nearly 40 US soldiers Killed in Iraq: Deadliest day so far

[General Duke]

Deadliest day for U.S. in Iraq war

31 Marines killed in chopper crash; 5 troops in other incidents

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Posted: 10:18 AM EST (1518 GMT)

 

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. HELICOPTER CRASHES

Deadliest of Iraq war

 

January 26, 2005: 31 killed

 

November 15, 2003: 17 killed

 

November 2, 2003: 16 killed

 

January 8, 2004: 9 killed

 

November 7, 2003: 6 killed

 

April 2, 2003: 6 killed

 

Source: U.S. military

 

 

 

 

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Thirty-one Marines were killed in a helicopter crash near Iraq's border with Jordan, bringing the number of U.S. troops killed Wednesday to 36 -- the deadliest day for U.S. forces since the start of the war in Iraq.

 

Four U.S. Marines were killed during combat in Iraq's Al-Anbar province, and a U.S. soldier died when insurgents attacked a combat patrol north of Baghdad, according to the U.S. military.

 

The cause of the chopper crash was not immediately known and is being investigated, according to the military.

 

Wednesday's death toll surpassed the 31 U.S. forces killed on March 23, 2003 -- four days after the start of the war in Iraq. Twenty-nine of them died in combat that day.

 

Wednesday's incidents brought the U.S. death toll in the war to 1,417.

 

The transport helicopter crashed near Ar Rutbah in western Iraq about 1:20 a.m. local time (5:20 p.m. Tuesday ET). (Map)

 

It was carrying personnel from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and the 1st Marine Division.

 

Military officials said a search and rescue team was at the site and an investigation of the crash was under way.

 

The four Marines who died Wednesday were killed during combat operations in Iraq's Al-Anbar province, according to a military news release. The Marines were assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Ar Rutbah is also in Al-Anbar province.

 

Elsewhere, a U.S. soldier was killed Wednesday when insurgents attacked a combat patrol with grenades near Ad Duluiyah, military officials said.

 

The soldier, from the 1st Infantry Division, died and two others were wounded in the attack about 11:20 a.m. (3:20 a.m. ET). The injured were taken to a military hospital for treatment; one was in serious condition.

 

Five Iraqis killed

Four multinational soldiers were wounded Wednesday when a car bomb exploded near a convoy in southwestern Baghdad, along the road to the city's airport, a source with the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division said.

 

The attack took place about 10 a.m. (2 a.m. ET) on the road, which has been one of the country's bloodiest locations in recent months. The nationalities of the wounded soldiers were not immediately known. U.S. troops sealed off the area after the explosion.

 

In Tamin province, also on Wednesday, three car bombs within an hour killed five Iraqis and injured six other people, according to the police chief in Kirkuk.

 

The bombs exploded between 11 a.m. and noon (3 and 4 a.m. ET), said Maj. Gen. Torhan Abdul Rahman. The first was in the town of Riyadh, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of Kirkuk, and targeted a police station, he said. Three Iraqi police officers were killed and three civilians injured.

 

The second detonated outside the Riyadh mayor's office, killing two Iraqi soldiers. The third bomb exploded outside Riyadh and targeted a U.S. military convoy. Three other Iraqi civilians were wounded.

 

Insurgents attacked the offices of two political parties in Baquba on Wednesday, triggering clashes that left an Iraqi police officer dead and four others wounded -- three of them working as guards for the parties, Baquba police said.

 

The insurgents used grenades and small arms fire to attack the Kurdish Democratic Party office and the office of the Iraqi Patriotic Gathering Alliance about 6:30 a.m. (10:30 p.m. Tuesday ET), police said, and the resulting battles lasted two hours.

 

In al-Nahrawan, a southeastern suburb of Baghdad, city council leader Karim Sarhan was gunned down Wednesday morning in a drive-by shooting on his way to work, Iraqi police said.

 

Three government employees were shot and killed in attacks Tuesday, according to police.

 

Three Baghdad schools to be used as polling centers in Sunday's election were attacked Tuesday night, an Iraqi police officer said. A bomb planted at a fourth school was defused.

 

About 8 p.m. (noon ET), Salah al-Deen school in northern Baghdad was damaged when insurgents threw a grenade at it, authorities said. Thirty minutes later, a bomb exploded near the main gate of Al-Fursan school in southeast Baghdad, causing damage, police said.

 

About 10:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. ET), Al-Balquees school in northern Baghdad was damaged when it was hit by a rocket, police said.

 

About 90 minutes later, experts defused a bomb planted near al-Yemen school in al-Gazaliyah neighborhood in western Baghdad.

 

Iraqis go to the polls Sunday, and U.S. and Iraqi officials have been warning that insurgents would ramp up their attacks in a bid to derail the vote.

