[A-List] Iraq: the quagmire deepens

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

2.45pm update
Guardian online

US troops 'killed in Iraq ambush'

Associated Press
Thursday September 18, 2003

Up to eight US troops were reported to have been killed today in an ambush
in the Iraqi town of Khaldiyah, west of the capital Baghdad.

Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television said eight soldiers were killed and one
wounded in the incident, although there has been no confirmation from the
military.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said two US tanks and helicopters
were guarding a smouldering transport truck, which had apparently been
destroyed by rebels.

The reporter was unable to get close enough to verify the casualty reports
and was fired on by one of the tanks with three rounds from its 50-calibre
machine gun. It appeared the troops, who were taking fire from unknown
positions, were trying to protect themselves until reinforcements arrived.

Earlier, a 14-year-old Iraqi boy was reportedly killed when a US patrol
opened fire on wedding guests who were firing celebratory shots into the
air.

Residents in the town of Falluja, 32 miles northwest of Baghdad, said the
boy was killed and six other people were injured when passing US troops
mistook the wedding gunfire for a guerrilla attack.

Army spokesman Lt Gen Ricard Sanchez said the military could not confirm the
report but was "looking into it".
Adel Hmood, a neighbour, told the Associated Press (AP) that the soldiers,
who were in a Humvee armoured jeep, opened fire in a circle around
themselves after hearing shots from the wedding party. He said the dead boy
was Sufyan Daoud al-Kubaisi, who was on his way to buy cigarettes when he
was killed.

Bullet holes in homes and buildings in the area suggested there was heavy
firing by the US patrol, according to AP. The shooting took place about two
blocks from the main street in Falluja, which has seen a series of anti-US
attacks since the war was officially declared over.

A policeman in the city, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he had
heard identical reports. There were no US forces to be found in the city
today.

Last week American soldiers from the 82 Airborne Division mistakenly opened
fire on Iraqi police cars chasing highway bandits just outside Falluja,
killing eight Iraqi officers.

The military has apologised for the friendly fire incident and opened an
investigation into what was the worst such accident since the US president,
George Bush, declared major combat over on May 1.

Also today, there was an explosion along a pipeline carrying crude oil from
the oil fields near Kirkuk to Iraq's largest refinery at Beiji, the US
military said in Tikrit.

Witnesses said the explosion occurred just north of Beiji, about 120 miles
north of Baghdad. The cause of the blast could not be immediately determined
and the extent of damage was unclear.

The military said the cause of the fire was not yet known because it was
raging so fiercely investigators could not get close. Maj Josslyn Aberle,
spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division based in Tikrit, said valves on
the pipeline were being closed to shut off fuel to the fire.

Initial reports said the fire was on the main export pipeline to Turkey, but
the military said it broke out on a feeder line from the Kirkuk fields. "The
fire won't affect oil production or the timetable for resuming exports," Maj
Aberle said.

The line to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan has been hit by a
string of sabotage attacks just days after it was reopened. Paul Bremer, the
US administrator of Iraq, said the line's closure was costing the country
$7m (£4.3m) each day. The military says the line should be back in operation
in about a month.