Posted on 06/13/2003 11:46:47 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
BALAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. forces killed 27 Iraqi fighters in a ground and air pursuit Friday after the Iraqis attacked an American tank patrol north of Baghdad, bringing the opposition death toll in four days of skirmishes to about 100, according to the military. Friday's clash came as American forces pressed forward with a massive sweep to crush resistance by supporters of Saddam Hussein's ousted regime north of Baghdad. Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers said U.S. forces were sifting through intelligence that "foreign fighters" may have been at an alleged terrorist training camp northwest of Baghdad bombed early Thursday by U.S. forces. In Washington on Friday, a senior Pentagon official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said about 70 opposition fighters were killed in Thursday's attack - most apparently non-Iraqis from other countries in the region. If confirmed, it would be the first indication since the war's end that non-Iraqi volunteers were still in the country. Before the war in March, Iraq claimed that thousands of Arab fighters poured into the country to resist the invasion. They provided some of the stiffest resistance once American forces entered Baghdad. Separately, U.S. troops acting on an intelligence tip arrested 74 people described as sympathizers of the al-Qaida terrorist network in a raid Thursday near the northern city of Kirkuk, said the U.S. Central Command. U.S. Central Command said an "organized group" ambushed the tanks with rocket propelled grenades near Balad, about 35 miles from the capital on the main highway north. The statement did not mention U.S. casualties. The patrol returned fire and killed four of the assailants in the initial gunbattle, the military said. When the rest of the attackers fled, Apache helicopters joined the chase along with tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, killing 23 more assailants. The statement did not say whether any escaped. Witnesses said the attackers rushed the tank column from a thicket of reeds near sunflower fields on an isolated rural road a few miles south of Balad. Bassem Abdul Rahim, a 22-year-old farmer, said he was hiding with his family in his house about 150 yards away when he heard the shooting and saw flashes of gunfire. After the clash, the Americans took away the bodies, he said. The tank patrol was from the Army's 4th Infantry Division, based in Fort Hood, Texas. The attack was the latest in increasing resistance to the American-led occupation of Iraq since the war was declared over on May 1. Since then, about 40 Americans have died in ambushes and sniper fire, mainly in central Iraq where Saddam drew most of his support. Six U.S. soldiers have been wounded in the past 24 hours in fighting throughout Iraq, Capt. John Morgan, spokesman in Baghdad for the Army's V Corps, said Friday. U.S. military officials in Baghdad declined to give details of Friday's sweep north of Baghdad, saying the operations were ongoing and more fighting was possible. On Thursday, American warplanes bombed an alleged training facility 90 miles northwest of Baghdad, looking for members of the now-banned Baath Party, Iraqi paramilitary groups and "other subversive elements," said a military statement. A fierce ground battle followed the air strike in which the Iraqi forces suffered heavy casualties. One American soldier was wounded, said the U.S. Central Command. "It was a tough fight. They were well-trained or well-equipped, and clearly well prepared for this, for the fight they had," Myers said at a Washington briefing Thursday. Also on Thursday, Iraqi fighters shot down an Apache helicopter gunship - the first American aircraft downed by ground fire since Saddam's ouster two months ago - and a U.S. F-16 fighter-bomber crashed Thursday. The crews of the aircraft were rescued unharmed. Earlier this week, U.S. forces launched a sweep through towns of the so-called "Sunni triangle" north of and west of Baghdad in central Iraq and marked at its top by Tikrit, Saddam's hometown. Coalition forces did not give a total of Iraqi casualties in the operation, but said about 400 Iraqis have been arrested and many were being interrogated. No Americans have been killed, said Sgt. Forest Geary of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division. Hundreds of U.S. troops moved in hard and fast through the area, centered on the town of Duluiyah 30 miles north of Baghdad. With helicopters whirring overhead and tanks offering cover, they kicked down doors and pulled out residents, looking for snipers who had harassed them for weeks from the shelter of thick woods. "During the day, the people are calm and friendly, but at night they've been ambushing us," said Geary. The aggressive raids angered people in Duluiyah, who complained of needlessly heavy-handed tactics by the Americans. A man complained his 6-year-old son was handcuffed, and a family claimed that a man died of a heart attack because U.S. forces refused to let them give him his medicine. As part of the effort to root out militants, the American civilian administrator of Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, on Thursday banned gatherings, pronouncements or publications that incite disorder or violence against the U.S.-led occupation forces, or the return of the Baath Party. U.S. military officials also said two Iraqi prisoners were shot trying to escape from a camp Thursday. One of the men later died of his wounds and the other was recaptured, U.S. Central Command said. The United States is holding more than 2,000 Iraqis, including more than half of the 55 Iraqi most-wanted by Washington. --
"It was a tough fight. They were well-trained or well-equipped, and clearly well prepared for this, for the fight they had," Myers said at a Washington briefing Thursday.
That's putting it mildly. I would have said, "We kicked the snot out of 'em despite their training, preparation and equipment."
LOL!
In Powell's world, only Jews need show restraint.
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