A rchive Date
[ 02-12-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/11/29/272366-ap.html
U.S. military: Samarra ambushes well-co-ordinated
By SABAH JERGES
Mon, December 1, 2003
SAMARRA, Iraq (AP) - One of the bloodiest engagements since the fall of Saddam Hussein showed a new, deadlier side of the Iraqi insurgency: stepped up, co-ordinated assaults by groups of guerrillas bent on battle rather than a hit-and-run attack, the U.S. military said Monday.
"Here it seems they had the training to stand and fight," said Capt. Andy Deponai, whose tank was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade during the firefight Sunday in Samarra, north of Baghdad. Residents disputed U.S. assertions that dozens of Iraqi fighters died, saying fewer than 10 were killed and that most of those were civilians.
The well-coordinated ambushes signalled an escalation of guerrilla tactics, although the attack in Samarra was unsuccessful. A dozen cars lay gutted and wrecked in the streets Monday, and bullet holes pocked many buildings. A mosque and a kindergarten also were damaged.
Brig.-Gen. Mark Kimmitt said that in one of the ambushes, a dozen attackers dashed out of a mosque and opened fire on U.S. military vehicles. They also fired from alleyways and rooftops.
"It was a large group of people," Kimmitt said in Baghdad. "Are we looking at this one closely? Yes. Is this something larger than we've seen over the past couple of months? Yes. Are we concerned about it? We'll look at it and take appropriate measures in future operations."
Insurgents struck elsewhere Monday. West of Baghdad, gunmen ambushed a U.S. military convoy, killing one soldier, the U.S. military said. The attack with small arms fire occurred near Habbaniyah, 80 kilometres west of Baghdad, the military said.
A U.S. army general said Iraqi insurgents in Baghdad appear to have a central leadership that finances attacks and instructs eight to 12 rebel bands operating in the city when to attack and when to lie low.
But Brig.-Gen. Martin Dempsey said the instructions were not specific.
"The manner of attack is up to the individual bands as long as the efforts disrupt and discredit the U.S.-led coalition and any progress it has made," said Dempsey, who commands the army's 1st Armored Division, which controls Baghdad and the surrounding region.
He said he believed a recent lull in attacks in Baghdad stemmed from an order to refrain from action during coalition offensives against guerrilla targets.
The fighting in Samarra, 100 kilometres north of the Iraqi capital, represented a greater level of co-ordination in the Iraqi insurgency, although U.S. forces said they had anticipated the attacks and blunted them with superior firepower.
Deponai said he was surprised by the scale of the attack on the convoys, which were carrying bundles of new Iraqi currency, and that 30-40 assailants lay in wait near each of the two banks where the money was being delivered.
"Up to now you've seen a progression - initially it was hit-and-run, single RPG shots on patrols. Then they started doing volley fire, multiple RPG ambushes, and then from there, this is the first well-coordinated one," he said.
"It's hard to tell on the basis of one attack exactly what tactics may or may not be changing," Gen. Peter Pace, vice-chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a news conference with Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Brussels.
"The fact is that in this particular case, about 50 or so of the enemy did collect together for whatever reason they thought was appropriate," Pace said. "They attacked and they were killed. So I think it'll be instructive to them for future analysis when they're thinking about what they're going to do next."
The U.S. military said 54 Iraqis were killed. But Iraqi residents and hospital officials said the toll was much lower.
Five American soldiers were wounded, the U.S. military said. Soldiers said there was sustained firing at both banks for about 45 minutes, but that heavy fire from U.S. tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles overwhelmed the attackers.
U.S. commanders said some of the insurgents were wearing dark clothing and scarves over their faces, the favoured garb of Saddam's Fedayeen paramilitary force.
Residents said Saddam loyalists attacked the Americans, but that when U.S. forces began firing, civilians got their guns and joined in the fight. Residents said they were bitter about recent U.S. raids.
"Why do they arrest people when they're in their homes?" asked Athir Abdul Salam, a 19-year-old student. "They come at night to arrest people. So what do they expect those people to do?"
Six destroyed vehicles sat in front of the hospital, where witnesses said U.S. tanks shelled people dropping off the wounded. Although a kindergarten was damaged, no children were hurt.
At least 104 coalition troops died in Iraq in November, including 79 Americans. In terms of coalition losses, it was the bloodiest month of the war that began March 20.
As of Nov. 26, 434 U.S. service members had died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq, according to the Defence Department. Of those, 298 died from hostile action and 136 died of non-hostile causes, the department said. The total did not include Monday's reported death.
On Sunday, two South Korean contractors were killed near Samarra in a roadside ambush in what U.S. officials called a new campaign aimed at undermining international support for the U.S.-led occupation. Attacks Saturday killed seven Spaniards, two Japanese diplomats and a Colombian oil worker.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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