Then it was like a thunderstorm broke open: Bombs exploded, and fire and smoke erupted from under the pavement, followed by the deep thumping of machine guns. On a wide boulevard in the center of town, they heard a pinging noise, like the first drops of rain. They had no radio or satellite phone in the cab, just a store-bought walkie-talkie hanging from a bungee cord.
#National guard convoy ambushed full
Plates of rusty steel were bolted to the doors, a kind of homemade armor, but the truck, hauling a shipping container full of weapons, was otherwise unprotected. Stuart Redus was at the wheel of a boxy old big-rig, 28th in line, with Staff Sgt. newspaper.In the orange light of late afternoon, a mile-long Army convoy of 33 heavily loaded trucks crossed a bridge over the Tigris River into the dusty, trash-strewn streets of Al Amarah, Iraq. military also reported that a soldier was killed Sunday in Anbar province, home to the troubled cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. Troops recovered 16 rocket-propelled grenades and six launchers as well as machine guns, assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition, officials said. forces were able to outflank the insurgents, and the attack helicopters that were called in for support did not join the battle, the military said. The clash Sunday afternoon occurred on a road seeing increasing guerrilla activity, the military said, including an ambush Friday at nearly the same spot. Among them were 10 men who reportedly confessed to the March 9 bombing of the Ministry of Agriculture and a hotel housing Western contractors. and Iraqi forces are reporting large numbers of arrests of suspected insurgents, with scores of people being detained over the weekend in various Iraqi cities and towns. In neighborhoods such as Dora, Iraqi police and soldiers are losing the battle against insurgents and common criminals, when they even choose to challenge them.
“We need a very strong government that deals with security like Saddam Hussein did.” “The economic changes are not important now,” one man said. But many Dora residents say security outweighs all other concerns. Patrick Frey of the California Army National Guard told residents that work is being done to improve electricity and other services. soldiers visited Dora last week to distribute shoes and talk about the neighborhood’s needs. Several people were wounded, witnesses said. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Dora neighborhood in Baghdad, which saw more grief over the weekend.Īt the wake of Thaer Abbas al-Shammari, a Dora merchant, armed men in three cars attacked mourners as they were leaving the funeral tent. They are calling for a strong government to step up and confront the insurgents and common criminals who have made life in parts of Iraq so unstable. Many Iraqis are expressing growing frustration with the political bartering. They still are trying to entice into the government allies of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, if not Allawi himself.Īnalysts and some Iraqi officials say the delay helps the insurgents. 30 elections energized the country.Īl-Sistani lamented that the delay would “adversely affect people’s lives,” said Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a leading Shiite politician who met with al-Sistani in Najaf.Īl-Hakim said negotiators have made progress. Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the leading Shiite cleric in Iraq, reportedly expressed consternation that Iraq still does not have a transitional government more than seven weeks after the Jan.
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