Desertdog
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Fed-up Iraqis fight insurgent patrol
Shopkeeper, kin kill 3 militants prepared for battle
Robert F. Worth, New York Times
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/03/23/MNGGABTC5O1.DTL
Baghdad -- Ordinary Iraqis rarely strike back at the insurgents who terrorize their country. But just before noon Tuesday a carpenter named Dhia saw a troop of masked gunmen with grenades coming toward his shop here and decided he had had enough.
As the gunmen emerged from their cars, Dhia and his young relatives shouldered their Kalashnikov rifles and opened fire, the police and witnesses said. In the fierce gun battle that followed, three of the insurgents were killed, and the rest fled just after the police arrived. Two of Dhia's nephews and a bystander were wounded, the police said.
"We attacked them before they attacked us," said Dhia, 35, his face still contorted with rage and excitement, as he stood barefoot outside his home a few hours after the battle, a 9mm pistol in his hand. He would not give his last name.
"We killed three of those who call themselves the mujahedeen," he said. "I am waiting for the rest of them to come, and we will show them."
It was the first time that private citizens are known to have retaliated successfully against insurgents. The gunbattle erupted in full view of at least a dozen witnesses, including a Justice Ministry official who lives nearby.
The battle was the latest sign that Iraqis may be willing to start standing up against the attacks that leave dozens dead here nearly every week.
After a suicide bombing in Hilla last month that killed 136 people, including a number of women and children, hundreds of residents demonstrated in front of the city hall every day for almost a week, chanting slogans against terrorism. Last week, a smaller but similar rally took place in Baghdad's al-Firdos Square. Another demonstration in the capital is scheduled for today.
Like many of the attacks in Iraq, Tuesday's fight had sectarian overtones. Dhia and his family are Shiite Arabs, and they cook for religious festivals at the Shiite Husseiniya mosque across from his shop. The insurgents are largely Sunni Arabs, and they have aimed dozens of attacks at Shiite figures, celebrations and even funerals.
Elsewhere in Iraq, insurgents continued their campaign of violence. In the northern city of Mosul, four civilians were killed Tuesday morning and 14 were wounded when a roadside bomb detonated near an American military convoy, health officials said. The bomb did not appear to harm the convoy, witnesses said.
Dhia's gunbattle Tuesday unfolded in Doura, a working-class neighborhood in southern Baghdad where much of the capital's violence is concentrated. Killings and bombings have taken place there in recent weeks, and the police acknowledge that they have little control. Before the fight, an Interior Ministry official was gunned down in Doura as he drove to work, officials said.
Witnesses saw the gunmen circling near the Husseiniya mosque in three cars just before the violence started, said Amjad Hamid, who works at the Justice Ministry. They stopped near Dhia's shop, across from the mosque. The men carried pistols and rifles, and one had a belt full of hand grenades, Hamid said.
When the shooting began, Hamid said, his mother ran outside shouting his name and was struck by bullets in the leg and the ear.
After the insurgents fled, one was left behind, the Doura police chief said. That gunman broke into a nearby house and hid there, holding the residents at gunpoint until his friends arrived and drove him away, the police chief said.
The owner of the house, who spoke on condition that he not be identified, said the gunman had entered through the garage and made his way to the living room. "I heard the screaming of the women," the owner said, "so I went to see what was the matter, and I saw a man holding an AK-47."
The owner said the gunman then shouted: "Keep me here for a short time until I can leave the area or I will kill you all. I don't want anyone to leave this room."
They obeyed. The gunman telephoned some friends and stayed for about an hour until they arrived to pick him up. Before he left, the owner of the house said, he issued a final warning: "If you scream or call the police, my friends will come and kill you. They know where you are."U.S. toll
[Not related to story, but of course they had to report this. Commie Liberals. Dd]
As of Tuesday, at least 1,523 members of the U.S. military had died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The latest identifications reported by the military:
-- Marine Lance Cpl. Kevin S. Smith, 20, Springfield, Ohio.
-- Army Spc. Francisco G. Martinez, 20, Fort Worth, Texas.
