U.S. troops fight overnight battle after three soldiers killed

[Barrett808]

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) -- Saddam Hussein's last defense minister surrendered Friday to an American commander, and U.S. troops backed by helicopters and armored vehicles fought an overnight battle near Tikrit after coming under a coordinated attack that killed three soldiers and wounded two.

Though Americans have been the targets of near-daily attacks, the battle in and around the village of Uja -- Saddam's birthplace -- was unusual because of its intensity and length. The fighting lasted from 8 p.m. Thursday until daybreak Friday, the military said.

...

Three U.S. soldiers were killed and two were wounded in the ambush at Uja, five miles south of the center of Tikrit, said Col. James Hickey, the 1st Brigade commander.

Two soldiers who were brought to a medical station in a blood-soaked vehicle were listed in stable condition, Hickey said.

He would not comment on Iraqi casualties but said 40 men of "military age" were arrested.

"We have under control the individuals who attacked our patrol," Hickey said. "We fought a battle throughout the night and well into first light"

(more)

http://www.nj.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0499_BC_Iraq

[Barrett808]

1. More links

Three US soldiers killed in Tikrit
(Updated at 0910 PST)
BAGHDAD: Three US soldiers were killed in an ambush outside Tikrit, the hometown of Iraq's ousted president Saddam Hussein, in the deadliest of a spate of attacks a foreign news agency reported on Friday.

Two other US soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division were wounded in the attack eight kilometers (five miles) outside Tikrit, Corporal Vernon O'Donnell said. They were inspecting a a suspected mortar launch site when the ambush occurred, he said.

Earlier a US convoy took heavy casualties in an ambush in Khaldiyah, 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Baghdad, witnesses said.

http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/sep2003-daily/19-09-2003/main/update.shtml#2

---

Three American soldiers killed in ambush
Attack near Saddam's hometown
By Patrick Quinn, Associated Press
TIKRIT, Iraq -- Attackers ambushed a U.S. military patrol late Thursday, killing three American soldiers and wounding two on the outskirts of Saddam Hussein's hometown. The assault near Tikrit came hours after insurgents ambushed two U.S. military convoys with remote-controlled bombs, opening a three-hour gunbattle in a volatile city 50 miles west of Baghdad.
The U.S. military said two soldiers were wounded in the Khaldiyah ambush, the latest in a string of attacks that has raised questions about the Bush administration's handling of post-war Iraq.

The three soldiers from the Army's 4th Infantry Division were killed when attackers opened fire with small arms in the village of Al-Ouja, just five miles south of the center of Tikrit, shortly before midnight Thursday, Lt. Col. William McDonald said.

(more)

http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1865~1642459,00.html

[Ripley]

2. Unbelievable.

<snip>

We repositioned ourselves and immediately returned fire and counterattacked with ground and air forces and mechanized infantry," Hickey said.

He said the attack showed remarkable coordination.

<snip>

This sure sounds like a WAR is going on!!! Why isn't this battle covered on TV? Damn, I've never been in a battle but if it was that intense and lasted for 10 hours isn't that unusual only 3 of our guys died? How big of an army are they fighting? How many did we kill? Who are the enemy?

I want to know.

[lindashaw]

5. It's like those photographs that used to be posted on MSNBC...

They had to stop doing it. If they just showed those C-17s bringing home the wounded the public would go crazy. But all we hear is some guy who offered to "off" Kofi's accuser!

[pippin]

3. Please, please. please

Please, please. please bring them all home!

[catmandu57]

4. This story has disappeared

I read it at 5:30 this morning and haven't found it since, it sounds awfully screwy, after 10 hours of major fighting three dead, two wounded.
I'm wondering if this is going to be swept under the rug? On the other hand Dan Rather was actually doing his job last night, maybe he'll get a hold of this also.

[Barrett808]

6. Hmm, try this link: Forty fighters held in Iraq after U.S. troops killed

TIKRIT, Iraq – U.S. forces captured 40 suspected Iraqi guerrillas in a night-long battle near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit after three U.S. soldiers were killed in an ambush, a U.S. commander said on Friday.

Backed by attack helicopters, U.S. troops battled guerrillas until first light after the 4th Infantry Division soldiers were ambushed and killed in part of a series of coordinated attacks east and west of the Tigris river late on Thursday.

Colonel James Hickey said U.S. forces encircled an area of farmland on the east side of the river near Tikrit and captured 40 suspected Iraqi fighters.

"We were involved in direct firefights throughout the night," said Hickey. "We feel confident we now have under our control the individuals who attacked our patrol."

The ambush brought to 76 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in guerrilla attacks since major combat operations were declared over on May 1 after the U.S.-led invasion which ousted Saddam.

It was one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. soldiers which have been concentrated in the so-called "Sunni Triangle," the heartland of support for Saddam which stretches west from Baghdad and north to Tikrit.

...

But Hickey denied anti-American resistance was on the increase, saying there had been a fall-off in attacks in the Tikrit area in recent weeks.

"This is a handful of rearguards attempting to maintain a degree of political relevance here," Hickey said. "They will not succeed."

(more)

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20030919-0246-iraq-tikrit.html