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| Iraq |
| Samarra Ambushes Briefing Dec. 1, 2003 |
| 2003-12-03 |
| Good afternoon. I’d like to take this opportunity to review last night’s engagement in Samarra. On 30 November, elements of the 4th Infantry Division were assigned to provide security to the Iraqi currency exchange team as they conducted dinar exchange at two banks in Samarra. Coalition forces assigned to the mission were a tank company from 166 Armor, reinforced with two squads of military police and four squads of infantry. They employed eight tanks, four Bradley fighting vehicles and six up-armored Humvees. The total size of the coalition force was 93 soldiers. The scheme of maneuver for the security element was to pre- position into the city of Samarra in advance of the arrival of the convoy. The plan was for the convoys to enter the city in two elements simultaneously in order to conduct currency exchange operations. The teams would then withdraw with the military police, followed by the security elements. At 11 a.m., the initial security elements started movement into the city. Coalition forces reported contact with the enemy and the simultaneous explosion of two roadside bombs. The explosions wounded three soldiers, who were treated for shrapnel-related injuries and returned to duty. The unit continued the mission to set up security in the vicinity of the banks. By 1245, the security elements moved into positions around both banks. By 1325, the ICE convoy arrived at the Samarra bank. At that time, the bank came under small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire from multiple directions. The fire was determined to be coming from the windows and roofs of nearby buildings as well as from alleyways and from nearby vehicles. Coalition forces returned fire to defeat the enemy while the currency exchange was executed. Once finished, the ICE team departed back to the north, followed by the security element. During this engagement, two coalition soldiers were injured, as well as a member of the ICE team. Twenty-four enemy were estimated to have been killed in that engagement. As coalition forces moved north back out of the city, at about 1400 the enemy attempted to barricade -- to set up a barricade to prevent forces from leaving the area. The barricade was breached by friendly forces and our soldiers began to engage the enemy again. Five more enemy fighters were estimated killed as they attempted to launch rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. At approximately 1340, coalition forces at the Al Mulya (ph) Bank in the western part of the city were attacked by enemy small-arms and rocket-propelled grenades. Initial reports show that at least 12 attackers, all armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades, were seen running out and firing at coalition forces from a nearby mosque. After engaging the initial wave of enemy from the mosque, coalition soldiers came under fire from enemy forces who were using nearby rooftops, gates and walls as cover. Coalition forces returned fire, and an estimated 22 enemy attackers were killed. After completing the dinar exchange at that bank, the convoy and security elements moved back out of the city. During these engagements, another coalition convoy was moving through Samarra. At 1422, the unit reported that it was engaged by four men in a black BMW with small-arms fire. Coalition soldiers returned fire and wounded all four men and cpatured the vehicle. Inside the car, three AK-47s and two rocket-propelled grenade launchers were captured. In this engagement, five coalition soldiers were injured, none with life-threatening injuries, and four of them were returned to duty. Fifty-four enemy personnel were estimated to have been killed, and an estimated 22 were wounded. One enemy is in detention at this time. Q: It’s quite clear, from the reports from the hospital, that -- as well as the battlefield assessments of dead insurgents you give, there were a large number of innocent civilian bystanders who were caught up in the crossfire. Both -- the chief of police, the chief of the hospital, the administrative director of a nearby state-owned enterprise are all adamant that they were killed by U.S. fire, and they all concur that that fire was indiscriminate. I’m sure you would say that it wasn’t indiscriminate, but nonetheless the impression has been given in the town that there was indiscriminate fire. And both members of the tribal council and members of the municipal council have called on all U.S. troops to withdraw from the fire. Was it a successful operation in that light? GEN. KIMMITT: Well, first of all, two points. Let’s remember that our soldiers were being fired on. Our soldiers were performing a mission, and our soldiers were attacked. Second, we have no such reports from either the Iraqi police service nor the medical facility in Samarra that would corroborate the reports that you’re making. If we do in fact get those reports, that will be entered into the investigation as well, and they’ll be examined, and a judgment will be made. However, we have not received any reports of collateral damage nor wounding or killing of innocent civilians, as you assert. |
| Posted by:Chuck Simmins |
| #2 Al-jihad - er al-Jazeera - is spinning the counter-ambush as an attack on civilians. Lying snots! |
| Posted by: Vlad the Muslim Impaler 2003-12-3 9:04:07 PM |
| #1 "However, we have not received any reports of collateral damage nor wounding or killing of innocent civilians, as you assert." "And while we are waiting for such reports, I will be happy to step from behind this podium and bitch slap you for accusing my men of murder. Why don't you go talk to Sammy -- he's the expert on murdering civilians." |
| Posted by: Matt 2003-12-3 3:10:08 PM |