Winks Blog

19 Killed 20 Injured In US Military Raid

Good afternoon,

BAGHDAD - U.S. troops raided a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad on Thursday in a hunt for militiamen linked to Iran, sparking exchanges of fire and a mortar attack. Officials said 19 people were killed, and residents said some of the casualties were caused by U.S. helicopter fire.

The U.S. military had no immediate comment on the violence in the eastern Amin district of the capital.

The violence began with a pre-dawn raid by U.S. forces that the military said captured two militants involved in kidnappings and planting roadside bombs against U.S. and Iraqi troops. Militants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the troops, hitting a nearby building, the military said.

U.S. troops later surrounded the neighborhood, announcing via loudspeakers to residents that they were seeking militants and that they should stay inside, said an Iraqi police official who was at the scene. As the Americans withdrew around 11 a.m., they came under fire, prompting troops to move back into the district, assaulting several buildings, the official said.

The result was an exchange of fire that included mortars and rockets, the official said. Residents _ many of them Shiites who fled to Baghdad from Baqouba, where U.S. forces have been waging a three-week-old offensive _ said that during the fighting, a U.S. helicopter hit several residential buildings and a minibus.

AP Television News video showed buildings riddled with holes from heavy machine guns and rockets, and a heavily damaged minibus.

Another police official involved in compiling casualties said 19 people were killed and 20 wounded, a toll confirmed by officials from the three hospitals where the victims were taken. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

An Iraqi photographer and driver employed by Reuters news agency were killed Thursday in eastern Baghdad, the London-based agency said. The hospital officials said the two Reuters staffers _ identified as photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40 _ were among the 19 dead in Amin.

"The cause of their deaths was unclear, although witnesses spoke of an explosion in the area," Reuters said. "Iraqi police said either a U.S. airstrike or a mortar attack had occurred."

Have a nice day.

posted by Wink @ 9:50 AM