Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil Jr., commander of the 1st Cavalry Division and in charge of Baghdad, said the coordinated attack, which included the bomb, small-arms fire and RPGs, was "very violent" and showed a level of coordination and sophistication the military hasn't often seen. These kinds of attacks are taking their toll: in the first six months of 2007, 574 service members have died, a 62 percent increase over the same period last year. Fil said the insurgents were some of the worst he's ever seen.
BAGHDAD, June 30 (KUNA) -- The Iraqi Government condemned on Saturday a US military operation in the Baghdad suburban region of Al-Sadr where up to 26 gunmen were killed. The government said in a statement that it "emphatically rejects any military operation by the Multi-National Forces in any Iraqi governorate or city without prior approval of the command of the Iraqi Military Forces or coordination with the command." It also urged the Iraqi regulars to abide by orders, made by the higher national authorities, and warned against launching attacks against civilians.The statement added that the government would seek clarification from the Multi-National Forces about the operation that was carried out in the suburban region at dawn today.Witnesses told KUNA that several civilians were killed and wounded during the operation.A number of mosques announced that cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has postponed next week's march to Samarra. This occurred during Friday prayers, facing shouts and, occasionally, tears as worshippers reacted to the news that the July 5 march was being called off. al-Naseri, one of the leaders, told his followers at the al-Kufa mosque, “If the government is no longer able to protect citizens it has to step aside.”
We have just had allegations of a severe military attack on June 22 attack in Diyala Province, al-Khalis.........(see previous post)
Military Charges Soldiers With Murder
By HAMID AHMED, AP
Posted: 2007-06-30 05:54:22
BAGHDAD (June 30) - Two U.S. soldiers were charged with the premeditated murder of three Iraqis, while 26 people died in American raids in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood, the U.S. military said Saturday. The soldiers are accused of killing three Iraqis in separate incidents, then planting weapons on the victims' remains, the military said in a statement.
Fellow soldiers reported the alleged crimes, which took place between April and this month in the vicinity of Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad, it said.The U.S. military on Saturday identified the soldiers as Staff Sgt. Michael A. Hensley from Chandler, N.C., and Spc. Jorge G. Sandoval from Laredo, Texas.Hensley is charged with three counts each of premeditated murder, obstructing justice and "wrongfully placing weapons with the remains of deceased Iraqis," the military said. He was placed in military confinement in Kuwait on Thursday. Sandoval faces one count each of premeditated murder and placing a weapon with the remains of a dead Iraqi, a statement said. He was taken into custody Tuesday while at home in Texas, and was transferred to military confinement in Kuwait three days later, it said. Both were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501 Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska. In Sadr City, the military said those killed were "terrorists" who attacked U.S. troops before dawn Saturday with small arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades and roadside bombs. But Iraqi police and hospital officials said all the dead were civilians killed in their homes. "Everyone who got shot was shooting at U.S. troops at the time," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman. "It was an intense firefight."
The Iraqi officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of security concerns, put the death toll at eight, with 20 wounded. Seventeen suspected militants also were detained in the operation, which consisted of two separate raids, the U.S. military said in a statement. American troops entered the Shiite enclave in search of militants suspected of helping Iranian terror networks fund operations in Iraq, the statement said. There were no U.S. casualties, it said.
But witnesses said U.S. forces rolled into their neighborhood before dawn and opened fire without warning."At about 4 a.m., a big American convoy with tanks came and began to open fire on houses - bombing them," said Basheer Ahmed, who lives in Sadr City's Habibiya district. "What did we do? We didn't even retaliate - there was no resistance."The raids centered on the Habibiya and Orfali districts of Sadr City, police said. Sadr City is the Iraqi capital's largest Shiite neighborhood _ home to some 2.5 million people. It is also the base of operations for the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. In the Shiite holy city of Najaf, a spokesman for al-Sadr condemned Saturday's raids."We reject these repeated assaults against civilians. The allegation that Mahdi Army members were the only ones targeted is baseless and wrong," said Sheik Salah al-Obaidi. "The bombing hurt only innocent civilians."The U.S. military statement said soldiers riding in armored vehicles "used proper escalation of force rules to engage four civilian vehicles." "You start with warnings and work your way up to firing on a vehicle," Garver said. "Every structure and vehicle that the troops on the ground engaged were being used for hostile intent," he said....
But according to Iraqi officials, the dead included three members of one family - a father, mother and son. Several women and children, along with two policemen, were among the wounded, they said.One of the policemen, Montadhar Kareem, said he was on night duty in the Habibiya area when the raids began."At about dawn, American troops came with tanks and began bombing houses in the area," he said."The bombing became more intense, and I was injured by shrapnel in both my legs and in my left shoulder," Kareem said from a gurney at Al Sadr General Hospital.Houses, a bakery and some other shops were damaged by fire from U.S. tanks during the operation, Iraqi officials said. Later Saturday in northwest Baghdad's Shula neighborhood, dozens of men gathered to donate blood for the Sadr City victims."The Americans are not letting people live in peace, and there are lots of victims," said one of the donors, Murtada Abdul-Hassan.
Meanwhile in Afghanistan: An Afghan rights group has claimed that US soldiers have killed four civilian members of the same family during a raid in Nangarhar in Afghanistan. It says the soldiers also arrested 15 civilians during the pre-dawn raid which took place in Khogiani district which lies in the foothills of the provincial capital Jalalabad. Among those killed in the raid were an 85-year-old man, Mohammada Jan, two of his sons and a grandson.
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