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Phony GIs kill 5 real ones Sophistication of ambush stuns Karbala officials By Ernesto Londono Washington Post Associated Press Iraqi firefighters hose a minibus after it blew up in central Baghdad on Sunday. A bomb struck a small bus headed to a predominantly Shiite area in Baghdad on Sunday, killing six passengers and wounding 10. BAGHDAD, Iraq – The armored sport utility vehicles whisked into a government compound in the city of Karbala with speed and urgency, the way most Americans and foreign dignitaries travel along Iraq’s treacherous roads these days. Iraqi guards at checkpoints waved them through Saturday afternoon because the men wore what appeared to be legitimate U.S. military uniforms and badges, and drove cars commonly used by foreigners, the provincial governor said. Once inside, however, the men unleashed one of the deadliest and most brazen ambushes of U.S. forces in a secure, official area. Five American service members were killed in a hail of grenades and gunfire in a breach of security that Iraqi officials called unprecedented. The attack, which lasted about 20 minutes, came on a day when the United States lost at least 20 other troops, including a dozen in a helicopter crash. Saturday, the third-most lethal day for American forces in Iraq, coincided with the arrival of 3,200 troops of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, the first unit to reach Baghdad as part of a 21,500 troop increase that the Bush administration hopes will restore order in the violent capital. “Soldiers from the 82nd come to us ready to engage in a wide variety of operations in support of the Iraqi Baghdad Security Plan,” Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq, said in a statement. “The brigade adds operational flexibility that will assist in securing the population.” U.S. military officials said Sunday that they could not discuss the attack in Karbala in detail because it remained under investigation. But they said the version of events provided by the governor’s office was consistent with their preliminary findings. After arriving at the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Karbala, in southern Iraq, the attackers detonated sound bombs, Iraqi officials said. “They wanted to create a panic situation,” said an aide to Karbala Gov. Akeel al-Khazaali, who described the events with the governor’s permission but on condition of anonymity because he fears reprisals. The men then stormed into a room where Americans and Iraqis were making plans to ensure the safety of thousands of people expected to visit the holy city for an upcoming holiday. “They didn’t target anyone but the American soldiers,” the governor’s aide said. After the attack, the assailants returned to their vehicles and drove away. It was unclear how many people participated, and the men’s identities and motive remained unclear, but the attack was particularly striking because of the resources and sophistication involved, Iraqi officials said. The men drove toward the city of Babil, north of Karbala, where they shot at guards at a checkpoint, said Capt. Muthana Ahmad, a police spokesman. Vehicles later recovered contained three bodies and one injured individual. The U.S. military took possession of the vehicles, the spokesman said. In December 2004, a U.S. base in Mosul was penetrated by a suicide bomber who killed 22 people, including 14 U.S. service members. But Saturday’s attack appeared to present a new danger: assailants who disguise themselves as officials and travel in convoys. “The way it happened and the new style, the province has not seen before,” said Abdul Al al-Yasri, head of the provincial council in Karbala. “And this will make us insist on carrying on the security procedures even on official delegates and diplomats when they are coming to Karbala province.” Military officials said Sunday that the cause of the helicopter crash, which killed 12 soldiers northeast of Baghdad on Saturday, remained under investigation. They said they could not confirm accounts by Iraqi officials and civilians who said it was shot down by insurgents in a Sunni Muslim-dominated area of Diyala province. U.S. officials initially reported 13 soldiers died in the crash. The military also announced that two Marines were killed in separate combat encounters Sunday in Anbar province in western Iraq. The military said four soldiers and one Marine were killed in combat Saturday in Anbar. The service members’ names were withheld pending notification of their relatives, officials said. Reports of carnage targeting Iraqis also continued Sunday. A passenger stepped off on a public minivan in central Baghdad, leaving behind a bomb that exploded, killing four police officers and three civilians, said Gen. Sadoun Qasim of the Iraqi Interior Ministry. Elsewhere in Baghdad, at least five people were killed by two improvised explosive devices. Also Sunday, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he is inclined to oppose President Bush’s appointment of Army Gen. George Casey as the new Army chief of staff, on grounds that Casey’s 2 1/2 -year tenure as U.S. military leader in Iraq was marked by “failed leadership.” McCain, the senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee that must confirm Casey’s appointment and a likely presidential candidate in 2008, accused Casey of presiding over “a failed policy” in Iraq, in which McCain said Iraqi forces were expected too quickly to assume growing responsibility for security matters there. McCain also reiterated his support for the troop surge announced by President Bush. |