One Iraqi Killed, Two U.S. Soldiers Injured in Baghdad Attack
The attack in the heart of the city where U.S. soldiers regularly buy appliances, and the blistering shootout that ensued, marked a clear escalation in the low-level war between the Americans and loyalists of ousted president Saddam Hussein.
Generally, the shadowy fighters, who have killed 55 American soldiers since major combat operations were declared over May 1, detonate their bombs or fire their rocket-propelled grenades and run, but on Thursday, they stayed and sprayed fire on U.S. troops.
Two soldiers from the First Armored Division had just climbed back into their all-terrain Humvee, parked on a divider in the middle of Karada street when a bomb exploded at 2:00 P.M. (1000 GMT), leaving their vehicle in flames, said Major John Frisbie and witnesses.
Earlier, a military officer from the men's company said three had been wounded in the blast.
Within five minutes, US soldiers on the street came under fire from the top floors of a three-storey building where the men had been shopping, and the two sides traded fire, Frisbie told AFP.
One Iraqi bystander was mowed down on the street, an AFP correspondent reported.
The soldiers had fired in the man's direction, after hearing a shot, witnesses said.
People stood over the body screaming, blood forming a puddle behind his head, while the dying man rolled his eyes and his Adam's apple bobbed.
A U.S. soldier said they suspected the man may have been one of the assailants and the crowd confiscated his gun -- which the military says is a trend in the vicious insurgency pitting Saddam loyalists against U.S. soldiers.
A gun battle then raged intermittently, the crackle of Kalashnikovs trading with booming U.S. guns. The exchange prevented a U.S. military helicopter buzzing overhead from landing and picking up wounded.
A local grocer said he heard an explosion and ran out of his shop to see a Humvee in flames. Afterwards, he said he saw people carrying a U.S. soldier who had lost his legs in an explosion.
People caught in the crossfire were seen hiding behind white refrigerators and other appliances put out for sale on the avenue's bustling sidewalk.
The three-storey building, where the gunmen holed up, caught fire during the fighting, and a U.S. soldier was seen escorting men and children away from the structure as smoke billowed out. The army started to spray jets of water on the flaming yellow-brick building.
Shortly afterwards, several additional military vehicles rumbled down the street, including Bradley fighting vehicles and hard-back Humvees to provide support to the 10-vehicle force already engaged in the firefight. A combat helicopter sliced through the sky.
At 3:00 P.M.(1100 GMT), the army apprehended two suspected fighters from the building, Frisbie said.
He added an improvised explosive device had been found in the very same city block one week before.
"You're standing in a war zone," he said, surveying the bullet-pocked and charred three-storey building that had been home to electronics and television shops, as well as a men's hair salon, before Thursday's blast.
The explosion had gutted life on the street, leaving an outdoor Falafel vendor wounded in the leg. His cart was blackened and pieces of burnt bread were abandoned on its counter.
A Toyota with a new 25-inch television in the back and its windows shattered stood empty by a smoking metal heap.
Store owners denied anyone had fired from their building, despite clear evidence to the contrary of a booming gun battle.
Interpreters using loudspeakers demanded information about the men who attacked the Americans, and soldiers handed out posters to children of masked gunmen that urged Iraqis to turn the fighters in.
"My store is riddled with 4,000 bullets," said Qassam al-Zubaidi, 31, whose television shop was where the two soldiers had been shopping before heading back to their car. "The Americans owe me 30,000 dollars."