54 Iraqis killed in Samarra battle ( 2003-12-02 00:25) (Agencies)
The U.S. military said 54 Iraqis were killed in the northern city of Samarra
as U.S. forces used tanks and cannons to fight their way out of simultaneous
ambushes while delivering new Iraqi currency to banks. But residents said Monday
that the casualty figure was much lower and that the dead were mostly civilians.
Iraqi children look
through a window broken during a gun battle between U.S. troops and
insurgents in Samarra, December 1, 2003. Nearly 80 percent of Iraqis have
little or no trust in U.S.-led occupying forces and most place their faith
in religious leaders instead, according to a major survey published in
Britain on Monday. [Reuters]
By the American
account, Sunday's fighting was the bloodiest combat reported since the fall of
Saddam Hussein's regime in a U.S.-led invasion.
West of Baghdad, assailants ambushed a U.S. military convoy on Monday,
killing one soldier, the U.S. military said. The attack with small arms fire
occurred near Habbaniyah, 50 miles west of the Iraqi capital, the military said.
The U.S. military said attackers in Samarra, many wearing uniforms of
Saddam's Fedayeen paramilitary force, struck at two U.S. convoys at opposite
sides of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.
Capt. Andy Deponai, whose company took part in the fighting, said the
guerrillas had deployed about 30-40 men at each ambush site.
The scars of the battle were evident Monday. About a dozen cars lay destroyed
in the streets, many apparently crushed by tanks, and bullet holes pocked many
buildings. A rowdy crowd gathered at one spot, chanting pro-Saddam slogans. One
man fired warning shots in the air when journalists arrived at the scene.
There was no U.S. military presence in the city center Monday. Shops opened,
and residents moved around town.
At a news conference at a U.S. military base in Samarra, Col. Frederick
Rudesheim said the American convoys were on a mission to deliver currency to
banks when the coordinated ambushes took place.
"That was a given location that they knew we would go to," Rudesheim said.
"This was done in a concerted fashion."
At the U.S. base, half a dozen suspects were seen with bags over their heads
and their hands bound by plastic cuffs.
Many residents said Saddam loyalists attacked the Americans, but that when
U.S. forces began firing at random, many civilians got their guns and joined the
fight. Many said residents were bitter about recent U.S. raids in the night.
"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?"
"Civilians shot back at the Americans," said 30-year-old Ali Hassan, who was
wounded by shrapnel in the battle. "They claim we are terrorists. So OK, we are
terrorists. What do they expect when they drive among us?"
Many residents said the Americans opened fire at random when they came under
attack, and targeted civilian installations. Six destroyed vehicles sat in front
of the hospital, where witnesses said U.S. tanks shelled people dropping off the
injured. A kindergarten was damaged, apparently by tank shells. No children were
hurt.
"Luckily, we evacuated the children five minutes before we came under
attack," said Ibrahim Jassim, a 40-year-old guard at the kindergarten. "Why did
they attack randomly? Why did they shoot a kindergarten with tank shells?"
Military officials in Baghdad said they haven't reported a deadlier attack
since May 1, when U.S. President Bush declared major combat over. U.S. officials
have only sporadically released figures on Iraqi casualties, and wouldn't say
whether there has been a deadlier unreported firefight.
The U.S. military initially said 46 Iraqi fighters died and five American
soldiers were injured. But Monday's statement raised the Iraqi dead to 54.
Residents of Samarra disputed those figures, saying at most eight or nine
people died. Three bodies lay in the hospital morgue. There was no way to
reconcile the accounts.
The scale of the attack and the apparent coordination of the two operations
showed that rebel units retain the ability to conduct synchronized operations
despite a massive U.S. offensive this month aimed at crushing the insurgency.
At least 104 coalition troops have died in Iraq in November, including
79 American troops. In terms of coalition losses, it has been the bloodiest
month of the war that began March 20.
As of Nov. 26, 434 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of
military operations in Iraq, according to the Department of Defense. Of those,
298 died as a result of hostile action and 136 died of non-hostile causes, the
department said. This total did not include Monday's reported death.
Also 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 of Iraq. Attacks
on Saturday killed seven Spaniards, two Japanese diplomats and a Colombian oil
worker.
The bodies of the two Japanese diplomats were flown to Kuwait and
arrangements are being made for transporting them home, a Japanese diplomat said
Monday on condition of anonymity.
In Seoul, the South Korean government vowed Monday to stick by plans to send
up to 3,000 troops to Iraq despite the killing of two South Korean engineers.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated Monday his vow that the
attack on the Japanese diplomats would not alter Tokyo's commitments to send
non-combat troops, provide humanitarian aid and participate in the
reconstruction of Iraq.
