Gunman in Iraqi Uniform Kills 2 U.S. Soldiers
In this March 16, 2009 file photo, a U.S. Army soldier stands guard as Iraqi police officers enter a house during a joint search operation in southwestern Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, Iraq. A Feb. 24, 2009 shooting that killed a U.S. soldier and an interpreter and wounded five others was an alarming inside job that reinforced what many fear: insurgents and sympathizers possibly infiltrating the ranks of Iraq’s security forces. (Photo credit: Maya Alleruzzo / AP)
May 2, 2009
BAGHDADÂ — An attacker wearing an Iraqi army uniform shot to death two U.S. soldiers outside the volatile northern city of Mosul on Saturday, the U.S. military said.
“We have reports of a small arms fire attack in Hamam al-Alil, 12.5 miles south of Mosul,” said Major Derrick Cheng, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Mosul and surrounding Nineveh province. “There are initial reports of two U.S. soldiers killed in the attack” …
According to initial reports, “an individual dressed in an Iraqi army uniform fired on the coalition forces and was killed in the incident.” Three U.S. soldiers were injured and the attacker killed, said a military statement reported by The Associated Press.
An Iraqi police lieutenant-colonel in Mosul, who declined to be named, said the man who shot the U.S. soldiers was an Iraqi soldier who also acted as an imam at an Iraqi military training center in Hamam al-Alil. He said the American soldiers were doing exercises in the training center’s yard at the time of the attack. …
Mosul and Nineveh are a last remaining bastion of al Qaeda and about a dozen other Sunni Arab insurgent groups and the city is still rocked by frequent shootings and bombings. Some of those insurgent groups have infiltrated Iraqi forces in the past. …
The incident was not the first of its kind in Nineveh. Last November, an Iraqi soldier went on the rampage at a joint security station in Mosul, shooting dead two U.S. soldiers and wounding six. The U.S. military blamed the attack on al Qaeda.
In December 2007, an Iraqi soldier opened fire on U.S. troops during a joint patrol in Mosul, killing two and wounding three.
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Anatomy of an ‘Inside’ Ambush in Iraq
In this undated photo provided by the U.S. Army, a U.S. military wanted poster shows two Iraqi police officers suspected in a Feb. 24, 2009 shooting that killed a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi interpreter in Mosul, Iraq. The attack raised concerns about the level of suspected insurgent infiltration in Iraqi security forces. (Photo credit: U.S. Army / AP)
May 2, 2009
BAGHDAD — U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police had just sat down for lunch inside a police building in Mosul. Flak vests and other protective gear were removed. A door to the room was left ajar — just wide enough for the barrels of Iraqi police AK-47s to be poked inside.
The attackers fired. Then again.
The suspected gunmen — an Iraqi police officer still in his teens and a young sergeant — ran toward a waiting car with return fire kicking up dust around them. The car swerved around a checkpoint and the attackers were gone. They are still missing.
The Feb. 24 shooting — which killed a U.S. soldier and an interpreter and wounded five others — was an alarming inside job that reinforced what many fear: insurgents and sympathizers possibly infiltrating the ranks of Iraq’s security forces.
The U.S. military called it an “isolated incident.” This is true in one regard: The shooting was one of the few irrefutable examples of deadly turncoats inside the Iraqi forces.
On Saturday, a gunman wearing an Iraqi army uniform killed two American soldiers and wounded three at a combat outpost 12 miles south of Mosul, the U.S. military said. Iraqi authorities described the attacker — who was killed in the gunbattle — as a rank-and-file soldier who also served as a Sunni Muslim preacher for his unit.
But the worry of infiltration is not a new one. During the early stages of the Sunni insurgency in 2004, officials in Baghdad and the Pentagon suggested moles in the security forces were leaking information about troop movements or helping carry out attacks. Years of internal vetting and purges followed.
Now, the Shiite-led government is under pressure to absorb a new crop of fighters in the security ranks as part of promised reconciliation with Sunnis. The main effort is to reward Sunni tribal militiamen who turned against al-Qaida in Iraq and its allies. But Shiite leaders — and even some Sunni political bosses — say it’s critical to try to weed out potential insurgent sympathizers even as the U.S.-backed government moves ahead with its outreach to Sunnis. …
Attackers in Iraq have sometimes disguised themselves in uniforms to bypass security checks. On April 20, a suicide bomber wearing an Iraqi army uniform attacked a U.S. military delegation visiting the mayor in Baqouba northeast of Baghdad, killing three Iraqi civilians and wounding at least eight American soldiers. …
The [Feb. 24] ambush killed a 36-year-old soldier from the Tennessee National Guard, 1st Lt. William E. Emmert, along with an Iraqi interpreter. At home, Emmert, of Fayetteville, Tennessee, worked as a field agent for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations. Three U.S. soldiers, an Iraqi police office and interpreter were injured. …
On Tuesday, a police commissioner was implicated as part of an alleged al-Qaida-linked ring accused of cars bombings around Iraq and the slayings of at least 28 security personnel.
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Iraq: Key Figures Since the War Began
May 1, 2009
U.S. troop levels
Casualties
Cost
Oil production
Population displacement
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Following are security developments in Iraq on Saturday, May 2, 2009 as reported by Reuters.
BASRA – A roadside bomb targeting a U.S. military patrol wounded one civilian in northern Basra, 260 miles southeast of Baghdad, police said, adding that there were no U.S. casualties.
YUSUFIYA – Gunmen opened fire on a government-backed Sunni Arab militia checkpoint in Yusufiya, 12 miles south of Baghdad, wounding one fighter, early on Saturday, police said.
KIRKUK – A roadside bomb killed three casual laborers and wounded two others when it struck their truck in Taza, 130 miles north of Baghdad, police said.
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