US Troops In 8-Hour Gunbattle In Sunni, Iraqi Town

[German-Lefty]

KHALDIYAH, Iraq (AP)--U.S. troops backed by attack aircraft, tanks and helicopters battled Iraqi resistance fighters for more than eight hours Mondaynear this Sunni Muslim town west of Baghdad, U.S. officials said.

Americans began withdrawing at about 5:30 p.m. from the al-Qurtan neighborhood on the north side of Khaldiyah, scene of several previous firefights between the U.S. military and guerrilla fighters.

Heavy gunfire rattled farms north of this town, where resistance to the U.S.-led occupation is strong.

In Baghdad, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. George Krivo said the fight started about 9:10 a.m. when a homemade bomb exploded along the road as a U.S. convoy passed, killing one soldier and wounding another.

It appeared to be the biggest engagement in the area in months. American M1A2 tanks fired 120-millimeter cannons as helicopters strafed farm houses with 50-millimeter machine gun fire. Two A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft bombed guerrilla positions while F-15 jets streaked across the sky.

At midafternoon, six U.S. armored personnel carriers -two of them ambulances -arrived as reinforcements. As the fight continued, eight Humvees carrying U.S. troops also could be seen heading toward the battle.

A U.S. armored personnel carrier left the area carrying six blindfolded Iraqi prisoners. In the distance, civilians, including women and children, could be seen fleeing on foot. A U.S. recovery vehicle towed away two Humvees, one of which had a bullet hole in the windshield.

An Iraqi man, fleeing on foot with his wife, three other women, a nephew and five children, said at least 10 houses had been destroyed. He refused to give his name. "Is this the freedom that we were promised?" he asked. "I had to get my family out...The helicopters were firing almost nonstop. My 7-year-old is too young to hate but how can he not hate them (the Americans) after this?"

Dow Jones Newswires 29-09-03 1437GMT
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This isn't good. What the hell would a good President do with this mess?

[catmandu57]

1. A good president would'nt have

got into this mess in the first place. In the future german please add a link in late breaking.

[German-Lefty]

3. Sorry, I didn't have a link, it came over wire.

I can't seem to find a link to this particular fight in google. The had another one in that town a week ago it seems.

[German-Lefty]

2. Update:

KHALDIYAH, Iraq (AP)--U.S. 4th Infantry Division troops late Sunday killed one Iraqi and captured three others in a shootout 15 kilometers South of Balad, U.S. officials said.

In the car, troops found two M-16 rifles which belonged to two American soldiers who were abducted and killed in June, officials said.
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Dude they're abducting our troops? I wonder why?

[ScrewyRabbit]

4. I remember Rummy saying a few weeks ago

how these 10-15 incidents a day were short confrontations, just a few minutes long.

An 8-hour battle is undeniably all-out war.

[Ashcroft Kutcher]

5. major fighting is over

and over and over and over again.

[lazarus]

6. locking

You must have a link to post in LBN. If you find a link, you may repost.