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Five US soldiers are killed in iraq { July 8 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/08/international/middleeast/08CND-IRAQ.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/08/international/middleeast/08CND-IRAQ.html
July 8, 2004
Five U.S. Soldiers Are Killed in Iraq as Mortars Hit Base
By SOMINI SENGUPTA
BAGHDAD, Iraq July 8 — Mortars slammed into an American base in the so-called Sunni Triangle north of here this morning, killing five United States soldiers and at least one Iraqi guardsman, while the abduction of a Filipino driver working with United States-led coalition forces prompted President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines to order her citizens to stop traveling to Iraq in search of work.
Filipinos are among the legions of foreign workers who ferry goods, wash dishes and cook meals for American soldiers and contractors here. In recent months, even those who come from countries that have nothing to do with the United States-led coalition have become ripe targets for anti-American insurgents.
A Pakistani driver working on a United States military base was threatened with execution and then, released last week after eight days in captivity. Two Turkish air conditioning repairmen, working on an American-funded reconstruction project, were released by their captors after promising to quit. Egyptians and Lebanese workers have also been taken hostage.
On a video broadcast by Al-Jazeera, the Filipino hostage was shown seated in front of his three masked abductors. They identified themselves as the Iraqi Islamic Army-Khaled bin al-Waleed Corps and threatened to execute him in 72 hours unless his country pulls out of Iraq. A Philippine television station identified the hostage as Angelo dela Cruz, a driver working for a Saudi company.
Among the armies of low-end service workers in this country, 4,000 are from the Philippines alone. Labor officials in that country said 400 left for Iraq last week. Today, with a new government ban, 120 Filipinos en route to Iraq were prevented from boarding their plane in Manila.
The number of Filipino workers overshadow the number of Filipino troops here — 51 — whose mission is scheduled to end this month. President Arroyo made no mention today of their fate in Iraq.
The mortar attack that killed five American soldiers and at least one Iraqi occurred in Samarra, a hotbed of the Sunni insurgency 60 miles north of here, the United States military said. It said the deadly attack targeted a building used jointly by American and Iraqi forces. American troops responded by lobbing mortars and Hellfire missiles on suspected hideouts.
Reuters reported that two Iraqi guardsman were killed in the attack. The clashes left three civilians dead and injured 20, The Associated Press reported, quoting a hospital source in Samarra.
A previously unknown group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq claimed responsibility today for the March killing of four American security contractors in Fallujah, also in the Sunni Triangle.
Meanwhile, in a Baghdad suburb, a former Baath Party official was killed by a bomb planted in his car, The A.P. reported.
The violence came a day after Iraqi Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, unveiled a raft of emergency measures designed, he said, to combat the insurgency.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
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