*IRAQ: latest news and developments

[Barking_Mad]

US troops kill three-year-old boy in Tikrit

U.S. forces fired on a civilian car in Tikrit, killing a three-year old boy and wounding six women and children as well as their male driver, Iraqi police and relatives said on Saturday. Police said U.S. soldiers based in Saddam Hussein's hometown, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, shot at the family's red car in the town on Friday night.
"There was a family; four children, three women and their driver," an Iraqi police major said. "The U.S. forces fired on them and all of them were injured. One child was killed."

A Reuters reporter at Tikrit hospital saw a U.S. officer visiting the wounded in hospital on Friday night. A U.S. military spokesman in Tikrit said on Saturday he had no information about a child being killed. Major Neal O'Brien said he knew of one incident in which four Iraqis were injured after their car ran a checkpoint.
"At about 7:15 (1615 GMT) last night a patrol engaged a civilian vehicle that refused to stop at a checkpoint," he said. "Four Iraqi civilians were injured and evacuated by Iraqi ambulance." He said there were two cars involved in the incident.

Reuters Television footage showed a red car full of bullet holes. The seats were covered with shattered glass and stained with blood. Iraqi police heard the gunfire and came out to the scene with an ambulance. Doctors said the three-year-old died in hospital from severe wounds to his stomach.

"The Americans are criminals," his mother May Qahtan said from her hospital bed on Saturday. "Saddam is the only terrorist? The Americans are the ones killing all these people, all these children. Isn't that terrorism?"

Linked here from oiginal Reuters article: http://www.iraqwar.ru/iraq-read_article.php?articleId=42405&lang=en

 

[Barking_Mad]

Reported vents for 29/03/04

03/29/04 Centcom: 1 Soldier Killed, 1 Wounded near Al-Habbaniya
A 13th COSCOM soldier is dead and one is injured as the result of an improvised explosive device attack near Al-Habbaniya at approximately 10:30 a.m.

03/29/04 AP: 2 New Hampshire soldiers injured in Iraq
Sgt. Jason Weaver, 30, of Franklin, was shot in the left leg, and Spec. Gerard Lamson, 26, of Ashland, suffered shrapnel wounds to both hands when their police patrol was attacked in Mosul.

03/29/04 DOD: DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
Pfc. Leroy Sandoval Jr., 21, of Houston, Texas, died March 26, due to hostile fire in the Al Anbar Province

03/29/04 DOD: DoD Identifies Marine Casualty
Master Sgt. Timothy Toney, 37, of Manhattan, N.Y., died March 27, due to a non-combat related incident at Camp Wolverine, Kuwait.

03/29/04 Reuters: U.S. Soldier Killed in Bomb Attack Near Falluja
A U.S. soldier was killed on Monday when a bomb was detonated beside a military convoy near the flashpoint town of Falluja west of Baghdad, the U.S. army said.

03/29/04 utv: British "Civilian" Killed Was On Leave From The Army
Colour Sergeant Christopher Charles McDonald, 39, was in Iraq but not on military duty when he was killed in the northern city of Mosul, the Ministry of Defence said.

03/29/04 AP: Aberdeen Soldier Injured In Iraq
An Aberdeen soldier has been seriously injured in Iraq. According to the South Dakota National Guard's Web site, Sergeant Sean Lessin suffered a head injury while loading a military convoy. The injury was not related to combat.

03/29/04 BBC: British troops clash with Iraqis - 2 Wounded
Two British soldiers have been injured after troops clashed with dozens of Iraqis.

03/29/04 AP: US Soldiers Kill Four Insurgents In Northern Iraq
U.S. soldiers in the northern city of Mosul shot and killed four rebels suspected of involvement in attacks in the region, the military said Monday.

