4 Americans Killed in Iraq; U.S. Attack Kills 6
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/world/middleeast/23iraq.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and ANWAR J. ALI
Published: March 23, 2008
BAGHDAD -- Four American soldiers were killed near the capital in the
past two days, the military said Saturday, and north of Baghdad an
American attack helicopter killed six people who the Iraqi police said
were pro-American Sunni militia fighters.
Three soldiers were killed when militants attacked their patrol with a
roadside bomb northwest of the capital on Saturday, the military
command in Baghdad re****ted. Two Iraqi civilians also died.
The fourth American soldier was killed south of the capital on Friday
by indirect fire, which normally refers to mortar shells or rockets.
Four other soldiers were wounded in the attack, according to a
military statement, which did not provide any more details.
Violence in Iraq dropped sharply late last year, especially in Baghdad
and Anbar Province, but the decline in casualties has halted. Since
the beginning of the year, Sunni guerrillas and ****ite militants have
been killing an average of about one American service member per day.
Civilian deaths have also begun to rise in recent weeks. But casualty
tallies still remain well below those of a year ago.
Many of the security gains have been attributed to the decision by
Sunnis, many of whom were guerrilla fighters, to become American-
backed neighborhood militia guards, paid about $300 a month by the
military. More than 90,000 militiamen, most of them Sunnis, are now on
the American payroll. But it is not clear how many had previously
fought American forces.
But as the program has expanded, some militia groups have been
infiltrated by Sunni militants still at war with American forces. And
in some cases American troops have had trouble distingui****ng the
former insurgents working for the Americans from active fighters who
are not.
Details were sharply disputed regarding the attack early Saturday near
Samarra that an Iraqi police official said left the six pro-American
Sunni militia guards dead.
One Sunni militia leader in the area said the men who were killed had
been staffing a legitimate checkpoint. But the American military
command for northern Iraq said the Apache helicopter fired on men who
had appeared to be trying to bury a roadside bomb.
"American forces said that the people they killed were gunmen, but
they were my men, and they were even wearing Awakening uniforms," said
Abu Farouk, a leader of pro-American Awakening militia forces near
Samarra. American military officials acknowledged that six people were
killed by an Apache helicopter, but they rejected the account provided
by the Iraqi police official and Abu Farouk.
The military said it could not confirm whether or not the six men had
been part of a pro-American militia. But the military said the
helicopter had attacked "suspected I.E.D. emplacers" after they were
spotted "conducting suspicious terrorist activity in an area
historically known for improvised explosive device emplacement."
"I.E.D.," or improvised explosive device, is military jargon for
roadside bombs, often made from old artillery shells or other
explosives, that can destroy Humvees and other vehicles.
The American statement also denied that the men who were killed had
been at a militia checkpoint, and instead described the area as being
"near a recent I.E.D. site."
Just south of Samarra on Saturday, in the town of al-Mutasim, a
suicide bomber blew up a car near the house of the mayor, Sheik
Hussein al-Shatob. The explosion killed three Iraqi police officers
guarding the house, but the mayor was unharmed.
An Iraqi employee of The New York Times contributed re****ting from
Samarra.
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