLA]

Tue Mar 22, 6:31 AM ET
The bodies of three men are removed after they were killed in clashes between insurgents and armed local residents in the Dora section of Baghdad, Iraq (news - web sites), Tuesday, March 22, 2005. Iraqi Police were also involved in the firefight, witnesses said. (AP Photo/Jalal Muther)
Tue Mar 22,11:47 AM ET
A body arrives at Yarmuk hospital following a shooting in the Dora district of Baghdad. Iraq (news - web sites)'s winning Shiite and Kurdish political blocs allocated ministries in the first elected post-Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) government, while Iraqi police announced the arrest of 30 men implicated in dozens of murders, beheadings and rapes.(AFP/Sabah Arar)
Tue Mar 22, 2:14 PM ET
A boy holds his bandaged leg in the emergency room of the Yarmuk hospital, as causalities are brought in following a shooting in the Dora district of Baghdad.(AFP/Sabah Arar)
Tue Mar 22, 7:50 AM ET
A relative waits with Muqdad Abdul-Karim, 12, at al-Yarmouk Hospital after he was wounded during a gun battle between insurgents and armed civilians in the Dora section of Baghdad, Iraq (news - web sites), Tuesday, March 22, 2005. Militants riding in three cars opened fire on people shopping along a main thoroughfare, and shopkeepers and residents returned fire, officials said. (AP Photo / Karim Kadim)

[boofus]

The real Iraqi minutemen finally make their appearance. Ordinary citizens defending their families and livelihood against islamofascist thugs.

I wonder what that sack o crap michael moore has to say about this.

[mainepatsfan]

How did this story get past the Times editors?!

[RightWhale]

Coffeyville. Iraq is going through the wild (mid)west stage.

[sheik yerbouty]

Isn't it interestiong that Iraqis have more gun rights than Americans? Am I the only one who finds this odd?

[DennisR]

"In the fierce gun battle that followed, three of the insurgents were killed, and the rest fled just after the police arrived."

This is the news I have been waiting for - the ordinary citizens (that is, not "the government") taking care of the native terrorists themselves. This will hopefully give the terrorists second thoughts on being able to kill with impunity.

In other news, the Libs/Dems will soon want to outlaw guns in Iraq - too dangerous for the ordinary citizen.

[Stopislamnow]

huah!

[Future Snake Eater]

Isn't it interestiong that Iraqis have more gun rights than Americans?

Nah, not really. From what I've been told repeatedly all of my life, we're far more civilized than most and don't need the guns.

However, since the Iraqis now have a police force (meaning one or more police officers in the country), isn't it about time for the commies to start clamoring for the disarmament of the Iraqi people?

[timtoews5292004]

how do you mean they have more gun rights? everything I've read implies severe restrictions on guns, at least in number. They're allowed one AK-47 per family, and one sidearm/pistol. If by types of guns they're allowed, then yes, they might have more rights (or at least different rights) than us Americans. But the numbers say otherwise.

[eyespysomething]

Hey! Those are the real freedom fighters at work! Against the real insurgants.

[Billthedrill]

Well, between 40 and 50 terrorists jumped some Kentucky MP's the other day and took 85% casualties, which is one argument for going after softer targets. It's also a recommendation for the targets to harden themselves.