GIs Exchange Fire With Iraq Guerrillas

[Noordam]

AP News

September 4, 2003
GIs Exchange Fire With Iraq Guerrillas
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Filed at 4:35 a.m. ET

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) -- U.S. troops exchanged fire with Iraqi guerrillas who lobbed at least six mortar rounds at them in downtown Tikrit, and detained four people, including a suspected bomb maker, in a night of intense fighting early Thursday.

The mortar shells missed their targets, causing no injuries or damage, said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 22nd Regiment, which patrols Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, 120 miles north of Baghdad.

An American reconnaissance patrol, responding to the mortar attack, was ambushed with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, directly opposite the 4th Infantry's sprawling headquarters in one of Saddam's former palaces.

Bradley fighting vehicles were called in as reinforcements, opening fire at the guerrillas as tracer bullets lit the night sky over Tikrit, which was plunged into darkness. An intense firefight ensued, and at least one house was on fire. Helicopters were heard hovering above.


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Bring on those mortars

[saigon68]

1. GUESS ITS TURNING INTO A GUERRILLA WAR

Or maybe a GORILLA War for the CHIMPANZEE.