Shopkeeper, kin kill 3 militants prepared for battle
Robert F. Worth, New York Times
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/03/23/MNGGABTC5O1.DTL
Baghdad -- Ordinary Iraqis rarely strike back at the insurgents who terrorize their country. But just before noon Tuesday a carpenter named Dhia saw a troop of masked gunmen with grenades coming toward his shop here and decided he had had enough.
As the gunmen emerged from their cars, Dhia and his young relatives shouldered their Kalashnikov rifles and opened fire, the police and witnesses said. In the fierce gun battle that followed, three of the insurgents were killed, and the rest fled just after the police arrived. Two of Dhia's nephews and a bystander were wounded, the police said.
"We attacked them before they attacked us," said Dhia, 35, his face still contorted with rage and excitement, as he stood barefoot outside his home a few hours after the battle, a 9mm pistol in his hand. He would not give his last name.
"We killed three of those who call themselves the mujahedeen," he said. "I am waiting for the rest of them to come, and we will show them."
It was the first time that private citizens are known to have retaliated successfully against insurgents. The gunbattle erupted in full view of at least a dozen witnesses, including a Justice Ministry official who lives nearby.
The battle was the latest sign that Iraqis may be willing to start standing up against the attacks that leave dozens dead here nearly every week.
After a suicide bombing in Hilla last month that killed 136 people, including a number of women and children, hundreds of residents demonstrated in front of the city hall every day for almost a week, chanting slogans against terrorism. Last week, a smaller but similar rally took place in Baghdad's al-Firdos Square. Another demonstration in the capital is scheduled for today.
Like many of the attacks in Iraq, Tuesday's fight had sectarian overtones. Dhia and his family are Shiite Arabs, and they cook for religious festivals at the Shiite Husseiniya mosque across from his shop. The insurgents are largely Sunni Arabs, and they have aimed dozens of attacks at Shiite figures, celebrations and even funerals.
Elsewhere in Iraq, insurgents continued their campaign of violence. In the northern city of Mosul, four civilians were killed Tuesday morning and 14 were wounded when a roadside bomb detonated near an American military convoy, health officials said. The bomb did not appear to harm the convoy, witnesses said.
Dhia's gunbattle Tuesday unfolded in Doura, a working-class neighborhood in southern Baghdad where much of the capital's violence is concentrated. Killings and bombings have taken place there in recent weeks, and the police acknowledge that they have little control. Before the fight, an Interior Ministry official was gunned down in Doura as he drove to work, officials said.
Witnesses saw the gunmen circling near the Husseiniya mosque in three cars just before the violence started, said Amjad Hamid, who works at the Justice Ministry. They stopped near Dhia's shop, across from the mosque. The men carried pistols and rifles, and one had a belt full of hand grenades, Hamid said.
When the shooting began, Hamid said, his mother ran outside shouting his name and was struck by bullets in the leg and the ear.
After the insurgents fled, one was left behind, the Doura police chief said. That gunman broke into a nearby house and hid there, holding the residents at gunpoint until his friends arrived and drove him away, the police chief said.
The owner of the house, who spoke on condition that he not be identified, said the gunman had entered through the garage and made his way to the living room. "I heard the screaming of the women," the owner said, "so I went to see what was the matter, and I saw a man holding an AK-47."
The owner said the gunman then shouted: "Keep me here for a short time until I can leave the area or I will kill you all. I don't want anyone to leave this room."
They obeyed. The gunman telephoned some friends and stayed for about an hour until they arrived to pick him up. Before he left, the owner of the house said, he issued a final warning: "If you scream or call the police, my friends will come and kill you. They know where you are."U.S. toll
[Not related to story, but of course they had to report this. Commie Liberals. Dd]
As of Tuesday, at least 1,523 members of the U.S. military had died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The latest identifications reported by the military:
-- Marine Lance Cpl. Kevin S. Smith, 20, Springfield, Ohio.
-- Army Spc. Francisco G. Martinez, 20, Fort Worth, Texas.
! See a crime, stop a crime 
!