5 U.S. Troops Killed In Mosul Roadside Attack
RIP…
BAGHDAD, Jan 28 - Five U.S. soldiers were killed in a coordinated ambush in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Monday, the U.S. military said, making it one of the single deadliest attacks against American forces in months.
The patrol was hit by a roadside bomb and then came under small arms fire, the military said, the day after extra Iraqi troops arrived for a final push against al Qaeda in what has been described as their last major urban stronghold.
Violence has fallen sharply across Iraq, with attacks down 60 percent since last June. But northern Iraq remains the biggest security worry after al Qaeda regrouped in Nineveh, of which Mosul is the capital, Salahuddin and Diyala provinces.
Few other details about Monday’s attack in Iraq’s third largest city were immediately available.
Iraqi army and police also reported that fighting had broken out in the Haysuma neighbourhood, a known al Qaeda stronghold in the east of the city, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad.
Brigadier-General Khalid Abd al-Sattar, the operations spokesman for Iraqi security forces in Nineveh, said clashes erupted just after noon (0900 GMT) and that only U.S. soldiers were involved in the operation. Fighting ended just before dusk.
Soldiers on the ground were supported by helicopters, he said. A brief U.S. military report on the incident seen by Reuters said the area was later secured.
The U.S. military describes al Qaeda as the single biggest threat to security in Iraq.
Extra Iraqi troops, backed by tanks and helicopters, began moving into Mosul on Sunday after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki last week announced a “decisive” final push against al Qaeda in and around Mosul.
The U.S. military launched a series of offensives in the north and just south of Baghdad earlier this month.
Al Qaeda, blamed for most major bombings in Iraq, regrouped in Mosul after being squeezed out of western Anbar province and from around Baghdad during security crackdowns last year.
The overall improvement in security is credited in part to 30,000 extra U.S. troops, who became fully deployed last year, and the growing use of neighbourhood police patrols organised by mainly Sunni Arab tribal sheiks who turned against al Qaeda.
(Reuters)
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MOTHERFUCKER.
At least al-Qaida appears to be getting fucked up badly during the latest offensive, too bad it causes a spike in US casualties.
January 28th, 2008 at 9:54 amsigh-more people who died too soon. thanks and RIP.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:51 amThe internet is a wonderful thing.
Unless your son is in Mosul and you know he had a mission today.
Sigh…
January 28th, 2008 at 12:00 pm@3ACRMom:
Praying that your son is safe today. His service is very much appreciated by many many people, including all of us here.
Our sincere gratitude, and we’re hoping he is fine.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:19 pm