U.S. Troops Kill 11 in Iraq After Ambush

[hadrons]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops killed 11 attackers after being ambushed in a town north of Baghdad, the military said Tuesday, while a roadside bomb wounded three soldiers in Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s hometown of Tikrit.

In the ambush Monday afternoon in the town of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, guerrilla scouts released a flock of pigeons as the U.S. patrol approached, apparently as a signal to other fighters, a military statement said.


Two gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on the vehicles, and then took cover among children leaving school. The attackers used a roadside bomb, automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades in the ambush but inflicted no casualties on the patrol, the statement said.


Snipers were used to suppress the fire without hitting any civilians, the statement said.


A company commander on the scene said 11 insurgents were killed in the ensuing firefight.


Samarra, a volatile town in the so-called Sunni Triangle north and west of Baghdad, was the scene of an intense battle between U.S. troops and insurgents last month. U.S. commanders initially claimed to have killed 54 guerrillas, but local residents and police reported that less than 10 people — most of them civilians — died in the firefight.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031216/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq&cid=540&ncid=716

I saw no mention of bodies recovered and the new report did mention the conflicting claims last month of the so-called deaths of 54 guerrillas

[izzie]

1. Do we have as good of site for civilians killed as the army one?

Iraq Coalition Casualty countis still the bast for the service.I like it that we can read who these poor kids are also.Wish we did not need to have any killed or hurt. That would be the best.

[papau]

2. Turns out 11 killed is VietNam body count - only 1 killed! - media never

goes back and notes the lies!

Per the EU reports, US forces were caught in a "complex" ambush at Samarra, in a combination of mortar, grenade and roadside bomb attacks. In response, the US military said it killed 11 insurgents.

BUT, Witnesses disputed their account, however, saying one civilian was killed in Monday's clash. After the ambush, the US military rounded up around 80 guerrillas, including one suspected leader of the insurgency, Qais Hattam.