03/29/04 Centcom: Updated Marine Killed In Action
CAMP MEK, Iraq - One Marine assigned to the 1st Marine Division was killed as a result of enemy action in the Al Anbar Province on March 26.

http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx

 

[Barking_Mad]

Spanish Troops Break Up Iraq Protest

Iraqis, protesting delays in processing their applications for police jobs, hurled stones at Spanish soldiers and Iraqi police on Tuesday in the southern city of Najaf. Witnesses reported gunfire, and at least three police and two protesters were wounded. Fifteen people were detained in the three-hour confrontation.

The protest began when about 400 people gathered outside a government building to demonstrate against a delay in processing their job applications. They began throwing stones, smashing windows and burning a guardhouse, witnesses said. Spanish troops, who are responsible for security in the area, arrived later to restore order.

One witness, 22-year-old Falah Hadi, said he saw a stone strike a female Spanish soldier on the head. The soldier staggered, and then fired one round at the crowd, Hadi said. Spanish radio station Cadena Ser reported that a female Spanish soldier and five Iraqis were injured. In Madrid, Spanish Defense Ministry officials denied that a Spanish soldier was injured.

Two civilians suffered gunshot wounds, said Zaman Karim, an official at al-Sadr Educational Hospital. One policeman was hit by a rock, another suffered a gunshot wound and a third was hit in the arm by a club, according to police Lt. Bilal al-Ghazali.

http://www.gadsdentimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040330/API/403300668

 

[Barking_Mad]

Five Coalition Soldiers Killed in Iraq Attack

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Five soldiers of the U.S.-led occupation force in Iraq were killed on Wednesday when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb west of Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman said. The spokesman declined to say what nationality the soldiers were, but the vast majority of troops operating in the al-Anbar province west of Baghdad are U.S. Marines.....

....In a separate incident also west of Baghdad, insurgents attacked two cars and set them on fire, burning several passengers and dragging one body outside, dancing around it and making the victory sign, witnesses said.

They said the cars were four-wheel drives, similar to those used by members of the U.S.-led occupation authorities in Iraq. One witness said insurgents in the town of Falluja shot at the vehicles with small arms.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4708703&section=news

 

[nino_savatte]

I wonder why they declined to tell us the nationalities of the dead soldiers. What possible reason could they have apart from trying to massage the casualty figures? They are probably American and this would take the military death toll to somewhere near the 600 mark.

 

[Barking_Mad]

I wonder why they declined to tell us the nationalities of the dead soldiers. What possible reason could they have apart from trying to massage the casualty figures? They are probably American and this would take the military death toll to somewhere near the 600 mark.

As you say, its probably just because they'd rather not draw attention to who they were. 'Dead coalition soldiers' is rather more vague. I found this too. Makes for quite horrific reading. Fallujah has really kicked off over the last few weeks.

Iraqis drag body through streets

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Jubilant Iraqis have dragged the burnt body of what appears to be a foreigner through the streets of the volatile town of Falluja and thrown stones at a corpse still inside a car engulfed with flames....

.....Reuters Television footage from Falluja showed two civilian cars ablaze. Residents shouted "Long Live Falluja" and "Allahu Akbar" ("God is Greatest") as they danced around the vehicles waving their arms in the air and making the victory sign.

Pictures showed at least one person kicking a burnt corpse as it lay on the ground and stamping on its head. A dead man, who appeared to be a foreigner with fair hair and in civilian clothes, lay in the road beside one of the cars, his feet on fire and blood stains on his white shirt.

Other pictures showed chanting Iraqis dragging a badly burnt corpse through the streets. It was not clear whether the bodies were the same ones or different. Witnesses said the two four-wheel drive vehicles were stopped and attacked as they were travelling in opposite directions through the centre of Falluja.

Some locals said up to six people in the cars had been killed, others that there were three or four dead. Anti-American feeling is rife in the town, 50 km (32 miles) west of the capital. Insurgents regularly attack U.S. military convoys, planting bombs or firing rocket propelled grenades and small arms.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040331/325/epy2o.html

 

[Barking_Mad]

US Dead for March reaches 50 - Highest monthly total since the 'end of the invasion'

If any sign of the strength and willingness of the resistence is needed then you need look no further than this months US dead list. Despite US troops conducting less patrols a total of 50 troops have died this month making it the highest total US monthly total since the war ended in April. It also, as Nino said above, brings the total US dead to one short of 600.

