Posted on 01/24/2007 1:56:30 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -
U.S. and Iraqi troops clashed with gunmen firing heavy weapons from concrete high-rises in a Sunni insurgent stronghold north of the heavily fortified Green Zone on Wednesday. Iraqi's defense ministry said as many as 30 militants were killed and 27 captured.
Apache attack helicopters buzzed past the tall buildings and radio towers, with several Humvees on the tree-lined street below. Gunfire rang in the background as shells fell, according to AP Television News footage.
Black smoke rose from the area, on the west bank of the Tigris River about one mile north of the Green Zone, site of the U.S. and British embassies as well as the Iraqi government headquarters. The clashes were the second major fighting to break out in the area in less than a month.
There were conflicting numbers of insurgents reported killed and captured in the fighting, which began before dawn. Iraq's Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari told The Associated Press 30 insurgents were killed and 27 were arrested, including four Egyptians and a Sudanese man.
The U.S. military said seven suspected insurgents were detained and rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank rounds and 155 mm artillery rounds were seized. The American statement did not mention deaths.
The military reported separately that an American soldier was killed Wednesday in clashes near the city's center. Officials declined to give more specifics or say whether it was connected to the Haifa Street fighting. The military also said that two Marines were killed Tuesday in western Anbar province.
U.S. and Iraqi troops are gearing up for a broader security crackdown to quell the sectarian violence in the capital. Al-Askari said the fighting on Wednesday was not part of that plan.
A spokesman at the Cultural Ministry, Jabbar al-Mashhadani, told the AP that U.S. and Iraqi forces rushed into the building on the edge of Haifa Street and told all the employees to go home as they fanned out and sent snipers to the roof.
At least one civilian was killed and seven were wounded in the clashes, according to hospital and police officials.
Haifa Street, a major avenue in central Baghdad, was built in the late 1970s and former leader Saddam Hussein had several concrete high-rises built for loyalists as well as Arab dissidents, mainly Syrians who defected from the rival Baath Party branch in Damascus and moved to Iraq. Some university professors, presidential advisers and actors, also had homes there.
It has been the site of numerous clashes, including a major battle on Jan. 9, just three days after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced his new security plan for pacifying Baghdad.
At the beginning of Haifa street stands a bronze statue of Iraq's late King Faisal riding a horse.
The street cuts through the neighborhood where Saddam attended school as a teenager. He lived with his maternal uncle and future father-in-law.
During a visit to the neighborhood after the 1991 Gulf war, residents complained to Saddam about their poverty, prompting him to order homes demolished and new apartment complexes built.
Just off Haifa Street is a square where a large statue for Saddam's cousin and brother-in-law, Adnan Khairallah, stand to this day. It was widely believed that Saddam was behind a helicopter crash in 1989 in which Khairallah was killed because of the late defense minister growing popularity among Iraqis.
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Associated Press writer Qais al-Bashir contributed to this report in Baghdad.
Who says there's no good news out of Baghdad? /s
Action report....gloves are off.....on one side of town.
OOo.oo.oo.ohhh.. I hope their due process rights weren't violated. ;-)
Git it done!
Prayers for the good guys, time for the bad guys to give up!
Thank you!
About time. The American public is growing tired of hearing their sons and daughters coming home in body bags. Roadside bombs, ambushes, etc. Why does this happen? Perhaps it had to do with passive tactics? Engaging the enemy on our terms is what we need to do and doing so will enable people to support the leadership in charge of this war.
Good hunting!!!!
I'm withholding judgement until we hear from Capt. Jamil Hussein.
/s
LOL!
Jan. 24, 2007, 3:35PM
U.S., Iraqi troops clash in Baghdad
By KIM GAMEL Associated Press Writer
**********************************AN EXCERPT ******************************
BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. and Iraqi troops battled Sunni insurgents in high-rise buildings on central Baghdad's Haifa Street on Wednesday, with snipers on roofs taking aim at gunmen in open windows as Apache attack helicopters chattered overhead. Iraq said 30 militants were killed and 27 captured.
******************************************
The U.S.-Iraqi force faced fierce resistance from insurgents using hand-grenades, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms from the high-rises, the American military said. The explosions were so loud they could be heard across the capital. Black smoke rose from the area, located on the west bank of the Tigris River about a mile north of the Green Zone, site of the U.S. and British embassies as well as the Iraqi government headquarters.
At one point, U.S. and Iraqi forces rushed into an office building on the edge of Haifa Street and told all the employees to go home as they fanned out and sent snipers to the roof, according to Jabbar al-Mashhadani, a Cultural Ministry spokesman.
Excellent news.
Soon, hopefully, the easiest commodity to find in Baghdad will be American military gloves! They will be left all over town. Particularly easy to find in Sadr City.!
KILL KILL KILL! good news.
Sounds like hammer time.
More news like this please!
Imagine what they could do if their hands weren't tied behind their backs by an administration suffering from incurable political correctness....
Good. But U. S. troops need to be killing 30 thousand Muslims at a time, not just 30.
Keep in mind that Iraq is an Islamic nation. Muslims are loyal to Islam.
Frigen dirt ball islamist probabaly have been living high of the goat in these high rises with room service to boot. Hopefully a full sweep will be able to wipe every one of them out.
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