http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030330/ap_wo_en_ge/me_gen_iraq_suicide_attack_6
U.S. military will start shoot on sight to prevent future suicide attacks in Iraq
Sun Mar 30, 2:28 PM ET
By ALMIN KARAMEHMEDOVIC, Associated Press Writer
NEAR NAJAF, Iraq - Nervous U.S. troops, wary of more guerrilla-style attacks by Iraqis in civilian clothing, warned approaching drivers Sunday they will be shot if they do not leave the area.
After fierce fighting, coalition forces surrounded the Shiite Muslim holy city of Najaf in central Iraq (news - web sites) and were prepared — if so ordered — to go in and root out paramilitary forces whose stiff resistance has delayed the U.S. move on Baghdad.
U.S. forces have shut down all roads in the region north of Najaf — 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad — and any driver who approaches a military checkpoint will be shot on sight if they fail to stop or turn around after being warned, said Lt. Col. Scott Rutter, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division.
"This is a completely new dimension," Rutter said. "It is very difficult to distinguish civilians from possible fighters."
The purpose of the strict new measure is to deter attacks like the one on Saturday, when a taxi exploded at a checkpoint north of Najaf.
The driver was ordered to get out of his car and to open the front and back hoods. The car exploded when the back hood was opened, killing the driver and four soldiers. It was the first known suicide attack since the invasion began.
Meanwhile, tighter security is being imposed to protect soldiers from further attacks. A new sign, in large Arabic letters, warns drivers: "Leave The Area or We Will Fire." Soldiers will shout a final warning to any vehicle that disregards the sign, and then they will open fire.
The U.S. military is serious about enforcement: On Sunday, officers opened fire on two vehicles that failed to stop as they approached the checkpoint. One person was killed.
The U.S. military acknowledges the restriction places a burden on innocent Iraqi civilians, but that soldier safety must come first.
"Because of acts like this, probably you have to restrict that a bit more. It's unfortunate but necessary to ensure the safety of our soldiers," said U.S. Maj. Gen. Buford Blount, commander of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division.
Iraq's vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, indicated the attack was part of a coordinated effort to thwart invaders who can't be defeated by conventional warfare. He also raised the specter of terrorism on U.S. or British soil.
Reports on Iraqi state television called the attack a "blessed beginning," and praised the bomber.
"After he kissed a copy of the Quran, he got into his booby-trapped car and went to an area where enemy armored cars and tanks were gathered on the fringes of Najaf and turned his pure body and explosives-laden car into a rocket and blew himself up," the statement said.
"He wanted to teach the enemy a lesson in the manner used by our Palestinian brothers," the report said.
Saddam is admired by Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (news - web sites), in part because he has doled out more than US$35 million to the families of civilians, gunmen and suicide attackers killed since fighting erupted in Israel some 30 months ago. Families of suicide bombers have received between $10,000 and $25,000 from the Iraqi leader.
At a Gaza City prayer rally held shortly after the U.S.-led assault on Iraq began, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Hamas movement, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, said Iraqi fighters should learn from the examples of Palestinian militants, who have killed hundreds of Israeli civilians in suicide bombings and other attacks in the latest fighting.
Iraqi dissidents and Arab media have claimed that Saddam has opened a training camp for Arab volunteers willing to carry out similar bombings.
The leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the guerrilla group which claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing Sunday in Israel, called on Palestinians to join the battle against the United States in Iraq by offering suicide operations. Islamic Jihad's military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, has said vanguards of "martyrdom seekers" have already arrived in Baghdad.
"Whoever is able to march and reach Iraq, Baghdad, Najaf and blow himself up in this American invasion. ... This is the climax of Jihad and climax of martyrdom," said Abdullah Shallah, leader of Islamic Jihad.
Ramadan said thousands of Arab volunteers have been pouring into Iraq since the start of the war. Abdul-Baqi Saadoun, a Baath Party official in southern Iraq, said fighters were competing to die in suicide attacks.
"We all wish to blow ourselves up by explosive belts or assaults on the Americans, Zionists and the English," he told Arab satellite television channel al-Jazeera in an interview broadcast Sunday. "Every time they advance they are met with courageous, heroic men."