At the height of the invasion 65 US troops died in March of last year and 73 in April. Given that context it must raise some very serious questions.

Figures here: http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx

 

[Barking_Mad]

Update on the 'foreign nationals' killed in Fallujah. I wonder if they are part of a security team. This is horrific.

Footage from Associated Press Television News showed a charred body of one of the dead men, and the targeted vehicles in flames nearby. Some of the slain men were wearing flak jackets, said Safa Mohammedi, a resident.

APTN footage showed one American passport near a body.

Another resident, Abdul Aziz Mohammed, said angry crowds dragged the bodies through the streets, dismembered them and hanged some of the mutilated corpses. One man beat a corpse with a metal pole. Residents tied a cord to another body, tied it to a car and drove it down a street.

"The people of Fallujah hanged some of the bodies on the old bridge like slaughtered sheep," Mohammed said. "I saw it myself."

The identities of the slain men were unclear. One resident displayed what appeared to be dog tags taken from one body. Residents also said there were weapons in the targeted cars. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=506915

 

[nino_savatte]

After the US bombed a bomb shelter in Fallujah in 1991, it only stands to reason that this place will be dangerous. The only problem is the US military planners can't understand it. How thick is that?

 

[Barking_Mad]

All this is very sad but highly predictable. I notice Mr Cannuck hasn't been on here to preach about how the death toll is falling and how it was all predicted. I'd put this months total down to a couple of things. Firstly it shows that the resistance hasn't been "brought to its knees" as a US General stated in late January, secondly they've shwown that they can move and shift tactics very effectively making them one step ahead of the US troops. Despite all the raids and arrests they just keep coming.

And with 12 year olds saying the following, its hardly surprising.

A young boy beat one of the incinerated bodies after it was pulled down with his shoe as a crowd cheered.

"I am happy to see this. The Americans are occupying us so this is what will happen," said Mohammad, 12, looking on.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, there are a lot of part time soldiers who have just arrived in Iraq due to the troop rotation eg. National Guard. They are woefully inexperienced and completely unprepared for this type of situation.

I really have to feel sorry for these poor bastards - shoved into a war zone and expected to do the same job as 'professional' soldiers. Hopeless, truly hopeless.

Remember the Sunni Triangle? Well it seems to now cover a far greater area of the country. UK forces in Basra have had some lucky escapes over the last few weeks. Numerous car bombs which have only wounded troops and a couple of violent protests.

The talk in the media has somewhat recalled from talk of a 'quagmire', which is quite ironic as it resembles one now far more than it did late last year.

 

[Barking_Mad]

US Dead in Iraq hits 600. Total dead passes 700.

http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx

 

[TinyCrendon]

BM is cool

 

[Barking_Mad]

More trouble in Basra.

At Least One Killed During Protest in South Iraq

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - At least one Iraqi was killed in clashes between protesters and Iraqi police in the southern town of Basra on Thursday, witnesses said. They said police were trying to control a group of about 100 people demanding that they be paid their salaries. The protesters threw stones and set tires on fire.

A Reuters photographer said he saw a dead man being carried away, his clothes stained with blood. The British military, responsible for security in Basra, said it had no immediate information.

On Monday, British troops clashed with demonstrators who threw stones and swung iron bars at the soldiers outside the offices of a religious organization. At least one protester and two British soldiers were wounded. Southern Iraq has generally been calmer than the rest of the country, but there have been several recent flare-ups, including a string of demonstrations in Basra. Most of the protests are held by former or current members of Iraq's security forces seeking payment of their pensions or monthly salaries.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4723743&section=news

 

[Barking_Mad]

A 'victory' for the resistance?

