10-year-old Iraqi boy: "I'm from the resistance," he shouted. "I will kill the Americans."

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WITNESS-A journey on Iraq's roads of death

<SNIP>Where do you think you're going? Don't you know that gunmen are targeting every car that passes Balad? Go home and stay alive," a policeman armed with an AK-47 assault rifle yelled in my face.

Just as we parked by the roadside, a barrage of machinegun fire broke the silence. Fearing for their lives, the occupants of some of the waiting cars turned back. An old man told me the only safe place for an Iraqi was in his own home.

Two hours later, the policeman gave the all-clear and within a few miles we reached the scene of the battle.

Two police cars were destroyed and thousands of spent bullet casings covered the road. Further on, stores that once were crowded with shoppers stood burned out or deserted.

Balad used to be a peaceful town surrounded by palm groves and orchards. Over Ramadan, it consumed itself in a passion of sectarian bloodletting. Sunni militants slaughtered 14 Shi'ite workers, sparking yet more revenge attacks.

GHOST TOWN

It took us seven hours to reach Samarra and when we got there we found a ghost town. snip

I asked one 10-year-old boy why he was carrying a plastic weapon.

"I'm from the resistance," he shouted. "I will kill the Americans."