IRAN: WOUNDED IRANIAN SOLDIERS HOSPITALISED; DEAD IRAQI SOLDIERS BURIED IN OPEN TRENCH.

Record ID: 708203

  • Title: IRAN: WOUNDED IRANIAN SOLDIERS HOSPITALISED; DEAD IRAQI SOLDIERS BURIED IN OPEN TRENCH.
  • Date: 8th December 1981
  • Summary: SUSANGERD, IRAN ( RECENT) REUTERS - MAHMOUD OSKOUI SV Iranian wounded being carried on stretcher from ambulance to hospital in Susangerd.(4 SHOTS) SV INT Wounded soldier on stretcher. SV Doctors treating injured soldier. (2 SHOTS) SV Medical team removing fragments from soldier's body PAN TO soldiers on other beds receiving treatment. GV PAN Iranian soldiers on armoured personnel carrier.
  • Embargoed: 23rd December 1981 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SUSANGERD, IRAN
  • Country: Iran, Islamic Republic of
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVAC92K5AWREH4AXG3W4KOWXJSNB
  • Story Text: INTRODUCTION: In their fourth major counter-offensive this year Iranian forces have claimed they've inflicted major casualties on the opposing Iraqi army around the town of Susangerd.The latest counter-offensive began on November the 29th.

    SYNOPSIS: These pictures were taken in Susangerd itself, after the start of the Iranian attack.Here, Iranian soldiers wounded in the fighting near the town were brought in to receive emergency treatment.As has been usual throughout the 14-month-old war, casualty figures given by both sides have been difficult to verify.The figures for the latest fighting have put Iranian deaths at over 4,000 and Iraqi losses at over 2,500.Western military analysts say that the figures issued by military commands in Baghdad and Teheran are probably exaggerated - though they are an indication of the high level of fighting.There've also been heavy material losses on both sides.At the end of the first week of the fighting Iraq claimed the Iranians had lost 152 tanks; Teheran has claimed that up until Sunday (6 December) Iranian forces captured about 100 Iraqi tanks.

    Outside Susangerd Iran says its attack has driven a wedge between Iraqi forces north and west of the town.Baghdad has admitted Iraqi troops have had to launch their own counter attack.Here, Iraqi troops killed in the fighting on the nearby front are brought in to be buried in mass graves.

    Military analysts say that the heavy fighting of the past few days could be the last full scale battles of the year.Winter rains are due to start about now.When they do arrive, the dusty plains of Susangerd and the Khuzestan region will be turned into slippery fields of mud that will made transport and vehicle movement difficult.It means that both sides in the war will find it difficult to launch any major attack.The latest major fighting near here hasn't produced any decisive result so far; and the likelihood is that the two oil producing countries will find themselves start the new year in much the same military positions as the began the old one.The political deadlock is likely to continue as well.So far three organisations, the Islamic Conference, the Non Aligned Movement and the United Nations have spent months trying to bring Iran and Iraq to agree on starting peace talks.None of the efforts have succeeded.Baghdad still says it won't withdraw until Teheran concedes Iraqi sovereignty over the Shatt-al-Arab and agrees to return disputed border areas.Iranian preconditions are simpler - they are refusing to talk until the last Iraqi soldier leaves their soil.

    All the signs are that the fighting will continue through the winter - though at a reduced level.Iraq's President, Saddam Hussein said last week he was prepared to raise an army of one million to fight an indefinite war.With the Iranians unwilling to consider talks until Iraq withdraws it's likely that the deciding factor in the war will eventually be economic rather than military.
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