Iraq Trade Fair Postponed as Security Fears Grow

A high-profile U.S.-sponsored trade fair for companies rebuilding Iraq was postponed on Thursday, a day after the grisly killing and mutilation of four American contractors deepened fears that security was worsening. Iraq's U.S. governor, Paul Bremer, vowed to hunt down those responsible for ambushing the contractors in the restive city of Falluja, and those who then torched the corpses and dragged them through the streets before hanging them from a bridge.

"Yesterday's events in Falluja are a dramatic example of the ongoing struggle between human dignity and barbarism," Bremer said in a terse address at a police graduation ceremony. "The acts we have seen were despicable and inexcusable. They violate the tenets of all religions, Islam included, as well as the foundations of civilized society. Their deaths will not go unpunished.".........

.......The Falluja violence sparked renewed concern among foreign organizations operating in Iraq. Organizers of the Baghdad Expo, a major trade fair that had been due to start on Monday, said it was postponed -- a blow to U.S. efforts to draw investment to Iraq and project an image of a stable country conducive to doing business. No new date was set for the trade fair. International companies hoping to win a slice of Iraqi reconstruction had been due to take part in the exhibition, along with U.S. companies that have won most of the contracts Washington has awarded to rebuild Iraq so far.

But many companies had expressed concern about security at the event -- the site where it was due to be held was rocketed last month, and Baghdad's main hotels have also been repeatedly attacked with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. Washington hopes economic growth in Iraq will help undermine the guerrilla insurgency, but so far, the lack of stability and security in some parts of Iraq has hampered reconstruction. Continued ...

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4725004&section=news

 

[Barking_Mad]

They're at it again in Fallujah...

U.S. Military Vehicle Set on Fire West of Baghdad

FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Insurgents attacked a U.S. military convoy near Falluja on Thursday and set a Humvee vehicle on fire, a day after people in the town west of Baghdad burned and mutilated four U.S. contractors, witnesses said. They said a convoy north of Falluja was attacked by a roadside bomb. It was not clear if there were any casualties. They said the U.S. soldiers drove away, but later left one empty Humvee, the U.S. all-terrain military vehicle, on the road. Iraqis then looted the vehicle and set it on fire. A few cheered and danced around the burning Humvee.

The U.S. military said it would not release any information on the incident until later on Thursday.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4723239&section=news

 

[Barking_Mad]

Other news so far from today

04/01/04 Interfax: Ukrainian peacekeepers avert explosion of U.S. Hummer in Iraq
Ukrainian peacekeepers in Iraq on March 31 prevented the destruction of a U.S. army Hummer vehicle, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry press service said.

04/01/04 AFP: Three Soldiers Wounded By Katyusha Rocket Fire In Kirkuk
In the northern city of Kirkuk three soldiers were wounded when five Katyusha rockets struck their base located in a local airport just west of the city early on Thursday, a US officer said.

04/01/04 AP: Convoy Attacked in Northern Baghdad
In northern Baghdad Thursday, two explosions near a U.S.-escorted fuel convoy wounded at least one Iraqi, witnesses said.

04/01/04 AP: Police fire on protesters in Iraqi city of Basra
Iraqi security forces fired on protesters demanding jobs as policemen in the southern city of Basra on Thursday, killing one demonstrator and wounding two others, officials said.

http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx

 

[Barking_Mad]

Security Proves Costly for Contractors in Iraq

Apr. 1--WASHINGTON -- Wednesday's killings of four U.S. civilian contractors in Iraq are likely to worsen what's becoming the biggest cost for many foreign companies that work there: insurance and security. So far at least 33 U.S. civilian contractors have been killed in Iraq.

In Wednesday's killings in Fallujah, Iraqis dragged the burned bodies of the four dead contractors through the streets. The workers were employees of Blackwater Security Consulting LLC of Moyock, N.C. For some contractors who work for the Defense Department, 40 cents out of every dollar spent goes for required insurance for workers, said Bunny Greenhouse, the chief contracting official for the Army Corps of Engineers. At least a dime to 15 cents of every dollar spent is for security, according to the inspector general for the Coalition Provisional Authority.

