The Hindu : Three U.S. soldiers killed in attack on convoy

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Friday, Jul 25, 2003

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Three U.S. soldiers killed in attack on convoy

A picture released by the U.S. forces shows the bodies of Qusai (left) and Uday, sons of the toppled Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein. — AFP

BAGHDAD JULY 24. Three American soldiers were killed on Thursday when their convoy was hit by gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades in northern Iraq, a military spokeswoman said. In Baghdad, two Iraqis were killed when their car approached a U.S. military checkpoint.

The killings were further signs that the insurgency against American troops isn't losing its strength.

The Arab satellite broadcaster Al-Arabiya aired a tape of what it said were a group of Saddam Fedayeen militia vowing revenge for the deaths of Uday and Qusai Hussein.

``We want to say to the occupation forces, they said last night that killing Uday and Qusai will diminish (resistance) attacks, but we want to say to them that their death will increase attacks against them,'' one of three masked men in the tape read from a statement.

The Fedayeen militia was once led by Uday. Coalition officials have repeatedly blamed former militia members for some of the attacks on U.S. soldiers. The attack on the soldiers was the second in two days that killed members of the 101st Airborne Division, which led the intense but sporadic fiery assault in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul that killed Uday and Qusai. In Baghdad, a spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority said some members of the country's Governing Council were shown the brothers' bodies, which are being kept at Baghdad International Airport.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the spokesman said the CPA was also talking with the Council about how to release pictures of the bodies to the public. Many Iraqis are likely to remain sceptical of the U.S. account of the brothers' death without proof. ``There isn't the slightest doubt in our minds that these are the bodies of Uday and Qusai,'' he said.

The military spokeswoman, Spc. Nicole Thompson, in Baghdad said the soldiers killed on Thursday were travelling in a convoy toward Qayyarah, 300 km north of the capital, when they were at attacked. No other soldiers in the convoy near Mosul were wounded, Spc. Thompson said, adding the convoy's starting point wasn't known. There was no word if any of the attackers were acting out of revenge over the deaths of Uday and Qusai.

In Sadr City, a poor suburb of Baghdad, formerly called Saddam City, some residents wanted to be sure the brothers were dead. ``We heard about Uday and Qusai being killed and, frankly, we are happy,'' one man said. "The question is, what's the proof of them being killed? We heard about it, but we haven't seen any proof so far.'' — AP

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