|
8 soldiers die 14 days { June 9 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/09/international/middleeast/09CND-IRAQ.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/09/international/middleeast/09CND-IRAQ.html
June 9, 2003
U.S. Soldier Shot and Killed in Iraq, 8th to Die in 14 Days
By DAVID ROHDE
AGHDAD, Iraq, June 9 — Unknown gunmen shot and killed an American soldier at a checkpoint in Western Iraq today, continuing a series of attacks that have killed eight American soldiers in 14 days.
Military officials acknowledged that the casualty rate in Iraq of one soldier killed every other day on average- has risen sharply. But they said they believed that the recent deployment of additional American soldiers to central Iraq will curb the threat.
"We are not going to allow it," said Capt. John Edwards, a military spokesman in Baghdad. "We are going to decisively engage."
There has also been a spate of attacks on American forces in Baghdad, but none of them have proved fatal. Over the last eight days, unknown men attacked an American patrol with hand grenades and small arms in Adhamiya, an American military policemen was shot in the chest in the Sadr City neighborhood, and a grenade was thrown into an American humvee in the Mansoor district. Military officials also said there were two grenade attacks in the capital.
Military officials said the deaths have occurred in smaller cities in central Iraq, particularly the city of Falluja. In the three weeks after President Bush declared the end of hostilities in Iraq on May 1, two American soldiers were killed and at least seven were wounded in hostile incidents, according to Defense Department records. In the last two weeks, casualties have surged with, eight soldiers killed and at least 19 wounded in attacks.
Military officials said they believe small groups of hardened Saddam Hussein loyalists are behind the strikes. Carried out in and around small towns and cities in central Iraq, they often involve tactics Iraqi irregulars successfully employed at the outset of the war — hitting "soft targets" such as resupply convoys and isolated checkpoints.
Military officials say the strikes are being carried out locally and do not represent the emergence of an organized nationwide resistance. Radical Islamists and foreign fighters may also be involved, they added.
But the continued clashes are having a direct impact on the return of normalcy for investment, business leaders say. They could complicate American plans to project an air of stability in the country and eventually reduce the number of American troops here. The American administrator, L. Paul Bremer III, met with Iraqi businessmen today.
Though the shootings promote an image of continued strife in Iraq, conditions are gradually returning to normal, particularly in Baghdad.
Pervasive gas lines are down to almost prewar lengths thanks to the flood of coalition supplied fuels to the national network. The food distribution system that provided sustenance to 60 percent of the population has resumed. And the lack of customs and tariff duties at borders has engendered a flood of small- scale trade as shops reopen; sidewalks are stacked high with appliances and electronics goods trucked in from Jordan and Kuwait.
But stopping the isolated and unpredictable attacks is proving difficult. Nearly all of the attacks have taken place in Sunni Muslim dominated central Iraq, the area where Mr. Hussein, a Sunni Muslim himself, enjoyed his strongest support.
The latest killing occurred late Sunday night at an American checkpoint in the town of Al Qaim, roughly thirty miles from the Syrian border, military officials said.
An unknown number of individuals drove up to a checkpoint saying they needed help for a "sick" person in the car, officials said. Two people armed with pistols stepped out of the car and shot the soldier.
Other soldiers manning the checkpoint returned fire, killing one of the gunmen and capturing a second. At least one other assailant fled in the car.
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Home | Privacy Policy | Search | Corrections | Help | Back to Top
|
|
