U.S. troops intensify attacks to flush out Iraqi rebels

By Seattle Times news services

	DAVID P. GILKEY / KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS Soldiers in a Paladin tank fire a 155 mm gun at a house in Tikrit early today as the U.S. launched a fresh round of attacks in Iraq to root out insurgents.
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MOSUL, Iraq — The U.S. military launched a fresh series of attacks on insurgent positions in central and northern Iraq yesterday as the investigation continued into the crashes of two helicopters that killed 17 U.S. soldiers Saturday evening in Mosul — the worst single-incident death toll since the invasion of Iraq in March.

With scout helicopters overhead and surrounded by jeering crowds, investigators picked through the wreckage of the downed helicopters, but were unable to confirm reports that they had collided after one was fired on and perhaps struck by a rocket-propelled grenade.

The two helicopters were on separate missions, flying after dark when the incident occurred about 6:30 p.m., a spokesman said. They crashed on two rooftops about 250 yards apart.

One Black Hawk carrying 12 soldiers was responding to reports of a bank being fired upon in the Bab Sinjar neighborhood in west Mosul. Seven soldiers were killed and five injured in that crash. All 10 soldiers in the second Black Hawk, which was transporting them to an undisclosed location, were killed. All who died were members of the 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell, Ky.

A local government official in Mosul, who declined to be identified, said Iraqi police who collected witness statements now believe that at least one helicopter had come under ground fire but may not have been hit. The official said that based on police reports about the witness interviews, the collision could have been caused by a helicopter taking action to avoid such fire.

"Our main concern right now is to recover all of the remains and do a thorough investigation," said 101st Division spokesman Maj. Hugh Cate. He said there were no reports of civilian casualties. "I hope there aren't any. We don't need to make any more enemies."

If the incident proves to be the result of hostile fire, it will be the most-deadly single attack on U.S. forces since the start of the war.

At each intersection in the working-class neighborhood, large crowds, mostly young men and boys, taunted the soldiers, who responded by shouting, cocking their weapons and at least once threatening the crowds with billy clubs.

"We hate them," said Ahmed Abdullah, 21, who sells cigarettes from a street cart. "We don't want them here. Everyone is happy they lost the helicopters."

Not everyone was as critical. "The Americans should stay for a while. If they leave, things will get much worse, and maybe Saddam Hussein will come back," said Omar Younis, a parking-lot attendant.

Although Mosul, like most of northern Iraq, has been relatively calm for months, in recent weeks there have been high-profile killings of civilians working with the U.S.-led coalition, including the slayings of a local judge and a translator and his son.

In Tikrit, the 4th Infantry Division launched the latest in a series of offensive strikes aimed at rooting out the insurgency that has been attacking coalition forces 35 times a day. The operation involved close air support for ground troops and the use of heavy weaponry not seen since the main phase of the war ended May 1, including the launch of a satellite-guided missile with a 500-pound warhead from north of Baghdad. Its target was a suspected guerrilla training base.

In Baghdad, U.S. troops backed by armored vehicles and helicopters moved into the upper-class Sunni Muslim neighborhood of Azamiyah, sealing off a 20-block area and searching 450 houses. They netted 30 Kalashnikovs, about a dozen shotguns and 10 pistols, according to U.S. officers.

"Of course everybody has weapons. We have all been robbed. We were afraid of the Iraqis and now we're afraid of the Americans," said Samir al-Hadith, an engineer from Saudi Arabia.

The military said four Iraqi insurgents were killed late Saturday in two separate clashes with U.S. troops in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.

Compiled from Chicago Tribune, Knight Ridder Newspapers, The Washington Post and The Associated Press.

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