"Why are we paying 40 percent?" for insurance, Greenhouse asked in an interview Wednesday with Knight Ridder. "That's unbelievable. . . . Nobody foresaw that we were going to be in this kind of dilemma." .........

.......In his report issued Tuesday, the provisional authority's inspector general says such "rapidly escalating" costs are hampering the government's efforts to rebuild the war-torn nation. "The inability to accurately predict the costs of security including insurance raises questions about the need for more funding -- Iraqi, donor, or U.S. -- to accomplish the reconstruction mission," Inspector General Stuart W. Bowen Jr. wrote. So far the United States has awarded nearly $10 billion worth of contracts for Iraqi reconstruction.

"It's expensive," said Washington lawyer Robert Nichols, who represents several contractors in Iraq. "Security is the No. 1 concern for all contractors in Iraq right now."

http://www.fox6.com/news/national/story.aspx?content_id=FE25260F-F91B-45DA-8B90-5AEB17D9273C

 

[Barking_Mad]

I hope they have photo's so they can find the people who did this....dear oh dear. Im sure the people of Fallujah will be just joyous at the thought....

US Promises Overwhelming Response to Iraq Killings

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops on Thursday promised an "overwhelming" response to brutal killings in the Iraqi town of Falluja and vowed to hunt down those who shot, burned and mutilated four American contractors.

Marines took positions on the outskirts of the restive town west of Baghdad where insurgents ambushed the contractors on Wednesday. "Coalition forces will respond," the U.S. army's deputy director of operations Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told a news conference. "They are coming back and they are going to hunt down the people responsible for this bestial act.

"It will be at a time and a place of our choosing. It will be methodical, it will be precise and it will be overwhelming."

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4728705&section=news

 

[Barking_Mad]

Soldier could be court-martialed for taking Iraqi SUV at gunpoint

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) A U.S. soldier could be court-martialed for taking a sheik's truck at gunpoint in Iraq after his platoon's Humvee broke down, authorities said.

The military completed a hearing Wednesday in the case against Sgt. 1st Class James Williams. The commanding officer at Fort Campbell is expected to decide next week whether Williams should be court-martialed for the incident last April. Williams, a member of Fort Campbell's 326th Engineer Battalion, is accused of carjacking, dereliction of duty, letting his troops drink alcohol and allowing his platoon leader to carry personal firearms.

http://cbsnewyork.com/national/Soldier-CarjackingCha-aa/resources_news_html

 

[Barking_Mad]

what the fuck?! ok its not Iraq, but i didnt want to waste a post on the full board, so i thought id waste one here instead

Afghanistan's Karzai praised for dress sense

BERLIN (Reuters) - German fashion designer Wolfgang Joop has praised Hamid Karzai for his impeccable dress sense and says other world leaders could learn a style lesson or two from the elegant Afghan president. "President Karzai is a shining example of how a man can maintain the role of a gentleman even while wearing the dress of his ancestors" Joop wrote in an article for Berlin's Der Tagesspiegel newspaper on Thursday.

"Karzai has something that few men and even fewer political leaders have: aura," Joop wrote, saying Karzai's fashionable dress -- a blue and green Afghan "chapan" cloak and lambskin hat -- made him stand out against other leaders in dull dark suits. Karzai has urged international donors at a two-day congress in Berlin to help his country. Afghanistan is one of the world's poorest countries and remains a Western security concern two years after U.S.-led forces overthrew the then ruling militant Islamist Taliban.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040401/80/eq2cp.html

 

[Gumbert]

Ramadi car bomb blast kills six Iraqis

A car bomb has exploded in the Iraqi town of Ramadi, killing six Iraqis and wounding five others.

The US-led occupation authorities announced on Thursday that the blast had taken place a day earlier.

No reason was given for the delay and the statement gave no further details on the circumstances or the target of the attack.