 

On Tuesday, a high-ranking official in Iraq's Justice Ministry was gunned down in a drive-by shooting as he was leaving his home southeast of Baghdad, police said. A group calling itself the Army of Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for the attack on Judge Qais Hashim al-Shonmari, and warned of more attacks to come. Shonmari's son was also killed in the shooting.

[General Duke]

In ku dhow 40 American ah oo maanta ku geeriyootey waddanka Ciraaq

 

 

Ciraaq-26.January.2005 Ciidamada American-ka ee ka hawl gala dalka Ciraaq ayaa waxaa maanta soo gaarey khaarihii dhimasho ee ugu xumaa ee soo food saara maalin gudaheed. 31 askari oo marines ah ayaa waxaa diyaaradi kula dhacday saaka aroortii, ka dib markii ay bur burtay diyaarad helicopter ah oo ay saarnaayeen.

 

 

Waaxda gaashaan dhigga ee dalka Maraykanka Pentangon waxay xaqiijisay khasaarahaasi dhimasho ee soo gaaray askartooda.

 

Hase yeeshee waxaysan faah faahin ka bixin sababta ay u bur burtay diyaaraddaasi, waxase ilaah qaarkood sheegeen in shilkan uu sababay hawada oo xumayd.

 

Lama oga diyaaraddaasi oo ku dhacday galbeedka dalka Ciraaq inay rasaas la heleen kooxaha iskacaabinta dalka Ciraaq iyo in kale.

 

Isla maanta dalka Ciraaq waxaa ciidamada Maraykanka looga dilay afar askari oo kale oo lagu dilay gobalka al Ambaar.

 

Khasaaraha dhimasho ee askarta Maraykanka ka soo gaaraya dalka Ciraaq ayaa aad u soo kordhaya marba marka ka dambeeya.

 

Bishii la soo dhaafay ee December 11-keedii waxaa magaalada Mowsil ee dalka Ciraaq lagu dilay 14 askari oo Maraykanka ahka di markii qof naftii hure ah uu bam isku soo rakibay dabadeedna uu isku dhex qarxiyay saldhigga Maraykanka ee magaalada Mowsil.

 

Dhinaca kale marka la eego meela kala duwan oo Ciraaq ka mid ah maanta waxaa ay ka dhaceen qaraxyo kala duwan oo ismeedaamin ah oo ay soo qaadeen kooxaha wax iska caabiya ee dalka Ciraaq.

 

Ugu yaraan 5 qof ayaa lagu dilay magaalada Riyadh ee oo ku taalla meel ku dhow gobalka Kirkuk ee waqooyiga wadanka Ciraaq ka dib markii saabuur la soo meedaamiyay lagu qarxiyay magaaladaasi.

 

Kooxaha iska caabintu waxay sidoo kale weeraro kala duwan ka gaysteen magaalooyinka Mowsli Tikrit iyo magaalooyin kale oo dhowr ah.

 

Si kastaba ha ahaatee rabshada dalka Ciraaq waxay cirka isku shareerayaan iyadoo ay afar maalmood uun ay ka harsan tahay waqtiga loogu talagalay inay dhacaan doorashooyinka dalka Ciraaq.

 

Marka laga reebo bur burkan helicopter-ka maantay, shilkii ugu dhimashada badnaa ee bur bur diyaaradeed uu soo gaaro askarta Maraykanka wuxuu dhacay 15-kii bishii November ee sanadkii 2003-da, markaasoo lagu dilay 17 askari oo Maraykan ah.

 

Waxaa Diyaariyey:

C/qaadir Maxamed Nuunow

nuunow16@hotmail.com

 

SBC Online + BBC World

[General Duke]

Bloodiest day for US forces in Iraq

 

Wednesday 26 January 2005, 18:52 Makka Time, 15:52 GMT

 

 

US Marine Corps has declined to provide details of the crash

 

A US Marine Corps helicopter has crashed in western Iraq killing 31 people, US military officials said.

 

The military said in a statement on Wednesday: "A US Marine Corps transport helicopter crashed on 26 January at approximately 1.20am (2220 GMT Tuesday) near al-Rutbah while conducting security and stabilisation operations."

 

 

Speaking to Aljazeera from Ramadi, Muhammad Abd al-Rahman, an independent Iraqi journalist, said a US military Chinook helicopter used for carrying cargo as well as troops, had come down in a remote desert area in Widyan district, east of Rutba town on the Iraq-Jordan border.

 

 

 

He said local residents reported seeing several US military helicopters on low-altitude flights over the area where the crash took place, which is apparently beyond the reach of civilians.

 

 

 

It is a known fact that US forces use transport aircraft for ferrying both goods and troops in response to frequent attacks on US convoys on Iraq's roads, Abd al-Rahman said.

 

 

 

But as these aircraft fly at relatively slow speeds and at low altitudes, they are vulnerable to rocket attacks by fighters who can fire and withdraw.

 

 

 

No group has claimed responsibility for the downing of the helicopter so far, he added.

