- Title: IRAQ: U.S. TROOPS SEARCH HOMES AND QUESTION PEOPLE AFTER ATTACK ON U.S. TROOPS
- Date: 15th July 2003
- Summary: (U3) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JULY 14, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. SLV U.S. TROOPS ENTERING HOUSES; SLV TROOPS QUESTIONING RESIDENTS OF AREA; SCU BULLETS HOLES IN WALLS AT SITE OF ATTACK (11 SHOTS) 0.52 2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SOLDIERS SAYING "The people who were involved fired RPGs and small arms and injured both Iraqis and Americans. By now, what we are doing
- Embargoed: 30th July 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVAMMOUYOPXWEAI9WASTA1DMSSR
- Story Text: U.S. troops have searched homes and questioned people
in Baghdad after attackers fired rocket- propelled grenades
and machine guns at U.S. troops, killing one soldier and
wounding six.
Meanwhile, the streets of Baghdad have seen various
demonstrations, from Iraqi Communist Party members to
employees of the former Military Industrialisation Commission
and the al-Mishahida tribe, who protested against the arrest
of Sheikh Tareq Jassim.
Dozens of U.S. troops searched areas in Baghdad as
helicopters hovered above after attackers fired rocket-
propelled grenades and machine guns at U.S. soldiers in
Baghdad on Monday (July 14, 2003), killing one and wounding six.
A convoy of military vehicles was attacked in the central
al-Mansour area of Baghdad at around six a.m. (0200 GMT), a
military spokesman said. Casualties were taken to a military
hospital.
Witnesses said one vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled
grenade and another by machine-gun fire.
Thirty-two U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq since
President George W. Bush declared major combat over on May 1.
Iraqis co-operating with the occupiers who toppled Saddam
on April 9 have also been killed and wounded in attacks.
The attack came the day after the launch of an Iraqi
Governing Council of local leaders which the United States
hopes will reduce resentment towards its occupation.
U.S. forces have been attacked frequently in post-war
Iraq. Officers are braced for a surge this week to coincide
with several anniversaries linked to ousted Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein and his Ba'ath Party.
U.S. forces largely blame die-hard Saddam loyalists for
the attacks, but many ordinary Iraqis have expressed
frustration at what they say has been the slow pace of
returning government to Iraqis and rebuilding the country.
A group calling itself the "Armed Islamic Movement for al
Qaeda, the Falluja Branch" said in an audio tape broadcast by
Dubai-based Al Arabiya television on Sunday (July 13) that it
was behind attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and warned of more
bloodshed.
The group had not been heard of before and it offered no
evidence to back up its claims. Falluja is a town west of
Baghdad where U.S. forces have come under frequent attack.
The U.S. military said it had captured 80 people and
confiscated weapons in Operation Ivy Serpent, launched on
Saturday night north of Baghdad, to prevent attacks around the
Saddam-related anniversaries.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Iraqi Communist Party members and
supporters took to the streets in central Baghdad on Monday
(July 14), marking the 45th anniversary of July 14th
revolution which led to the killing of 22 year old King Faisal
II, and his uncle Abdel-Illah.
The revolution of July 14, 1958 led by Abdul-Karim Qassim,
toppled the monarchy and established for the first time the
Republic of Iraq.
"Today is the anniversary of July 14th Revolution. It is
the revolution that toppled the monarchy. We are happy today,
we are commemorating a very great occasion," said demonstrator
Juma' Mashkoor.
The interim Iraqi Governing Council which on Sunday (July
13) held its first official meeting, abrogated all official
holidays and occasions that had links with the former Saddam
regime and Ba'ath Party.
In other parts of Baghdad, al-Mishahida, one of the Iraqi
tribes who demonstrated on Monday (July 14), protested against
the U.S. forces' arrest of their Sheikh Tareq Jassim. They
threatened to carry out suicide operations against the
American troops and block the
road against them if they would not release Sheikh Tareq
Jassim.
"Those people who are gathering outside Sheraton hotel are
calling for his release (the release of Sheikh Tareq Jassim).
They (U.S. forces) arrested him aggressively," said Mohammed
al-Mash-hadani.
Al-Mishahida are living in an area that has witnessed
several hit and run attacks against the U.S forces.
Also on Monday, dozens of civil servants of the former
Military Industrialization Commission demonstrated outside the
headquarters of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA)
calling on the coalition forces to reconsider their issue, pay
them their salaries and return them to their jobs.
The Civil administration in Iraq has dissolved several
ministries and commissions such as the Ministry of Defence,
Ministry of Information, Ministry of Interior and Ministry of
Military Industrialization.
The employees of these dissolved ministries have become a
heavy burden on the coalition forces, a matter that might lead
not only to demonstrations but to violence and clashes with
the U.S forces.
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