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U.S.
Forces Gun Down 3 Protestors, Iraqis Kill 3 Soldiers
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Angry
Iraqi protestors vowed to "blow them (U.S. forces) up one by
one until they either leave or are all dead."
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BAGHDAD,
June 18 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Clashes between U.S.
troops and Iraqis have taken an upward trajectory Wednesday, June 18,
with three Iraqi protestors gunned down by U.S. forces and three
American soldiers killed by Iraqis in separate incidents.
U.S.
troops opened fire on a crowd of angry Iraqi protesters in Baghdad,
killing three of them and injuring others, Al-Jazeera reported.
Some
300 members of the U.S.-disbanded Iraqi army were demonstrating at the
former presidential palace in the centre of Baghdad when U.S. troops
opened fire at them, witnesses said.
U.S.
army spokesman Sergeant First Class Brian Thomas said two Iraqis were
wounded in the clashes, but added that he was unaware of any
fatalities, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"One
soldier opened fire for self defense. The convoy he was in was pelted
by rocks," he claimed.
"Two
Iraqis were wounded but they were evacuated to the First Armored
Division battalion aid station. Their condition is unknown at this
moment," he added.
'Useless'
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One
of the Iraqi wounded in the peaceful protest
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One
of the protesters, Essam Mansur Hussein, 49, warned that they were now
prepared to take up arms against the U.S. troops occupying the
country, asserting that peaceful demos had become nothing but useless.
"Every
day we come to protest peacefully, but it's useless. In the coming
days it will not be peaceful. They have to realize that if we have
nothing to eat there will be Feyadeen (bombing) operations every
day," said Hussein.
"We
will blow them up one by one until they either leave or are all
dead," he threatened.
The
former soldiers were demanding salary arrears still unpaid since the
top U.S. civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, officially
dissolved the Iraqi army on May 23.
On
May 26, up to former 5,000 Iraqi army officers and personnel staged a
demonstration, protesting the decision.
Others
in the crowd expressed anger at the continued U.S. presence in Iraq.
"Look
at this army of liberation. They came saying they would liberate us
from Saddam Hussein and now they kill us. They riddle us with bullets
while they are proud of being a 'democratic' country," said Ali
al Ruhaini, 46, a former junior officer.
The
shooting was just the latest of a series of clashes between U.S.
troops and Iraqi civilians.
Meanwhile,
an Iraqi man was shot and seriously injured by U.S. troops who opened
fire on the car he was driving in Fallujah Wednesday, AFP reported
quoting one of the passengers.
An
American woman soldier fired on the car "without any reason"
shortly after noon near Fallujah's industrial zone, said Mohammad
Shihata, who was in the front seat.
Driver
Abdo Baidan Hussein was seriously wounded in the chest and transferred
to the intensive care unit of a local hospital, he added.
American
Fatalities
In
another development, three U.S. soldiers were killed Wednesday and
another wounded in two separate incidents.
In
Dura, on the southern fringes of the Iraqi capital, two U.S. soldiers
guarding a filling station were killed in a hand grenade attack, an
AFP photographer at the scene reported.
A
number of U.S. military vehicles and a helicopter arrived at the scene
and removed the bodies, he said, adding that the attackers had fled.
The
photographer was then detained by U.S. forces who held his press pass
and confiscated his camera, preventing him from taking photographs of
the scene.
Another
U.S. soldier was killed Wednesday and a second wounded in
central Baghdad in an attack described by an American military
spokesman as a drive-by shooting.
"One
soldier was killed and one wounded, both are from the First Armored
Division," U.S. army spokesman Sergeant First Class Brian Thomas
told AFP.
"They're
treating it as a drive-by attack," he said.
Click to watch the demonstration
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