Posted on 03/26/2003 7:51:19 AM PST by JohnHuang2
US report says soldiers killed in Iraq tried to surrender
WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - One report reaching the U.S. military said that some of the 12 soldiers whose supply convoy was ambushed near Nassiriya in southern Iraq on Sunday were killed by their captors although they tried to surrender, a U.S. defense official said on Wednesday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the report received from the field said that the U.S. soldiers "weren't given the opportunity to surrender. They attempted to surrender." Some of the U.S. soldiers instead were killed by the Iraqi forces, the official said.
The official did not characterize the nature or reliability of the intelligence information on which this report was based. The official also did not indicate where the surrendering soldiers were slain.
Another defense official said the U.S. military had received "mixed reports" about the incident.
U.S. officials have said an Army supply convoy apparently made a wrong turn during a battle near Nassiriya, and members of an Army maintenance unit were ambushed by Iraqi "irregular forces." U.S. officials say 12 soldiers were missing.
Five U.S. soldiers being held as prisoners were shown being interrogated on Iraqi television. The dead bodies of several others also were shown on Iraqi television. Some of the bodies appeared to have bullet wounds to the forehead, suggestive of possible execution, and were shown sprawled on the floor of a room in puddles of blood.
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