Roger Rabbit
12-19-2003, 01:56 PM
US army trucks attacked in Kuwait
US troops in Kuwait watched the video of Saddam in custody
Gunmen have fired at two US military truck convoys in Kuwait, slightly injuring four US soldiers.
The injuries were caused by flying glass from the vehicles' windows, a US military spokesman said.
The convoys, travelling on separate roads, came under fire at 1415 GMT and 1445 GMT, he said.
Thousands of US troops are based in oil-rich Kuwait, a staunch US ally in the region since Iraqi forces were driven out of the emirate in 1991.
Lieutenant-Colonel Vic Harris said the attacks happened on the Seventh Ring Road and Highway 51, south of Kuwait City.
He said the gunmen had not yet been identified.
The shootings happened just hours after the US military announced that ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had been captured by US forces - news welcomed by many in Kuwait.
It is not clear whether they were related to that announcement.
Kuwait was the launch pad for the US-led invasion of Iraq in March.
State-run Kuwaiti television, quoting Kuwaiti security sources, said the US soldiers fired back at the assailants.
The last anti-American attack in Kuwait before Sunday's shootings came in January, when a US civil contractor was killed and another wounded near a US base.
A Kuwaiti man, Sami al-Mutairi, was captured in Saudi Arabia and extradited to the emirate after that shooting. He allegedly confessed to being a supporter of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
In May, Kuwait put six suspected Islamists on trial for allegedly plotting attacks against Americans ahead of the Iraq war.
Kuwait has tightened security since three letter bombs addressed to Arab journalists were intercepted on Friday and a similar device caused a small explosion at a newspaper office the previous day.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3319121.stm
US troops in Kuwait watched the video of Saddam in custody
Gunmen have fired at two US military truck convoys in Kuwait, slightly injuring four US soldiers.
The injuries were caused by flying glass from the vehicles' windows, a US military spokesman said.
The convoys, travelling on separate roads, came under fire at 1415 GMT and 1445 GMT, he said.
Thousands of US troops are based in oil-rich Kuwait, a staunch US ally in the region since Iraqi forces were driven out of the emirate in 1991.
Lieutenant-Colonel Vic Harris said the attacks happened on the Seventh Ring Road and Highway 51, south of Kuwait City.
He said the gunmen had not yet been identified.
The shootings happened just hours after the US military announced that ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had been captured by US forces - news welcomed by many in Kuwait.
It is not clear whether they were related to that announcement.
Kuwait was the launch pad for the US-led invasion of Iraq in March.
State-run Kuwaiti television, quoting Kuwaiti security sources, said the US soldiers fired back at the assailants.
The last anti-American attack in Kuwait before Sunday's shootings came in January, when a US civil contractor was killed and another wounded near a US base.
A Kuwaiti man, Sami al-Mutairi, was captured in Saudi Arabia and extradited to the emirate after that shooting. He allegedly confessed to being a supporter of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
In May, Kuwait put six suspected Islamists on trial for allegedly plotting attacks against Americans ahead of the Iraq war.
Kuwait has tightened security since three letter bombs addressed to Arab journalists were intercepted on Friday and a similar device caused a small explosion at a newspaper office the previous day.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3319121.stm