http://www.msnbc.com/news/870749.asp?vts=080820030410
TIKRIT, Iraq, Aug. 8 — U.S. snipers killed two men in a raid on a weapons market in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit,
AFTER INITIALLY REPORTING 11 deaths, the morgue at a nearby children’s hospital where the bodies were taken raised the number by six. Kahled Fajer Abbud, chief of the morgue, said two people died of their injuries overnight. He said the hospital was treating 36 injured people, including seven Jordanians.
The attack raised fears that a broader terrorist insurgency was emerging — a new form of violence in addition to the regular guerrilla attacks on U.S. occupation forces.
In the Tikrit market, women ran screaming as they heard the shots, witnesses said. A man who was unloading AK-47 assault rifles from the trunk of a red sedan fell to the ground, according to a witness who was selling biscuits.
U.S. forces had positioned snipers around the market after hearing that weapons and ammunition were sold every Friday, said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, whose 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion, executed the operation.
“When people pick up weapons and carrying them freely, they become combatants and we will engage them,†Russell said. “I think we sent out a strong message today that you cannot walk around the streets with weapons.â€
Aug. 7 — NBC’s Tom Aspell accompanies the Army’s 4th Infantry Division on a series of raids in an area the size of West Virginia centered on Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown.
Hundreds of residents watched from across the road as soldiers examined the scene and Iraqi police removed a dead body covered in a black-and-white kaffiyah headscarf near the center of the market. Soldiers said he was shot as he tried to flee with an AK-47.
Beside the red car, about 10 yards away, the earth was soaked with blood at the spot where Russell said one of the alleged arms dealers was shot in the head as he unloaded three to four rifles. Soldiers showed reporters an ID card bearing the dead man’s photo that was issued by Saddam Hussein’s regime as a sign of privilege for supporters of the ousted regime.
Curved AK-47 cartridge clips lay carefully stacked in fours on a series of seven plastic tarps laid out in the dust behind the car. A tangle of red-and-blue wires and a crude bomb lay on one of the tarps.
One of the wounded men escaped, while the other was being treated for injuries at a nearby hospital, Russell said.
TIKRIT, Iraq, Aug. 8 — U.S. snipers killed two men in a raid on a weapons market in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit,
AFTER INITIALLY REPORTING 11 deaths, the morgue at a nearby children’s hospital where the bodies were taken raised the number by six. Kahled Fajer Abbud, chief of the morgue, said two people died of their injuries overnight. He said the hospital was treating 36 injured people, including seven Jordanians.
The attack raised fears that a broader terrorist insurgency was emerging — a new form of violence in addition to the regular guerrilla attacks on U.S. occupation forces.
In the Tikrit market, women ran screaming as they heard the shots, witnesses said. A man who was unloading AK-47 assault rifles from the trunk of a red sedan fell to the ground, according to a witness who was selling biscuits.
U.S. forces had positioned snipers around the market after hearing that weapons and ammunition were sold every Friday, said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, whose 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Battalion, executed the operation.
“When people pick up weapons and carrying them freely, they become combatants and we will engage them,†Russell said. “I think we sent out a strong message today that you cannot walk around the streets with weapons.â€
Aug. 7 — NBC’s Tom Aspell accompanies the Army’s 4th Infantry Division on a series of raids in an area the size of West Virginia centered on Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown.
Hundreds of residents watched from across the road as soldiers examined the scene and Iraqi police removed a dead body covered in a black-and-white kaffiyah headscarf near the center of the market. Soldiers said he was shot as he tried to flee with an AK-47.
Beside the red car, about 10 yards away, the earth was soaked with blood at the spot where Russell said one of the alleged arms dealers was shot in the head as he unloaded three to four rifles. Soldiers showed reporters an ID card bearing the dead man’s photo that was issued by Saddam Hussein’s regime as a sign of privilege for supporters of the ousted regime.
Curved AK-47 cartridge clips lay carefully stacked in fours on a series of seven plastic tarps laid out in the dust behind the car. A tangle of red-and-blue wires and a crude bomb lay on one of the tarps.
One of the wounded men escaped, while the other was being treated for injuries at a nearby hospital, Russell said.
