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Mosul gun battle { April 15 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/15/international/worldspecial/15CND-NORT.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/15/international/worldspecial/15CND-NORT.html
April 15, 2003
Clash in Mosul Complicates Already Troubled U.S. Arrival
By DAVID ROHDE
MOSUL, Iraq, April 15 - At least 10 Iraqis were reported killed and 16 injured today in a clash in northern Iraq that Marines called a gun battle and Iraqis described as the shooting of unarmed civilians. The deaths further complicated the already troubled arrival of American troops in Mosul, a city considered a center of Iraqi nationalism.
Today's firing began this morning as a group of marines tried to secure the main government building in downtown Mosul. A first attempt to secure the building by a dozen American special force soldiers last Friday ended with the Americans coming under fire and retreating.
The building - a six-story high, block long monolith - appears to have become the focus of a test of wills between American forces pouring into the area and unknown gunmen lurking in the center of the city. Col. Robert Waltemeyer, the commander of American special operations forces here, remained in the building all day today with several hundred Marines and planned to sleep there through the night.
This morning, roughly 130 marines secured the governate, the rough equivalent of a city hall, for a civil affairs team that planned to re-open it as a sign of normalcy in a city racked by looting and gunfire since Iraqi forces withdrew last Thursday. But a large crowd, three thousand people by the marines' estimates, quickly formed around the building. From there, the American and Iraqi version of events are completely different.
Col. Andrew P. Frick, commander of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which began arriving here only two days ago, said men in the crowd began firing at the marines. The Americans withdrew into the building and continued to receive fire, he said.
When they fired warning shots over the heads of people in the crowd, most of the Iraqis dispersed, he said. When shots continued to hit the governate, the marines decided anyone still in the area was hostile.
"The marines said `OK, the fight is on,"' Colonel Frick said. "And the marines returned accurate fire."
Wounded Iraqis in the city's general hospital today gave a starkly different version of events. They said a controversial Iraqi opposition leader, Mishaan Al-Jabouri, started speaking to the crowd and hailing the arrival of American forces in Mosul.
"They began throwing stones," said Fateh Tata Abed, a 32-year-old man shot in the chest and upper arm. "And the American forces started shooting at us."
A second man, 39-year-old Sadullah Ghanal, gave roughly the same version of events. "After we threw stones at Mishaan Jabouri," he said, "the Americans started to fire on us."
Doctors said all but one of the 26 casualties were men. Mr. Ghanal said he worked in the governate but was not in the building when he was shot. Mr. Abed, the second wounded man, said he was a soldier.
The one female casualty was a wide-eyed 11-year-old girl who shared a hospital ward with the two men. Doctors displayed an X-ray showing a chunk of shrapnel embedded in her lung. Relatives said she had been on the roof of a nearby building when she was struck.
For the remainder of the day, American fighter jets flew low passes over the center of Mosul.
Initially, frightened residents ran for cover, apparently thinking they were under attack, and rumors quickly spread that the low-flying American planes were dropping bombs. As residents grew used to the overflights, they grimaced, plugged the ears and glared at the sky as American F-14 and F-18 fighter jets repeatedly roared overhead.
The activity was in sharp contrast to the city on Monday, the first day of relative normalcy in Mosul since Iraqi forces withdrew. After at least 15 deaths, rampant looting and repeated shots fired at American soldiers, some shops opened on Monday and some streets hummed with traffic. After treating gunshot wounds for days, hospitals reported a new type of injury - falls from the balconies of the opulent presidential palace open to the public for the first time here.
Reactions to the shooting today seemed to reflect the increasingly polarized sentiment toward the United States here. All across Mosul, more and more Iraqi flags have been appearing on streets, a statement of support for Iraq, not Saddam Hussein, according to Iraqis. Those flags appear as American forces patrol the city in vehicles flying large American flags of their own.
Outside the general hospital, the gulf between American and Iraqi perceptions of the United States role here was on full display. After an American jet roared a few hundred feet overhead, causing hospital workers to glance fearfully at the sky, a doctor lambasted American tactics.
"This is terrorism! This is terrorism!" shouted the doctor, as the windows of the hospital rattled. "We are scared. What about the children? What about the sick people?"
A few feet away, an American special forces soldier guarding the hospital said Iraqis were misunderstanding American actions here. "The marines took fire and had to return it," he said, referring to the shooting.
And the planes roaring overhead?
"These are to break up the crowd," he said, referring to groups of young men still gathering near the governate building this afternoon. "It's a show of force, but people don't understand it. They're not grateful."
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company |
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