diamond geezer
Sep 28, 2004, 01:06 AM
link (http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1027970,00050004.htm)
US bombing of Iraq city of Kut kills 75, wounds 148
Press Trust of India
Kut, Iraq,*September 27
Heavy overnight US bombing of Kut killed 75 people and wounded nearly 150, one day after clashes between police and Shiite Muslim militiamen in the southern city, said Iraq's health ministry on Monday.
Many of the dead and wounded were women and children, said Kut hospital director Khader Fadal Arar.
"We have 75 killed and 148 wounded, according to what the hospitals in Kut have told us," said spokeswoman May Abdul Karim.
Police Colonel Salam Fakhri said the bombing started at 1.00 am (0230 IST and lasted until 3:00 am.
"The bombing was concentrated in the al-Sharkia district as the US military felt there were a lot of Shiite militiamen in that area. It also has an office of Moqtada Sadr," he said.
The cleric's private Mehdi Army has been locked in eight days of bitter fighting in the holy city of Najaf, west of Kut, where a major US offensive backed by Iraqi security forces to flush them out began today.
Kut fell briefly to Sadr loyalists during the militia's uprising against the US-led occupation of Iraq in the spring.
Sadr's Kut office was also flattened in the bombing, said partisan Sheikh Mohammed Yihyiah.
"Our office has been destroyed because it was in the same district, fortunately there were was no one in the office, that's why we have no casualties. Perhaps they thought it would be full of militiamen," he said.
The bombing followed a day of fierce clashes between Iraqi police and Sadr loyalists in which at least two national guardsmen and three policemen were wounded
No mention of this so far on CNN or Fox. We always hear how many civilians have been murdered by the local terrorists, why never US murders?
US bombing of Iraq city of Kut kills 75, wounds 148
Press Trust of India
Kut, Iraq,*September 27
Heavy overnight US bombing of Kut killed 75 people and wounded nearly 150, one day after clashes between police and Shiite Muslim militiamen in the southern city, said Iraq's health ministry on Monday.
Many of the dead and wounded were women and children, said Kut hospital director Khader Fadal Arar.
"We have 75 killed and 148 wounded, according to what the hospitals in Kut have told us," said spokeswoman May Abdul Karim.
Police Colonel Salam Fakhri said the bombing started at 1.00 am (0230 IST and lasted until 3:00 am.
"The bombing was concentrated in the al-Sharkia district as the US military felt there were a lot of Shiite militiamen in that area. It also has an office of Moqtada Sadr," he said.
The cleric's private Mehdi Army has been locked in eight days of bitter fighting in the holy city of Najaf, west of Kut, where a major US offensive backed by Iraqi security forces to flush them out began today.
Kut fell briefly to Sadr loyalists during the militia's uprising against the US-led occupation of Iraq in the spring.
Sadr's Kut office was also flattened in the bombing, said partisan Sheikh Mohammed Yihyiah.
"Our office has been destroyed because it was in the same district, fortunately there were was no one in the office, that's why we have no casualties. Perhaps they thought it would be full of militiamen," he said.
The bombing followed a day of fierce clashes between Iraqi police and Sadr loyalists in which at least two national guardsmen and three policemen were wounded
No mention of this so far on CNN or Fox. We always hear how many civilians have been murdered by the local terrorists, why never US murders?
