Two Germans, Two Iraqis Killed South of Baghdad

16/03/2004| IslamWeb

Two Germans working on a water-supply project south of Baghdad were shot dead Tuesday. They were killed in an attack Tuesday on the outskirts of the town of Mussayab, some 70 kilometers south of Baghdad, said Dr. Jamal Kadhim, head of the emergency department at Mussayab General Hospital. Their Iraqi driver and a police officer were also killed, and two police were injured, The AP added. Kadhim said he saw the passports of the two Germans, though a German embassy official in Baghdad said one was German and one was Dutch. Police chief Col. A'ayed Omran said they were working on a project at Al-Razzaza, a lake near the southern city of Karbala, and that they were carrying weapons because they had been attacked in the same area before. **Iraqi Women Killed in Mosul, Three US Christian Missionaries Shot Dead*** Also Tuesday, another shooting took place when attackers killed the sister of an Iraqi translator working for the U.S. army in the northern city of Mosul and injured her brother, according to police. Initially, the American military said one of its translators had been killed but later stated the victim was a relative of the translator. Police officials said the slain woman, a pharmacist, may have been confused with her sister who works as a translator on a U.S. Army base in Mosul. On Monday evening, Iraqi fighters opened fire at a car carrying U.S. Christian missionaries in Mosul. Three were killed instantly and a fourth died later in hospital, the U.S. army said. According to witnesses, the missionaries had been driving through Mosul in a civilian vehicle without a military escort. **US Downplays Importance of Spanish Withdrawal*** Meanwhile, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez spoke before the attack on the Europeans. "Clearly there has been a shift in the insurgency and the way the extremists are conducting operations," Sanchez said during a military ceremony in the northern city of Tikrit. "It is very clear they are going after these targets that might create some splits within the coalition." Sanchez cast doubt on whether Spain would withdraw its 1,300 soldiers from Iraq, as the new prime minister has said he will do if the United Nations doesn't take over peacekeeping by June 30. But he said that if they do, the loss would not be "a significant military problem" for the U.S.-led forces. "I think that it is still evolving," Sanchez said. "We will have to wait a few days." **PHOTO CAPTION*** U.S. Army troops at the scene after an explosion in a crowded residential street in Baghdad, March 16, 2004. (REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz)