posted on December 3, 2005 06:53:29 AM new
Bomb Kills 11 Iraqis Day After U.S. Deaths
Updated 9:34 AM ET December 3, 2005
By ROBERT H. REID
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A roadside bomb killed 11 Iraqi soldiers and two wounded others Saturday, following the deaths of 10 U.S. Marines in the deadliest attack against American forces in four months.
Elsewhere, a U.S. base at Mosul's airport came under mortar or rocket fire Saturday, wounding two American soldiers, the U.S. military said. Several detonations shook the installation _ Forward Operating Base Courage _ about 6:50 a.m. the command said.
The attack against the Iraqi soldiers took place near Adhaim, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, Iraqi officials said. Following the blast, the Iraqi convoy came under intense small arms fire, officials added.
Earlier this week, President George W. Bush outlined his strategy for victory in Iraq, which calls for Iraqi forces to eventually replace U.S. troops in the fight against insurgents.
The ambush against the Marines from Regimental Combat Team 8 occurred Thursday outside Fallujah, the former insurgent bastion overrun by U.S. forces in November 2004. The Marine unit, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, has suffered some of the highest casualties of the Iraq war.
The U.S. command did not release many details of the attack, but a witness said it occurred at a mill in the village of Amiriyat al Fallujah, just outside the city.
"More than 20 troops entered there and a huge explosion happened," said Mohsen Mohammed. "Afterward, the helicopters and tanks arrived in the area."
The unit's latest losses occurred Thursday and were among 14 new deaths in Iraq announced by the military Friday. Altogether, at least 2,124 have died since the beginning of the war, according to an Associated Press count.
Hours after the military announced its grim news, Al-Jazeera broadcast a videotape and statement in which the kidnappers of four Christian peace activists threatened to kill the hostages _ two Canadians, an American and a Briton _ unless all prisoners in U.S. and Iraqi detention centers are freed by Dec. 8.
Foreign Office Minister Douglas Alexander, interviewed by the British Broadcasting Corp., condemned the release of the latest video of the hostages.
"We are concerned about the welfare of the hostages and we deplore the release of these videos, not least because of the great distress to the family of Mr. Kember and the other families involved, but our policy on this is well established," he said. "We condemn all kidnappings and we hold the hostage takers responsible for their safety."
A leading member of the British anti-war movement, Anas Altikriti, arrived Saturday in Iraq to try to win the release of the hostages.
The roadside bomb in Fallujah was fashioned out of four large artillery shells, U.S. officials said.
Senator John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the ambush a "very serious attack," saying "it appears that this group of Marines had collected _ which is always a dangerous thing _ in sort of one location."
The military statement said seven of the wounded later returned to duty and that the rest of the team was conducting "counterinsurgency operations throughout Fallujah and the surrounding area" to improve security for the Dec. 15 elections.
Names of the victims were not released pending notification of their families. The statement also did not give the precise location of the attack _ the single deadliest against U.S. troops in Iraq since 14 Marines were killed Aug. 3 when a bomb destroyed their vehicle near Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad.
Also Friday, three U.S. soldiers from the 48th Brigade Combat Team were killed in a traffic accident south of Baghdad, and the military said an Army soldier assigned to the 2nd Marine Division died of wounds suffered the previous day when his vehicle was struck by a rocket in Ramadi, 70 miles west of the capital.
U.S. forces have stepped up military operations throughout the Sunni Arab regions west of Baghdad to cut off the flow of weapons, ammunition and foreign fighters entering the country from Syria and to reduce insurgent activity.
As part of that campaign, the U.S. military on Friday launched a new offensive _ Operation Shank _ in Ramadi, capital of the insurgent-ridden Anbar province. About 200 Iraqi army soldiers and 300 U.S. Marines were taking part in the offensive, the fifth in Ramadi since Nov. 16.
U.S. officials hope the operations will enable Sunni Arabs to vote in the parliamentary elections without fear of insurgent reprisals _ which the Americans blame in large part for the Sunni boycott of the January balloting.
Washington hopes a big Sunni turnout will produce a government that can win the trust of the Sunnis, the backbone of the insurgency, and convince more of them to lay down their arms. That would hasten the day U.S. troops could go home.
However, many Sunni politicians fear that military operations so close to the election will have a negative impact by frightening voters away from the polls and deepening hostility to the Americans and their Iraqi partners.
A major Sunni clerical group, the Association of Muslim Scholars, appealed to the Arab League and human rights organizations to intervene with the Americans to stop "the massacres in Anbar." The Association is believed to have ties to some Sunni insurgent groups and is an outspoken critic of the American role in Iraq.
U.S. casualties have been increasing in recent weeks at a time of growing discontent within the United States over the Iraq conflict.