Ramadi. 100 km west of Baghdad is a volatile towm where much of the resistance to the occupation forces has been concentrated.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6D0CB289-DB59-443A-BD43-A92543772767.htm

 

[Gumbert]

Powell: Iraq intelligence flawed

US Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged on Friday that the "most dramatic" part of his presentation to the United Nations in making the case for war on Iraq was based on flawed intelligence.

Powell also said he hoped a commission investigating the US intelligence on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction would reveal how the CIA ended up depending on unreliable sources for key evidence he used to argue for war.

The acknowledgment about alleged mobile chemical arms laboratories could further hurt the credibility of the Bush administration, also under fire in an election year for failing to stop the September 11 attacks.

The United States justified its preemptive war by accusing Iraq of amassing illegal arms and invaded it last year without explicit UN approval and over the objections of many allies.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/74DEC344-B1DB-48FE-96F3-FBBE42F8B434.htm

 

[Backatcha Bandit]

Naomi Klein in 'The Nation'

At the end of March, building on his Order 39 of last September, Bremer passed yet another law further opening up Iraq's economy to foreign ownership, a law that Iraq's next government is prohibited from changing under the terms of the interim constitution. Bremer also announced the establishment of several independent regulators, which will drastically reduce the power of Iraqi government ministries. For instance, the Financial Times reports that "officials of the Coalition Provisional Authority said the regulator would prevent communications minister Haider al-Abadi, a thorn in the side of the coalition, from carrying out his threat to cancel licenses the coalition awarded to foreign-managed consortia to operate three mobile networks and the national broadcaster."

The CPA has also confirmed that after June 30, the $18.4 billion the US government is spending on reconstruction will be administered by the US Embassy in Iraq. The money will be spent over five years and will fundamentally redesign Iraq's most basic infrastructure, including its electricity, water, oil and communications sectors, as well as its courts and police. Iraq's future governments will have no say in the construction of these core sectors of Iraqi society. Retired Rear Adm. David Nash, who heads the Project Management Office, which administers the funds, describes the $18.4 billion as "a gift from the American people to the people of Iraq." He appears to have forgotten the part about gifts being something you actually give up. And in the same eventful week, US engineers began construction on fourteen "enduring bases" in Iraq, capable of housing the 110,000 soldiers who will be posted here for at least two more years. Even though the bases are being built with no mandate from an Iraqi government, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy chief of operations in Iraq, called them "a blueprint for how we could operate in the Middle East."

More... a lot more... here

 

[Barking_Mad]

Snippets of last couple of days of news in Iraq

04/03/04 IribNews: Rocket fired at police hq in Baghdad
Two Iraq police were injured and a police car was destroyed in a rocket attack in Hayel Am district in southeast Baghdad Sunday morning, IRIB reported from Baghdad

04/03/04 Reuters: Bomb destroys Shia mosque in Baquba
A bomb exploded outside a small Shia mosque in the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad, early on Sunday, destroying most of the building and wounding one person, witnesses said.

04/03/04 AP: Gunmen kill 4 Iraqi police officers
Two attacks on Iraqi police south of Baghdad today left four people dead

04/03/04 AP: Salvadoran soldiers attacked in Najaf
A convoy of Salvadoran soldiers was attacked in the southern city of Najaf on Friday, wounding three troops. About 380 troops from El Salvador are in Iraq as part of the Spanish-led Plus Ultra brigade.

04/03/04 StarBulleten: Another Schofield soldier is wounded
Another Schofield Barracks soldier was wounded last night in Iraq when his unit responded to small arms fire and an explosion near the town of Huwija.

04/03/04 AP: 2 Bombs Found In School In Ramadi
a bomb was discovered Saturday in a school in the western city of Ramadi, police said. The building was evacuated and U.S. and Iraqi security forces detonated the explosive device, shattering windows.

04/03/04 Saba: Car bomb explodes near US convoy north of Baghdad
A car bomb exploded near a U.S. military patrol north of Baghdad on Saturday, wounding several people, official sources reported.

