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Iraq |
Central Command Reports Ambushes Repelled |
2003-12-01 |
SAMARRA, Iraq – 4th Infantry Division and Task Force Ironhorse soldiers repelled multiple ambush attempts on two separate logistic support convoys in the afternoon of Nov. 30, killing 46, wounding at least 18 and capturing eight in the city of Samarra. Many of the dead attackers were found wearing Fedayeen uniforms. Five soldiers were wounded; two sustained minor injuries and will return to duty. None were life threatening, although three soldiers did require addition treatment and were evacuated to a nearby medical facility. A civilian in the convoy was also wounded and was evacuated to the same location. Both convoys were moving into Samarra when they were attacked with improvised explosive devices, small arms, mortars and rocket propelled grenades. The attackers attempted to block one of the convoys’ way with a makeshift barricade. The barricade was immediately breached. The logistic support convoys were moving to two separate locations in Samarra. The coordinated simultaneous attacks occurred at approximately 1:30 p.m. One attack occurred on the east side of the city and one on the west. Soldiers fought the attackers at numerous locations in both ambushes. The exchanges lasted for many minutes as the convoy vehicles moved through the city. At each location soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 66th Armor and military police returned fire with small arms, 120mm tank rounds and 25mm cannon fire from Bradley Fighting Vehicles. In all of the clashes Coalition firepower overwhelmed the attackers, resulting in significant enemy losses. The attackers fired rocket propelled grenades and automatic weapons at the convoys from the rooftops of buildings and from alleyways. Three of the buildings the attackers used for cover during the ambush were destroyed by Coalition fire. At approximately 2:25 p.m., in a separate attack, in another section of Samarra, 244th Engineer soldiers were traveling in a convoy when four men using automatic weapons, riding in a black BMW, ambushed them. The soldiers returned fire, wounding all four. The attackers were eventually captured. The soldiers searched the vehicle and discovered three AK-47 assault rifles and two rocket propelled grenade launchers. Reuters: TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. soldiers killed 46 Iraqis and captured eight trying to carry out a series of attempted ambushes on U.S. convoys in the central Iraqi city of Samarra on Sunday, a U.S. military spokesman said. |
Posted by:Chuck Simmins |
#8 Announcing the number of dead enemy combatants is a fairly new turn, isn't it? For the longest time it wasn't talked about. Does anyone recall when that changed? |
Posted by: eLarson 2003-12-1 1:58:10 PM |
#7 Just got the Nightline email update, and they're going to focus on this incident tonight. Unfortunately, they appear to have activated the "Questions have been raised..." macro in their scripting software. |
Posted by: snellenr 2003-12-1 1:29:49 PM |
#6 I'd be willing to bet that the fedhayeen are riddled with double agents . . . and that many of the EPWs have turned stool pigeon . . . and that those al Jazeera reporters are are selling them down the river to the CIA. Or not . . . or two out of three . . . or the cell phones are tapped . . . or something. Or maybe that's all a disinformation campaign. Have a good night's sleep, jihadis. |
Posted by: Mike 2003-12-1 11:24:49 AM |
#5 ? It seems like we had a huge amount of firepower immediately available. Almost like we expected the attack. Told you that embedding Al-Jizz reporters in our units would pay off. |
Posted by: Steve White 2003-12-1 11:18:22 AM |
#4 Does anyone else think this might have been a setup, QBoat type activity? It seems like we had a huge amount of firepower immediately available. Almost like we expected the attack. |
Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2003-12-1 10:49:52 AM |
#3 An ambush on US troops in Iraq's city of Samarra was an attempt to seize new Iraqi banknotes, the US military say. "It was a co-ordinated attack... on a convoy... delivering a significant amount of Iraqi currency," US Colonel Fredrick Rudesheim told reporters. The number of Iraqis killed by US forces in Sunday's fighting had risen to 54 from 46, the US military says. Residents of the central Iraqi city disputed those figures, saying at most eight or nine people died. US spokesman Lieutenant Colonel William MacDonald said that US forces had fought back with tank fire when they were attacked three times by militants wearing uniforms of the pro-Saddam Fedayeen fighters. American forces destroyed three buildings being used by insurgents, he said. "We're sending a clear message that anyone who attempts to attack our convoys will pay the price," the spokesman said. Samarra is within the so-called "Sunni triangle" north of Baghdad - the heartland of Saddam Hussein loyalists. |
Posted by: Steve 2003-12-1 9:19:47 AM |
#2 well of course they're already claiming that: http://www.rantburg.com/default.asp?D=12/1/03#22012 |
Posted by: joe 2003-12-1 9:16:39 AM |
#1 Of course the Iraqis now say all the dead were innocent civilians.....working in a "baby-milk-factory" no doubt |
Posted by: Frank G 2003-12-1 8:33:15 AM |