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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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February 22nd,
2007 - Civilians Die as U.S. Troops, Insurgents Clash |
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Civilians Die as U.S.
Troops, Insurgents Clash Women, Children Among Victims Associated Press February 22, 2007 03:08 PM Baghdad - U.S. troops
battled insurgents in fierce fighting that killed at least 12 people in the
volatile Sunni city of Ramadi, the military said today. Iraqi authorities
said the dead included women and children. The six-hour firefight began
after U.S. troops were attacked by insurgents with small-arms fire and
rocket-propelled grenades Wednesday evening in eastern Ramadi, said marine
spokesman 1st Lt. Shawn Mercer. The fighting ended after
"precision-guided munitions" damaged a number of buildings being
used by the insurgents, he said. Twelve insurgents were killed and three
wounded, Mercer said. He said there were no civilian casualties. However, Dr. Hafidh Ibrahim
of the Ramadi Hospital said 26 people, including four women and children,
were killed when three houses were damaged in the fighting. An Associated Press
photographer saw the bodies of two small boys wrapped in a blanket, one with
a bloody face, the other ashen and with mud on his mouth, his hands crossed
on his chest. Four or five bodies were covered by blankets, while several men
pulled at a pile of rubble and concrete bricks outside, apparently the
wreckage of one of the destroyed houses. Ramadi, the provincial
capital of the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Anbar, has seen some of the
bloodiest street battles of the war. U.S. and Iraqi authorities,
meanwhile, vowed to fight back after so-called "dirty" chemical
attacks signalled a change in insurgent tactics. Maj.-Gen. William Caldwell,
the chief U.S. military spokesman, said a raid on five buildings near
Fallujah uncovered three vehicle bombs that were being assembled with about
65 propane tanks and ``all kinds of ordinary chemicals." He added that
he believed the insurgents were going to try to mix the chemicals with
explosives. Meanwhile, four Iraqi
soldiers have been accused of raping a 50-year-old Sunni woman and the
attempted rape of her two daughters in the second allegation of sexual
assault levelled against Iraqi forces this week. Brig.-Gen. Nijm Abdullah
said the attack allegedly occurred about 10 days ago in the northern city of
Tal Afar during a search for weapons and insurgents. A lieutenant and three
enlisted men denied the charge but later confessed after they were confronted
by the woman, a Turkoman. Abdullah said a fifth soldier suspected something
was wrong, burst into the house and forced the others at gunpoint to stop the
assault. A second rape allegation
within a single week is likely to undermine further the reputation of Iraq's
security services, which the U.S. hopes can take over from coalition troops
so the Americans and their allies can go home. Today's raid came a day
after insurgents blew up a truck carrying chlorine gas canisters, killing
five people and sending more than 55 to hospitals gasping for breath and
rubbing stinging eyes. Brig.-Gen. Qassim Moussawi,
an Iraqi military spokesman, said the investigation into the attack was still
underway. "But what is obvious to
us that the terrorists are adopting new tactics to cause panic and as many
casualties as they can among civilians.... Our plans also are always
changeable and flexible to face the enemies' new tactics." Thunderous explosions
reverberated through Baghdad earlier today as the security crackdown in the
capital entered its second week. Violence has continued to hit the city of
six million people, although not at the high levels of earlier this year. A mortar attack struck the
predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Adil in western Baghdad, wounding at
least four people, including a child, police said. External link: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/184686 |