At least 17 Iraqi police officers killed in ambush

[Barrett808]

At least 17 Iraqi police officers killed in ambush
By Nelson Hernandez and Saad Sarhan
WASHINGTON POST

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen ambushed a large police convoy in a rural area north of the capital on Thursday, killing at least 17 officers, according to a police lieutenant. Elsewhere, an attack on a Shiite shrine and the assassination of a Sunni Arab politician's brother threatened to further inflame sectarian tensions as Iraqi factions struggle to form a national government.

The brazen assault on a convoy of 50 to 60 police cars erupted outside the town of Taji, 12 miles north of Baghdad, said 1st Lt. Mouayiad Shukor, an officer with the police rapid reaction force in Najaf province.

Shukor said approximately 90 officers from four stations in Najaf had just picked up new cars in Taji and were traveling south to get new weapons and ammunition when they found the main road blocked by U.S. troops. The Americans told the Iraqis that they had discovered a bomb on the road and told them to take a detour through the countryside, following them part of the way before letting them go on alone, Shukor said.

A roadside bomb exploded, and attackers hidden in the orchards and farmhouses flanking the road opened fire on the convoy with Kalashnikov assault rifles and RPK machine guns. Over the course of a two-hour firefight, all the police cars were destroyed, Shukor said, and survivors fled to a nearby military base on foot and by hitching rides.

Shukor said that only five of the 22 men in his unit returned to Najaf alive. The governor of Najaf, Asad Sultan Abu Gulal, and the police chief for the area, Brig. Gen. Abbas Moadal, both confirmed that an attack had taken place, but neither official would say how many police were killed.

(more)

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/nation/14341496.htm

[Missy M]

1. Boy, that was some bad advice from the US troops. I wonder,

did we supply the new cars for the Iraqi police? If we did how is that for our tax dollars at work, all destroyed in one swoop.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

2. I'm Really Tired Of All The Bad News From The Liberal Media

These media whores are just so damn pessimistic.

Just yesterday, they opened a post office in Southeast Baghdad. Finally, postcards and letters to loved ones will again be flowing to the region. Aside from the fact that the new post office was built to replace one that the U.S. had destroyed back in '03, Progress Is Being Made!

Why won't the media report important stuff like this, instead of focussing on the negatives like Deaths, Bombs and Terrorists.

[0007]

5. Wish they'd reported the good news.

[saigon68]

7. More Quislings bite the dust

This is classic Gorilla (sic) Warfare

Shoot up the easiest target.

I'll bet the puppets will try something different next time

Your Tax Dollars at work.

Headline: "Millions of Taxpayer dollars go up in smoke" LOL

[0007]

10. I'd like to know who's paying for all those uniforms?

If we are, I have a suggestion. Let's just patch up the holes and wash the blood off and re-issue them to another quisling.

[saigon68]

11. The germans did that in Russia in 1943

Took the uniforms cleaned , washed and mended the holes and re-issued them

[pinniped]

13. The good news is they might be getting new police cars....

with new drivers.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

3. "Brazen assault"? Interesting choice of words, but....

...the result is the same.

[Az_lefty]

4. These insurgents are getting a lot more organized...

bomb on main road to force detour then main attack on side road.
This was not an ambush of opportunity, they were set up and waiting.

[Barrett808]

6. Almost certainly betrayed by infiltrators. n/t

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

9. Quiet! They're In Their Last Throes.....

They're desperate, and days are numbered. Possibly in the thousands, but they're numbered nonetheless.

[saigon68]

12. Fewer dead enders each day

</sarcasm>

[medeak]

8. dozens missing

6 Iraqi Policemen Slain, Dozens Missing

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAQ?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME

By BUSHRA JUHI
Associated Press Writer




BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Dozens of policemen were missing Friday and at least six were dead after insurgents ambushed a police convoy near a U.S. base, officials said. A series of bombings killed at least five people in three Iraqi cities.

Insurgents set off roadside bombs and then opened fire Thursday night on a large police convoy near the U.S. base of Taji, just north of Baghdad. The policemen from the Shiite shrine city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, were returning home after picking up new vehicles at the base, police said.

A senior official in the Najaf governor's office said only 35 of the 80 policemen had returned by Friday to the city

[Toots]

14. Hmm US sent them on a detour that just happened to have an ambush

Things that make you go hmmmm.

[shadowknows69]

15. That's not an ambush

that's full out ground warfare. 50-60 police cars? Sounds like a mobile infantry unit.