04/03/04 Reuters: Gunmen kill senior police officer in Baghdad
Gunmen have killed a senior police officer in the Iraqi capital, riddling his car with bullets as he left home for work, police said.

http://lunaville.org/warcasualties/Summary.aspx

 

[Barking_Mad]

The South is really beginning to kick off....

Coalition troops fire on Iraqi protesters, wound 40

NAJAF, Iraq, April 4 (Reuters) - Spanish-led coalition troops in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf fired on Iraqi protesters, wounding about 40 of them, witnesses said on Sunday.

A Reuters photographer at the scene said troops fired from several directions and several of the wounded were seriously hurt, prompting clashes between the troops and militiamen loyal to a radical Shi'ite cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr. The protests had erupted over the arrest of an aide to the cleric.

Witnesses said the troops opened fire when thousands of protesters tried to enter a coalition base on the edge of the city. Spanish, El Salvadorean and other Spanish-speaking troops are headquartered at the base. Ambulances were at the scene to try to help the injured. Iraqis transported some of the wounded to hospital in their cars because there were too few ambulances.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L04111658.htm

Edit: Reports now say 19 Iraqis have died.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Two Marines killed in Iraq, Shiites protest arrest of cleric's aide

Baghdad, Iraq-AP -- The U-S military says two Marines have been killed in Iraq's western Anbar province "as a result of enemy action." Both were assigned to the First Marine Division and were injured in separate incidents yesterday. One died the same day; the other died today. No other details were given.

The Marines died in the same province where four American civilians were killed and their bodies mutilated Wednesday. In central Baghdad, hundreds of supporters of a radical Shiite Muslim cleric rallied today to protest the arrest of one his senior aides in Najaf. It's not clear who detained him. U-S officials could not confirm the arrest and Spanish forces based in Najaf denied taking action against the man.

http://www.kbcitv.com/x5154.xml?Par...nt4k00.xml&NewsSection=InternationalHeadlines

 

[Barking_Mad]

Protests in Baghdad and more firing on demonstrations

'Security Forces' open fire on demo

In central Baghdad, security forces opened fire on a Shi'ite protest Sunday and in the northern city of Kirkuk a car bomb exploded, wounding at least three people, police said.

In Najaf, Hadi Abdul-Ridha, the head of the general hospital morgue, told Reuters there were 11 dead at the hospital. The director of the hospital, Dr Shawqi Wathiq, said there were at least 90 wounded.

Earlier an official at Sada hospital in the nearby town of Kufa said at least eight dead had been brought in from the clashes and there were at least 35 wounded, some seriously.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4744209&section=news

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraq's main oil centre car bombed

A CAR bomb exploded in the heart of Iraq's northern oil centre of Kirkuk Sunday afternoon, as US troops were combing the area searching for a suspect vehicle, police said.

The blast happened at 4.10pm local time (9.10pm AEST) and US troops sealed off the area, an it's been confirmed.


http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9190469%5E1702,00.html

 

[Barking_Mad]

Anti-American Voices Get Louder Across Iraq

Frustration at the breakdown of order since Saddam's fall on April 9, 2003, has been compounded by a perceived disregard for Iraqi lives.

"They come and destroy our houses, it's the duty of all Muslims to fight them," Ahmad Muhammad, a Falluja resident who watched the carnage on Wednesday said. "We're happy to see this...This is the democracy that Bush was waiting for."

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4735101&pageNumber=1

 

[Barking_Mad]

Rebels attack oil pipeline in southern Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) _ Rebels attacked an oil pipeline in southern Iraq, rupturing it and setting the oil on fire Sunday, officials said. Firefighters were battling the blaze and expected to have it out within a few hours, said Jamal Khalid, an official with the Southern Oil Company.

The fire will not affect oil exports, he said. The pipeline links the southern city of Basra with Faw port, on the Persian Gulf. Rebels have repeatedly attacked oil pipelines in Iraq.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/4/4/latest/16748Rebelsatt&sec=latest