Children Hurt and Hospital Is Hit in Baghdad Clashes
BAGHDAD — The ugly daily fight for ground in the poor Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City unfolded Saturday at a small mosque next door to a hospital, damaging the hospital and many of its ambulances, and near a group of children who were injured by the violence as they gathered tin cans to sell for salvage.
The first hit, close to the Sadr General Hospital, was American. After a night of clashes in the neighborhood, the Americans fired at least three “precision-guided munitions” at a small building next door to the hospital that neighbors said was used as a place of prayer for hospital employees, pilgrims and neighborhood residents.
Twenty-eight people were wounded in the attack near the hospital, said Abdul Hussain Qassim, a hospital official.
The circumstances of the other strike are in dispute. The Americans said claims that they had attacked the children were “preposterous.” And the area where the hit occurred is near heavily contested ground. Shiite militias trying to hit nearby Iraqi Army and American forces have sometimes misfired, hitting areas near there in recent fighting.
But both instances underline sad truths about urban warfare. The daily horror for families and children living near the front line area of Sadr City is that who is a friend and who a foe is no longer a meaningful question. The militias use rocket propelled grenades, sniper rifles and mounted machine guns as well as AK-47 rifles while the Americans are shooting Hellfire missiles, tank rounds, and satellite-guided missiles as well as rounds from machine guns. Iraqi Army soldiers are also on the scene.
Iraqi ambulances have been used to ferry weapons, and homes are used as safe houses for militia fighters. Men in the vests of municipal road workers sometimes toil at burying improvised explosive devices while Iraqi and American forces have holed up in schools and Education Ministry buildings. Sometimes it feels as if nothing is what it seems.
In the strike near the hospital, the sign at the iron gate at the entrance to the building demolished by the American strike reads “Imam Hussein’s Resthouse.”
The Americans described the building in a statement as “a “criminal element command and control center.”
“Intelligence reports indicate the command and control center was used by criminal elements to plan and coordinate attacks against Iraqi security and coalition forces and innocent Iraqi citizens,” the statement said.
Col. Gerald O’Hara, a spokesman for the multinational forces, underscored that the Americans “take great care to prevent any collateral damage and will continue to do so.”
“We don’t target civilians and regret any casualties,” he added.
full story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/wo...hp&oref=slogin
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I guess there is enough blame to go around for everyone! How horrible it must be for the poor Iraqis to live in that danger zone day and night, with no other place to go to.
And here a reminder...
http://baghdadbureau.blogs.nytimes.com/
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BAGHDAD — The ugly daily fight for ground in the poor Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City unfolded Saturday at a small mosque next door to a hospital, damaging the hospital and many of its ambulances, and near a group of children who were injured by the violence as they gathered tin cans to sell for salvage.
The first hit, close to the Sadr General Hospital, was American. After a night of clashes in the neighborhood, the Americans fired at least three “precision-guided munitions” at a small building next door to the hospital that neighbors said was used as a place of prayer for hospital employees, pilgrims and neighborhood residents.
Twenty-eight people were wounded in the attack near the hospital, said Abdul Hussain Qassim, a hospital official.
The circumstances of the other strike are in dispute. The Americans said claims that they had attacked the children were “preposterous.” And the area where the hit occurred is near heavily contested ground. Shiite militias trying to hit nearby Iraqi Army and American forces have sometimes misfired, hitting areas near there in recent fighting.
But both instances underline sad truths about urban warfare. The daily horror for families and children living near the front line area of Sadr City is that who is a friend and who a foe is no longer a meaningful question. The militias use rocket propelled grenades, sniper rifles and mounted machine guns as well as AK-47 rifles while the Americans are shooting Hellfire missiles, tank rounds, and satellite-guided missiles as well as rounds from machine guns. Iraqi Army soldiers are also on the scene.
Iraqi ambulances have been used to ferry weapons, and homes are used as safe houses for militia fighters. Men in the vests of municipal road workers sometimes toil at burying improvised explosive devices while Iraqi and American forces have holed up in schools and Education Ministry buildings. Sometimes it feels as if nothing is what it seems.
In the strike near the hospital, the sign at the iron gate at the entrance to the building demolished by the American strike reads “Imam Hussein’s Resthouse.”
The Americans described the building in a statement as “a “criminal element command and control center.”
“Intelligence reports indicate the command and control center was used by criminal elements to plan and coordinate attacks against Iraqi security and coalition forces and innocent Iraqi citizens,” the statement said.
Col. Gerald O’Hara, a spokesman for the multinational forces, underscored that the Americans “take great care to prevent any collateral damage and will continue to do so.”
“We don’t target civilians and regret any casualties,” he added.
full story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/wo...hp&oref=slogin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I guess there is enough blame to go around for everyone! How horrible it must be for the poor Iraqis to live in that danger zone day and night, with no other place to go to.
And here a reminder...
http://baghdadbureau.blogs.nytimes.com/
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