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Eight-Hour Gunbattle in Iraq, one US soldier killed, three injured, 92 Iraqis arrested
Naseer Al-Nahr, Asharq Al-Awsat
BAGHDAD, 30 September 2003 — In violence yesterday in the dangerous Euphrates River towns west of Baghdad, one soldier was killed and three were wounded in two separate roadside bombings, one of which prompted a firefight backed by attack aircraft, tanks and helicopters as US soldiers battled Iraqi resistance fighters for more than eight hours, US officials said.
In Baghdad, there was an assassination attempt on Jalaluldin Al-Saghir, a member of the committee studying how to write a new Iraqi constitution, said Hamid Moussa, a member of the US-picked Governing Council.
“What is happening is the result of the fragile security situation in which the Iraqis are living. The country lacks order and security,” Moussa said. He said it was not clear who was responsible for the attack.
Charles Heatley, spokesman for the American-led Coalition Provisional Authority, said a member of the constitution committee had been caught in a cross-fire but was not injured. A bodyguard was killed, Heatley said, refusing to give the name of the committee member.
The two bombings hit US military convoys in the adjacent towns of Habaniyah and Khaldiyah at about 9 a.m. The bombing in Khaldiyah prompted the big firefight in which two soldiers were injured and a civilian was hurt, according to Lt. Col. Jeff Swisher, of the 1st Infantry Division.
“At 9 this morning an American patrol was ambushed by IEDs (roadside bombs), RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and small arms fire. The patrol returned fire and support was called in,” Swisher said.
Americans began withdrawing at about 5:30 p.m. from the Al-Qurtan neighborhood on the north side of Khaldiyah, scene of several previous firefights between the US military and guerrilla fighters. Angry residents cursed at reporters who entered the fire zone after the battle.
Four houses in the farming suburb were badly damaged.
In Baghdad, US military spokesman Lt. Col. George Krivo said a homemade bomb exploded at about 9:10 a.m. as a US convoy passed in Habaniyah, killing one soldier and wounding another.
The American military also announced the arrest of 92 people in a series of raids aimed at those responsible for attacks against Americans north of the capital.
Six soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division were wounded Sunday in nearby Fallujah in another roadside bombing, US officials said.
In another incident, 4th Infantry Division troops late Sunday killed one Iraqi and captured three others in a shootout 15 kilometers south of Balad, US officials said. Troops found two M-16 rifles which belonged to two American soldiers who were abducted and killed in June, officials said.
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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