World

U.S. Troops Repel Attacks, Kill 54

December 2, 2003 / 7:01 AM EST / CBS/AP

U.S. military officials say American forces pushed back two coordinated attacks by insurgents in Samarra, a city 60 miles north of Baghdad, in what was the bloodiest combat reported since the toppling of the government of Saddam Hussein.

U.S. officials say 54 Iraqis were killed Sunday and five American soldiers were wounded. Iraqis who live in the area claim that many of the dead are civilians.

The reports of a civilian death toll, and differing accounts of what happened, are prompting one Mideast news Web site to call the battle a "massacre."

The scale of the attacks and their apparent coordination indicated that rebel units retain the ability to conduct synchronized operations despite a massive U.S. offensive this month aimed at crushing the insurgency.

In other developments:

West of Baghdad, assailants ambushed a U.S. military convoy on Monday, killing one soldier, the U.S. military said. In terms of coalition losses, November was the bloodiest month of the war: 104 coalition troops have died in Iraq in November, including 79 Americans. At least 437 U.S. service members have died overall.

The Saddam regime negotiated with North Korea for two years to arrange a long-term deal for illegal long-range missiles, U.S. officials told The New York Times. Baghdad even made a $10 million down payment, but apparently received nothing in return.

Saudi Arabia is holding up $1 billion in pledges of aid to Iraq until a sovereign government is in place, the Los Angeles Times reports.

American forces have captured three members of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network in northern Iraq, a U.S. military commander said.

The U.S.-picked Iraqi Governing Council said Sunday it is rethinking an agreement with Americans for a power handover by July, with officials saying the council has set up a committee to assess the best way to choose a provisional legislature. A delay or unraveling of the agreement would be a major setback for Iraq's U.S.-led administration.

The U.S. military has for the first time acknowledged that the single deadliest incident of the war - the collision of two Black Hawk helicopters in Mosul on Nov. 15 - may have been caused by enemy action. Until now, the military had not speculated publicly on the cause of the collision in which 17 soldiers died. A U.S. commander says it appear a rocket-propelled grenade may have hit one helicopter.

The scars of the battle in Samarra were evident on Monday. About a dozen cars lay destroyed in the streets, many apparently crushed by tanks, and bullet holes pocked many buildings. A rowdy crowd gathered at one spot, chanting pro-Saddam slogans. One man fired warning shots in the air when journalists arrived at the scene.

A U.S. military spokesman said the clash was initiated by attackers, many wearing uniforms of Saddam's Fedayeen paramilitary force, who simultaneously attacked two U.S. convoys at opposite sides of Samarra, which was one of the ancient world's largest cities and today is one of the world's largest archeological sites.

Many residents say it's true that Saddam loyalists attacked the Americans, but that when U.S. forces began firing at random, many civilians got their guns and joined the fight. Many said residents were bitter about recent U.S. raids in the night.

"Why do they arrest people when they're in their homes?" asked Athir Abdul Salam, a 19-year-old student. "They come at night to arrest people. So what do they expect those people to do?"

"Civilians shot back at the Americans," said 30-year-old Ali Hassan, who was wounded by shrapnel in the battle. "They claim we are terrorists. So OK, we are terrorists. What do they expect when they drive among us?"

Some residents claim the Americans opened fire at random when they came under attack, and targeted civilian installations. Six destroyed vehicles sat in front of the hospital, where witnesses said U.S. tanks shelled people dropping off the injured. A kindergarten was damaged, apparently by tank shells. No children were hurt.

"Luckily we evacuated the children five minutes before we came under attack," said Ibrahim Jassim, a 40-year-old guard at the kindergarten. "Why did they attack randomly? Why did they shoot a kindergarten with tank shells?"

Lt. Col. William MacDonald of the 4th Infantry Division said that after barricading a road, the attackers opened fire from rooftops and alleyways with bombs, small arms, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. U.S. troops responded with 120mm tank rounds and 25mm cannon fire from Bradley fighting vehicles.

U.S. fire destroyed three buildings the attackers were using, MacDonald said.

"It sounds like the attack had some coordination to it, but the soldiers responded, used their firepower, used tank and Bradley fire and other weapons available to them, to stop this attack and take the fight to the enemy," he said.

The U.S. military initially said 46 Iraqi fighters died and five American soldiers were wounded. But a statement on Monday raised the number of Iraqi dead to 54.

Residents of Samarra disputed those figures, saying at most eight or nine people died. Three bodies lay in the hospital morgue. There was no way to reconcile the accounts.

MacDonald said the attack was the largest faced by his Task Force Ironhorse, whose mission includes the hunt for Saddam. Military officials in Baghdad said they haven't reported a deadlier attack since May 1, when President Bush declared major combat over. U.S. officials have only sporadically released figures on Iraqi casualties, and wouldn't say whether there has been a deadlier firefight that went unreported.

Shortly after the firefight, four men in a BMW attacked another U.S. convoy in Samarra with automatic rifles, MacDonald said. The soldiers wounded all four men, and found Kalashnikov rifles and grenade launchers in their car.