Seraphim
07-31-2003, 03:54 PM
http://www.msnbc.com/news/870749.asp?vts=073120031240
http://a799.g.akamai.net/3/799/388/4f3c5836f82e99/www.msnbc.com/news/1971437.jpg
A U.S. military vehicle burns Thursday after it hit a land mine on a road leading to Baghdad International Airport.
BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 31 — Two U.S. soldiers were killed and five were wounded in new attacks in Iraq, U.S. officials said Thursday, breaking a period of relative peace in which no U.S. soldier had been reported killed in combat in more than 48 hours.
THE SOLDIERS DIED in two incidents Wednesday and Thursday near the capital, Baghdad, U.S. Central Command said.
Three soldiers were also wounded in the most recent attack when their armored personnel carrier hit a land mine on the road to Baghdad International Airport. No further information was immediately available.
The second American, who was attached to the 4th Infantry Division, was killed by small-arms fire at his base 50 miles northeast of Baghdad late Wednesday night. Two other soldiers were injured, the military said.
The wounded soldiers were evacuated to the 47th Forward Support Battalion for treatment, the Central Command statement said. Their names were withheld until their families could be notified.
The northern attack occurred about 25 miles east of Baqouba in the so-called Sunni Triangle, a heavily Sunni Muslim area where support for former President Saddam Hussein has been strongest and where U.S. forces have come under the most attacks.
The deaths brought to 51 the number of U.S. troops killed in hostile action since May 1, when President Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq. In all, 165 Americans have been killed in combat in Iraq, 18 more than died in the 1991 Gulf War.
‘MULTIFACETED’ ENEMY
U.S. commanders attributed the attacks to Saddam loyalists and foreign terrorists with ever-more sophisticated bombs.
“We’re fighting a low-intensity conflict that is multifaceted,” said Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of U.S. ground forces in Iraq. “It includes criminals. It includes former regime loyalists. It includes Saddam Fedayeen [militia] and some radical extremists that are operating against us.”
Sanchez blamed the attacks on Saddam loyalists and on foreign extremists who arrived with the know-how to build sophisticated bombs, echoing a new emphasis by U.S. commanders in recent days that their battle in Iraq was part of a global struggle against terrorism.
For “those terrorist groups that have clearly stated that they are going to conduct operations against the United States, this is the place to come,” Sanchez said at a news conference in Baghdad. “As long as the Americans and the coalition are here, there will be people who come in to attack us.”
Sanchez said the core of the resistance remained linked to Saddam. But asked whether Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network was also involved, he replied: “They probably are operating in Iraq.”
He also said that Ansar al Islam, which formerly had a base in the mountainous Kurdish-controlled zone of northern Iraq, and “other extremist groups” were active, too.
Still, “I think we all clearly understand that’s what this business is about here: to try to bring the political brutality of the Saddam Hussein regime back into power,” he said. “There’s no other political alternative that they’re espousing.”
Despite more than 280 raids across Iraq over the past week, Sanchez said he did not have “anything really significant to report” in the search for Saddam. “We remain focused on him and we will find him at some point,” he said.
The Associated Press and ******* contributed to this report.
http://a799.g.akamai.net/3/799/388/4f3c5836f82e99/www.msnbc.com/news/1971437.jpg
A U.S. military vehicle burns Thursday after it hit a land mine on a road leading to Baghdad International Airport.
BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 31 — Two U.S. soldiers were killed and five were wounded in new attacks in Iraq, U.S. officials said Thursday, breaking a period of relative peace in which no U.S. soldier had been reported killed in combat in more than 48 hours.
THE SOLDIERS DIED in two incidents Wednesday and Thursday near the capital, Baghdad, U.S. Central Command said.
Three soldiers were also wounded in the most recent attack when their armored personnel carrier hit a land mine on the road to Baghdad International Airport. No further information was immediately available.
The second American, who was attached to the 4th Infantry Division, was killed by small-arms fire at his base 50 miles northeast of Baghdad late Wednesday night. Two other soldiers were injured, the military said.
The wounded soldiers were evacuated to the 47th Forward Support Battalion for treatment, the Central Command statement said. Their names were withheld until their families could be notified.
The northern attack occurred about 25 miles east of Baqouba in the so-called Sunni Triangle, a heavily Sunni Muslim area where support for former President Saddam Hussein has been strongest and where U.S. forces have come under the most attacks.
The deaths brought to 51 the number of U.S. troops killed in hostile action since May 1, when President Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq. In all, 165 Americans have been killed in combat in Iraq, 18 more than died in the 1991 Gulf War.
‘MULTIFACETED’ ENEMY
U.S. commanders attributed the attacks to Saddam loyalists and foreign terrorists with ever-more sophisticated bombs.
“We’re fighting a low-intensity conflict that is multifaceted,” said Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of U.S. ground forces in Iraq. “It includes criminals. It includes former regime loyalists. It includes Saddam Fedayeen [militia] and some radical extremists that are operating against us.”
Sanchez blamed the attacks on Saddam loyalists and on foreign extremists who arrived with the know-how to build sophisticated bombs, echoing a new emphasis by U.S. commanders in recent days that their battle in Iraq was part of a global struggle against terrorism.
For “those terrorist groups that have clearly stated that they are going to conduct operations against the United States, this is the place to come,” Sanchez said at a news conference in Baghdad. “As long as the Americans and the coalition are here, there will be people who come in to attack us.”
Sanchez said the core of the resistance remained linked to Saddam. But asked whether Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network was also involved, he replied: “They probably are operating in Iraq.”
He also said that Ansar al Islam, which formerly had a base in the mountainous Kurdish-controlled zone of northern Iraq, and “other extremist groups” were active, too.
Still, “I think we all clearly understand that’s what this business is about here: to try to bring the political brutality of the Saddam Hussein regime back into power,” he said. “There’s no other political alternative that they’re espousing.”
Despite more than 280 raids across Iraq over the past week, Sanchez said he did not have “anything really significant to report” in the search for Saddam. “We remain focused on him and we will find him at some point,” he said.
The Associated Press and ******* contributed to this report.