US occupation forces have tried to storm the northern Iraqi city of al-Qaim, but have been repelled by resistance fighters, Aljazeera's correspondent reports. The clash occurred after a mortar attack on a US military base in the Jamarik area in the city near the border with Syria on Saturday. Witnesses told Aljazeera several US soldiers had been injured in the attack. "US helicopters were seen transferring the injured to hospital," the witnesses added. Columns of smoke were seen rising from the base. The city is totally paralysed, reported the correspondent. Only armed resistance fighters are seen in the streets, he added. US apache helicopters were seen flying over the city. A medical source told Aljazeera at least two children had been injured by random gunfire.
| The source is al-Jizz, which makes the story suspect. If true, it looks like the Bad Boyz are trying to open up another "insurgency" front. It won't be something we can let stand, especially since I'd guess the gunnies would be Hezbollah. |
Fox News verion...
U.S. Marines fought pitched battles against about 150 gunmen in Qaim, near the Syrian border, the city police chief said. Six Marines and scores of insurgents were killed in the 14-hour battle, an embedded journalist from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. A U.S. military spokesman could not confirm the report.
... and the Post-Dispatch story...
Six Marines were killed and scores of insurgent Iraqis slain in a fierce 14-hour battle Saturday between Marines and mujahedeen fighters who slipped into this town near the Syrian border.
| ... from, ummm... Portugal. Or someplace. |
According to Marines, an estimated 300 Iraqis from Fallujah and Ramadi launched an assault against the Americans in Husaybah around 8 a.m., beginning with a roadside bombing and a flurry of 24 mortars. When Marines responded to the bombing, they were met with small-arms and machine-gun fire as they neared a former Baath Party headquarters. Marines responding to the call for help were mortared and strafed as they made their way into the city. Additional Marines then joined in the fight. Fighting continued late into the night as Marine Cobra helicopter gunships strafed enemy positions near a downtown soccer stadium and Marine helicopters continued to take wounded to their main base 22 miles away at Camp Al-Qaim. At least nine Marines were injured and about 20 Iraqis captured, Marines said. The detainees were taken to Camp Al-Qaim late Saturday night for questioning. All of the Marines were killed in the first hour of the fighting, four of them when they went to clear out a house where Iraqi fighters were hiding. The battalion commander, Col. Matthew Lopez, said he believed the Marines had crushed the insurgents' attack. "I don't think they expected us to retaliate as hard as we did," said Lopez, 40, of Chicago, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines.
| Doesn't read an awful lot like the al-Jizz story... |
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