US Troops Under New Attacks, as Casualties Mount

30/09/2003| IslamWeb

US forces used tanks, helicopters and a fighter jet to battle their way out of a heavy ambush in Iraq as troop and civilian casualties continued to mount in what is becoming a security quagmire. And while an Iraqi politician narrowly escaped an assassination attempt, the European Union urged a transfer of sovereignty within a "realistic schedule" as Washington prepared to submit a new resolution to the United Nations. In farmland near the central town of Khaldiyah, US soldiers and Iraqi fighters waged pitched battles for more than four hours Monday after a convoy came under rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) and bomb attack. "Four jeeps and a tank were heading for Ramadi at 9:00 am when a bomb exploded under one tank, then two jeeps were hit by rocket-propelled grenades," said Mohammad Mahmud, an 18-year-old Iraqi student. Witnesses said the Americans took heavy casualties, and AFP correspondents saw two Black Hawk helicopters land in Khaldiyah, one of which left with four wounded. Two US ambulances rushed to the site while several helicopters and a US warplane roared overhead. According to villagers, the US air and tank fire left a trail of destruction. Houses, a chicken farm and power lines were damaged, farmers said. The army said it arrested 14 Iraqis. In another incident, a US military spokeswoman confirmed that one soldier died and another was wounded in a bomb attack on a convoy around the nearby town of Habbaniyah, where a large US base is located. The attacks were the latest in the Sunni Muslim region west of Baghdad where anti-US sentiment runs high and attacks on American forces have been frequent since Saddam Hussein was removed from power in April. Meanwhile, the Iraqi civilian death toll continued to rise as US forces west of the northern city of Kirkuk killed a 10-year-old child and wounded a 25-year-old man when they opened fire on hundreds of demonstrators who pelted them with stones, hospital director Abdullah Jiburi said. The US army did not provide confirmation of the report. An AFP correspondent on the scene said the casualties occurred when around 500 protestors carrying portraits of Saddam took to the streets of Hawija and began pelting US soldiers with stones. It came as the US military confirmed that six US soldiers were wounded Sunday in a bomb attack on a convoy in Fallujah, 50 kilometres west of Baghdad. On the diplomatic front Monday, the European Union called for Iraqis to regain sovereignty from the US-led coalition within a "realistic schedule", but divisions between Britain and France remained in plain view. At a meeting in Brussels, EU foreign ministers "underlined the importance of the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty and the establishment of a fully representative Iraqi government through democratic elections". In a statement, Britain and the rest of its EU partners said they "acknowledged the necessity to reach agreement on a realistic schedule for handing over political responsibility to the Iraqi people". The United States is set Tuesday to present a new resolution at the United Nations Security Council calling for a multinational force and help in paying the financial cost of rebuilding Iraq. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Iraqis stand around a shell that was fired by US troops in the city of Khaldiyah, 100 kms west of Baghdad. (AFP/Karim Sahib)