 

 

 

The US Marines declined to provide the cause of the crash.

 

It said a search-and-rescue operation was under way. The statement said casualties would be confirmed later.In a separate incident, four US marines were killed in the western province of Anbar on Wednesday, the military said in a statement.

 

If confirmed, the single-day number of US fatalities would reach 35, bringing to 1416 the number of US military personnel killed in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion.

 

The crash came as US-led forces, Iraqi national guardsmen, interim government offices and other election targets were hit around the country.

[wind.talker]

Jecliyaa jabkooda!

[Wiilo]

Yaas is Gaaray horta

[General Duke]

America suffers bloodiest day as Bush calls on Iraqis to defy the insurgents

By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad and Kim Sengupta in Shaiba

27 January 2005

 

 

Just four days before Iraq's historic elections, 36 US soldiers were killed yesterday in the deadliest single day for American forces since they invaded Iraq almost two years ago.

 

The heaviest loss was a transport helicopter crash in the western desert that killed all 31 Marines on board. The CH-53 Sea Stallion went down at 1.20am near Rutbah, a desolate town 220 miles from Baghdad. Officials in Washington said that bad weather was the most likely cause.

 

Four more US Marines were killed in ground fighting in Anbar province, which includes Ramadi and Fallujah, west of Baghdad, and a soldier was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade north of the capital. The losses bring the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq since the start of the war to more than 1,400, with more than 10,000 wounded.

 

At a press conference in Washington, President George Bush acknowledged that the news would be "very discouraging" to the American people. "We value life," he said, "and we weep and mourn when soldiers lose their life". But he ignored growing calls in Congress for the administration to at least set a timetable for withdrawal of most US troops, insisting American forces would remain in sufficient numbers to ensure "the job is done", and the Iraqis were able to defend themselves.

 

Despite the bloody cost of the war, the President stressed "the long-term objective, and that is to spread freedom". Sunday's elections, he predicted, would be "a grand day in the history of Iraq", though he declined to specify what would be a satisfactory turnout. An hour later, the Senate confirmed Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State by a margin of 85 to 13, overriding fierce criticism from some Democrats that she had misled the country over the reasons for going to war.

 

Ms Rice did draw more opposition than any secretary of state in recent history, more than the seven votes cast against Henry Kissinger in 1973, and the six objecting to Alexander Haig in 1981. Her predecessor Colin Powell was confirmed unanimously.

 

The latest surge in casualties may divert public attention in the US from the election. The US has lost 33 helicopters in Iraq, of which 20 were shot down. In the worst incident before yesterday, two helicopters carrying soldiers collided over Mosul in northern Iraq in November 2003, while trying to avoid ground fire. Seventeen men were killed and five wounded. A Chinook helicopter was shot down by a shoulder-launched heat-seeking missile fired from a date grove near Fallujah the same month, killing 16 soldiers.

 

Helicopters now fly low and fast to give insurgents firing at them less time to aim. The roar as they fly just above roof-top level in Baghdad often sets off a cacophony of car alarms. Though flying low may make them less vulnerable, it also makes reconnaissance and surveillance by helicopter more difficult.

 

Yesterday, two suicide car-bombs were detonated on the airport road, the most lethal highway in Iraq, which is heavily patrolled by US armoured vehicles. Seven soldiers were wounded. Last November the British embassy told its staff not to use this road.

 

Although the interim Iraqi government claims 14 out of 18 provinces are safe, Iraqi truck drivers say the only safe provinces are the three Kurdish ones in the north. The guerrillas appear to have an inexhaustible supply of young men willing to be suicide bombers.

 

In the Sunni Arab town of Riyadh south-west of the oil city of Kirkuk, three suicide cars filled with explosives blew up close to an Iraqi army post and a police station yesterday. Four Iraqi policemen, two Iraqi soldiers and three civilians were killed, and 12 wounded. An approaching US combat team came under fire and two soldiers were wounded.

 

The insurgents, many different and loosely co-ordinated groups but all opposed to the election, reject the vote as illegitimate because it is in effect being held under the auspices of the US as the occupying power.

 

In the latest attempt to disrupt polling, a suicide bomber detonated a fuel tanker at an office of a major Kurdish political party yesterday, in Sinjar, a town a few miles south-west of Mosul, killing 15 people and injuring 30, officials of the Kurdistan Democratic Party said. The insurgent group led by al-Qa'ida's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the attack.

 

The KDP is one of the two largest Kurdish political organisations in Iraq, and part of a coalition of 11 Kurdish groups for the elections. A video is circulating of a hooded fighter with a pistol who says: "We are mujahedin in the province of Nineveh [Mosul]. What they call elections have no basis in the Islamic religion and that's why we will hit all the election centres."

 

The US military keeps reporting they are fighting a group called AIF, for Anti-Iraqi Forces. US intelligence says 95 per cent of the insurgents are Iraqis.

27 January 2005 14:01

 

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