U.S. military will start shoot on sight to prevent future suicide attacks in Iraq
Sun Mar 30, 2:28 PM ET
By ALMIN KARAMEHMEDOVIC, Associated Press Writer
NEAR NAJAF, Iraq - Nervous U.S. troops, wary of more guerrilla-style attacks by Iraqis in civilian clothing, warned approaching drivers Sunday they will be shot if they do not leave the area.
After fierce fighting, coalition forces surrounded the Shiite Muslim holy city of Najaf in central Iraq (news - web sites) and were prepared — if so ordered — to go in and root out paramilitary forces whose stiff resistance has delayed the U.S. move on Baghdad.
U.S. forces have shut down all roads in the region north of Najaf — 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad — and any driver who approaches a military checkpoint will be shot on sight if they fail to stop or turn around after being warned, said Lt. Col. Scott Rutter, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division.
"This is a completely new dimension," Rutter said. "It is very difficult to distinguish civilians from possible fighters."
The purpose of the strict new measure is to deter attacks like the one on Saturday, when a taxi exploded at a checkpoint north of Najaf.
The driver was ordered to get out of his car and to open the front and back hoods. The car exploded when the back hood was opened, killing the driver and four soldiers. It was the first known suicide attack since the invasion began.
Meanwhile, tighter security is being imposed to protect soldiers from further attacks. A new sign, in large Arabic letters, warns drivers: "Leave The Area or We Will Fire." Soldiers will shout a final warning to any vehicle that disregards the sign, and then they will open fire.
The U.S. military is serious about enforcement: On Sunday, officers opened fire on two vehicles that failed to stop as they approached the checkpoint. One person was killed.
The U.S. military acknowledges the restriction places a burden on innocent Iraqi civilians, but that soldier safety must come first.
"Because of acts like this, probably you have to restrict that a bit more. It's unfortunate but necessary to ensure the safety of our soldiers," said U.S. Maj. Gen. Buford Blount, commander of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division.
Iraq's vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, indicated the attack was part of a coordinated effort to thwart invaders who can't be defeated by conventional warfare. He also raised the specter of terrorism on U.S. or British soil.
Reports on Iraqi state television called the attack a "blessed beginning," and praised the bomber.
"After he kissed a copy of the Quran, he got into his booby-trapped car and went to an area where enemy armored cars and tanks were gathered on the fringes of Najaf and turned his pure body and explosives-laden car into a rocket and blew himself up," the statement said.
"He wanted to teach the enemy a lesson in the manner used by our Palestinian brothers," the report said.
Saddam is admired by Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (news - web sites), in part because he has doled out more than US$35 million to the families of civilians, gunmen and suicide attackers killed since fighting erupted in Israel some 30 months ago. Families of suicide bombers have received between $10,000 and $25,000 from the Iraqi leader.
At a Gaza City prayer rally held shortly after the U.S.-led assault on Iraq began, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Hamas movement, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, said Iraqi fighters should learn from the examples of Palestinian militants, who have killed hundreds of Israeli civilians in suicide bombings and other attacks in the latest fighting.
Iraqi dissidents and Arab media have claimed that Saddam has opened a training camp for Arab volunteers willing to carry out similar bombings.
The leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the guerrilla group which claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing Sunday in Israel, called on Palestinians to join the battle against the United States in Iraq by offering suicide operations. Islamic Jihad's military wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, has said vanguards of "martyrdom seekers" have already arrived in Baghdad.
"Whoever is able to march and reach Iraq, Baghdad, Najaf and blow himself up in this American invasion. ... This is the climax of Jihad and climax of martyrdom," said Abdullah Shallah, leader of Islamic Jihad.
Ramadan said thousands of Arab volunteers have been pouring into Iraq since the start of the war. Abdul-Baqi Saadoun, a Baath Party official in southern Iraq, said fighters were competing to die in suicide attacks.
"We all wish to blow ourselves up by explosive belts or assaults on the Americans, Zionists and the English," he told Arab satellite television channel al-Jazeera in an interview broadcast Sunday. "Every time they advance they are met with courageous, heroic men."
