Posted on 07/21/2006 6:10:18 PM PDT by jmc1969
Iraqi forces backed by a U.S. helicopter battled Sunni gunmen south of Baghdad on Friday, and at least 11 combatants died. U.S. troops killed five Iraqis - including two women and a child - in a separate exchange of fire.
The civilian deaths came in an early morning raid in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, where American troops were looking for associates of al-Qaida in Iraq, the U.S. military said.
The Americans took fire from a rooftop and "several men were seen moving around," the military said in a statement. The troops ordered people to leave the building, but "these instructions were ignored," it said.
A U.S. aircraft fired on the building, and "a third attempt to call the occupants out of the buildings then failed before force was escalated," the statement added. "The troops secured the area using a combination of aerial and ground fire."
At about 1:30 p.m. Friday, gunmen opened fire in two neighborhoods of Mahmoudiya and Iraqi security forces responded, Capt. Ibrahim Abdullah said.
A U.S. military statement said 11 people were killed - five gunmen, three Iraqi soldiers and three policemen. An Iraqi statement put the death toll at 18 - 11 attackers, four soldiers and three policemen.
"This effective suppression of an apparent death squad by the Iraqi security forces, assisted by the coalition, shows exactly how security forces are working together to stop the violence," Johnson said.
(Excerpt) Read more at fortwayne.com ...
18 Islamofascists given dirt naps
The rat hunts down at the dumps shall continue.
I also wonder how they know the US forces killed the woman and child. I would not put it past the terrorists killing them to try to make the US forces look bad.
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