U.S. Troops Help Repel Attack on Iraqi Army HQ
The New York Times reports:
Insurgents mounted a coordinated attack on one of the main military commands in Baghdad on Sunday, briefly drawing fire from American soldiers, an event that underscored the ambiguity of the American military’s role in Iraq.
The attack punctuated a sharp rise in violence as the United States declared an official end to its combat mission here effective last Wednesday.
A group of at least six armed men, some of them rigged with explosives, attacked a rear gate at the base, the headquarters of Iraq’s 11th Army Division, which houses the command responsible for security in the part of the capital east of the Tigris River and a federal police brigade, as well as American advisers and the soldiers who protect them. None of the Americans were reported hurt.
The insurgents detonated a vehicle outside the base, killing the driver, while another suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest at a checkpoint. After an initial lull, as Iraqi forces collected the dead and wounded, the attack continued for three hours as two insurgents escaped into the building, firing automatic weapons and throwing grenades from an upper floor window.
At least 12 people were killed, at least four of them soldiers, officials said, and 36 others were wounded. The Baghdad Operations Command said that six insurgents had been killed.
A spokesman for the American military in Baghdad, Lt. Col. Eric Bloom, confirmed in a statement that American soldiers had joined the defense of the compound, providing “suppressive fire” while Iraqi Army troops counterattacked.
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