FALLUJA, March 31: Furious Iraqis hacked up the charred remains of two American contractors killed in an ambush on Wednesday, hung them from a bridge and vowed to make this rebellious town a cemetery for US-led occupation forces.
The two victims were among four American contractors killed in an ambush in Falluja, a town 50kms west of Baghdad that is a hotbed of resistance to US troops.
Wednesday's scenes were reminiscent of an Oct 1993 incident in Somalia when 18 US Army Rangers and one Malaysian were killed in the downing by militias of two US helicopters. Mobs then dragged the corpses of Americans through the streets of Mogadishu.
The ambush coincided with the death of five US soldiers when a roadside bomb hit their convoy in the western province of Al Anbar, where Falluja is located. In Washington, the White House vowed that the United States would stay the course in Iraq despite another bloody day.
"These are horrific attacks by people who are trying to prevent democracy from moving forward, but democracy is taking root," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. He said the United States was holding fast to a June 30 deadline for handing over power in Iraq to a transitional government.
Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations chief of the occupation authority, said at a press conference in Baghdad that the four were killed when guerillas attacked two four-wheel-drive vehicles carrying the contractors on a main road in Falluja. A crowd then set the vehicles ablaze and dragged the bodies through the streets of the town.
Boiling with anger, demonstrators hurled rocks at the bodies that dangled from a bridge straddling the Euphrates River as they shouted: "Down with the occupation, down with America".
The bodies, one of them headless, were then pulled down and placed on the ground for people to kick and slash with knives. Young men strung a severed hand and a leg on an electricity pole on the main street of Falluja.
Four policemen in a car who were near the bridge at the time were seen leaving the scene without intervening. No US soldiers were seen either at the place hours after the gory incident.
The names of the victims and the organization they worked for was not released. It was also not clear what they were doing in Falluja. Witness Ali Mohammed, 31, said the contractors' convoy was made up of three cars.
As well as attacks on occupation forces, there has been a sharp increase in guerilla strikes against foreign civilians in recent weeks. In March alone, 12 foreign civilians have been killed in drive-by shootings or similar attacks.
With less than 100 days to go before US authorities hand over sovereignty to an Iraqi government, the US military, Iraqi police and other local forces are still battling to bring security to the country.
FIVE TROOPS KILLED: The five US soldiers were killed when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device northwest of a military base in Habbaniya, 90kms west of Baghdad, a military spokesman said.
It is thought to be the worst single incident involving occupation troops since a US military helicopter was downed on Jan 8 near Falluja, killing all nine aboard. In Basra, three British soldiers were wounded by the explosion of a roadside bomb.
The explosion followed a spate of clashes involving British troops and came the day after another three British soldiers were injured when they were attacked by stone-throwing locals.
The troops were caught up in angry scenes as they tried to evict squatters from a government building. Last week, 14 British soldiers were hurt when grenades and petrol bombs were thrown at them during a demonstration. -AFP/Reuters
