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Attack Injures 7 U.S. Soldiers in Iraq
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U.S. soldiers guard their position at the mayor's office in Fallujah
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FALLUJAH,
Iraq
, May 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Seven U.S. soldiers
were wounded in a grenade attack at their base in the Iraqi city of
Falluja
, where American forces shot dead 18 people during anti-occupation
protests this week, a
U.S.
officer said on Thursday, May 1.
The
attack came on the same day U.S. President George W. Bush was to
declare "the major combat operations" in
Iraq
complete.
Six
soldiers were moderately wounded and a seventh sustained "very
light" injuries from the blasts at
1:00 am
(2100 GMT Wednesday), Captain Frank Rosenblatt, an intelligence
officer with the 82nd Airborne Division, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Two
Humvee vehicles were damaged in the attack on the U.S. military
offices, set up in what used to be the local headquarters of the
former ruling Baath Party in an area of central Fallujah, about 50
kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad.
"The
attack was an expression of the anger of a few people in the city
after what happened," Captain Alan Vaught told Reuters, adding
there was an exchange of gunfire between Iraqis and the
U.S.
troops after the attack but there were no additional injuries.
The
soldiers, whose injuries were not life threatening, were evacuated
from the compound in the city whose mayor confirmed there was an
attack but did not know the identities of the assailants, according to
the news agency.
Tension
Higher
Three
Iraqis were
killed and two left in critical condition Wednesday, April 30,
when
U.S.
forces opened fire on an angry crowd of residents protesting the
U.S.
presence in Fallujah after 15 people were shot
dead and 55 others injured in a similar incident late on Monday,
April 29.
Rosenblatt
said Wednesday's shootings occurred after soldiers thought the
protesters, who were throwing rocks and slippers, were hurling
grenades.
Foreign
reporters at the scene said the
U.S.
soldiers opened fire unprovoked.
"I
watched in horror as American troops opened fire on a crowd of 1,000
unarmed people. Many, including children, were cut down by a 20-second
burst of automatic gunfire during a demonstration against the Monday
killing," said the Mirror's correspondent at the scene.
The
crowd waved their fists at the gunships angrily and shouted: "Go
home
America
, go home
America
."
In
the Monday protest, the crowd called on the
U.S.
soldiers to leave the school they turned into military barracks two
days earlier in order for classes to resume.
Rosenblatt
said the
U.S.
army in the town was now in new negotiations with local authorities,
but soldiers would still "do what they have to do to defend
themselves."
Muslim
religious leaders in Fallujah said on Wednesday they had asked
U.S.
forces to pull back to the outskirts of the city as tension has been
running high over their presence in the conservative Sunni Muslim
town.
The
Iraqis felt that the
U.S.
forces did not act
enough to stop the wave of looting and thievery the country
descended into after they drove into
Baghdad
on April 9 and declared the Iraqi regime now crumbled. They also fear
a long-term occupation of their oil-rich country.
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