BALAD (Iraq), June 15: Guerillas ambushed a US convoy in the region north of Baghdad on Sunday, wounding several soldiers.
A crippled US truck smouldered on the highway south of the restive town of Balad after the ambush, Apache helicopters buzzed overhead while tanks and armoured vehicles surrounded the truck. Troops trained their guns at the fields around the road. Soldiers said several casualties had been evacuated. They said the convoy had been travelling from Baghdad to Balad, about 90 km to the north. It was attacked about 20 km south of Balad.
The army said in a statement on Friday that it had killed 27 Iraqis who ambushed a tank patrol near Balad, but a military spokesman later said he could not confirm the death toll. Locals said five civilians had been killed in the incident.
OPERATION: Coalition troops unleashed a new operation codenamed Desert Scorpion on Saturday night, against forces loyal to ousted president Saddam Hussein in northern Iraq.
“It started last night, it is still ongoing,” said a spokesman.
“We are targeting anyone who is striking against US soldiers. Some of them are Baath Party members and some of them are against our peace efforts. We have detained people, but we don’t have any numbers.
“We have received no report of US casualties,” he said, without revealing the scale of Desert Scorpion.
The operation, focused “mostly in north and northwest” Iraq, came on the heels of Operation Peninsula Strike, a massive six-day US military assault in north-central Iraq to clamp down on pro-Saddam fighters, which was brought to a close on Thursday.
“The Fourth Infantry Division and supporting units from Task Force Ironhorse, concluded an extensive raid on June 12, 2003,” the US Central Command (Centcom) said on Sunday.
Peninsula Strike involved land, air and sea strikes “to capture or destroy terrorist elements”, it said, adding that it resulted “in the capture of approximately 400 detainees and the seizure of numerous weapon systems and ammunition”.
“Approximately 60 of the detainees remain in custody,” it said.
The massive army campaign left at least 113 people dead, including at least one foreigner, according to a tally from Iraqi witnesses and US officials.
American military officials said 31 fighters had been killed but reported no US deaths.
It was the largest military assault since US President George Bush declared on May 1 that major combat was over in Iraq. —Reuters/AFP
BALAD (Iraq), June 15: Guerillas ambushed a US convoy in the region north of Baghdad on Sunday, wounding several soldiers.
