Posted on 09/30/2003 10:46:05 AM PDT by TaxPayer2000
KHALDIYAH - US officials say major combat in Iraq was over five months ago but you could not tell it by the scene in Khaldiyah yesterday as American troops used tanks, helicopters and an F-16 jet to fight their way out of an ambush.
For more than four hours, US soldiers and Iraqi fighters waged pitched battles after a convoy came under rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) and bomb attack in a farming area between Khaldiyah and Ramadi, west of Baghdad.
"Four jeeps and a tank were heading for Ramadi at 9:00 am (0500 GMT) when a bomb exploded under one tank, then two jeeps were hit by rocket-propelled grenades," said Mohammad Mahmud, an 18-year-old Iraqi student.
The rockets set the humvees ablaze while the tank was not damaged in the attack but within seconds heavy gunfire rang out across the area amid conflicting reports on the number of casualties.
Mahmud said he saw "many" US soldiers killed and at least five bodies evacuated by helicopter, while two Iraqis were wounded one in the leg and the other in the chest.
But farmer Jassim Mohammad (23) said six soldiers were evacuated by helicopter and only one humvee was destroyed.
The US army confirmed that two soldiers were wounded in an ambush.
AFP correspondents at the scene saw two Black Hawk helicopters land in Khaldiyah and one left with four wounded.
Two US ambulances rushed to the site while several US warplanes and helicopters roared overhead.
Villagers said four Iraqis were hurt, including a 65-year-old woman who was evacuated by US helicopter to a hospital after she was hit in the shoulder.
Gunmen hiding in fields fired Kalashnikov assault rifles and RPGs, keeping the US convoy pinned down and isolated for nearly two hours before the first tanks reached the area.
The thud of RPGs and cannons and the rattle of gunfire echoed throughout the morning.
As Black Hawk ambulance helicopters evacuated the wounded, other choppers buzzed the region and fired at least six rockets while a Bradley light armoured vehicle and an Abraham tank pounded the zone.
The battle occurred near a string of small villages known as Jazira al-Khaldiyah on the outskirts of Khaldiyah town - a conservative Sunni Muslim region west of Baghdad.
Anti-US attacks have been frequent in the area since the ouster of Saddam Hussein in April.
"Each time the Americans are attacked we rejoice," said Taleb Arak, a 36-year-old farmer.
"The Americans should not travel freely on the roads that pass in front of our homes.
Everytime they do this we will attack them," he said.
More US reinforcements, including five humvees and a troop transport vehicle, were dispatched in the middle of the afternoon as intermittent gunfire rocked the region.
Minutes later a convoy comprising four tanks and at least five humvees was seen leaving the scene of the attack and heading for Khaldiyah.
But the gunmen entrenched in the fields opened fire again at the convoy with Kalashnikov rifles and RPGs.
By the late afternoon an F-16 fighter jet and two Black Hawk ambulance helicopters were flying over the region as the fighting died down.
According to several villagers, the air and tank fire used by the US forces to get out of the ambush left behind a trail of destruction.
Four houses, a chicken farm and power lines were damaged and several cows were killed or wounded because of US fire, according to farmers Saleh Ali and Moayed Abdelkader.
The US army said it arrested 14 Iraqis.
This almost sounds like it came from the DNC.
Stay safe, troops.
Or better yet, give him a little lead pill.
Steak. It's what's for dinner.
More like hamburger if they were hit by rocket fire...
If you attack each time convoy drive then maybe you should move stock and house too.
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