The Hindu : Leaflets warned of `modern' attacks in Iraq

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 04, 2003

International

International

Leaflets warned of `modern' attacks in Iraq

FALLUJAH Nov. 3. Leaflets seen in mosques in this tense Sunni Muslim region warned of new attacks using ``modern and advanced methods'' only days before gunners brought down a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter, killing 16 and wounding 20 others. The attack yesterday on the helicopter, carrying dozens of soldiers on their way home for leave, was the deadliest single strike against U.S. forces since the war began March 20. Three other Americans _ one 1st Armoured Division soldier and two civilians working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers _ were also killed yesterday in separate attacks, making it the bloodiest day for U.S. forces since March 23.

At the Chinook crash site today, a giant crane lifted pieces of wreckage onto a truck, as soldiers sealed off the immediate area, deep in the ``Sunni Triangle'' that has produced the most violent opposition to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

An unsigned leaflet posted on Friday at mosques in this area of the Sunni Triangle, where anti-American sentiment runs high, urged people to avoid public places over the weekend. ``Special operations against occupation forces might be carried out by using modern and advanced methods,'' the leaflet said.

The leaflet also warned people stay at home, avoid going to work or school and stay away from markets on Saturday and Sunday. ``Any persons who move during this period will be responsible for their own safety,'' the note said. — AP

Survivors in Germany

DPA reports from Ramstein (Germany): U.S. military personnel who survived the Chinook crash arrived in Germany early today for medical treatment.

A U.S. military spokesman said the group had arrived at the Ramstein Air Force Base and would be moved to the medical centre at nearby Landstuhl, the biggest U.S. military hospital beyond American soil.

A total of 26 military personnel were on the medical shuttle into Ramstein. It was not clear how many were survivors of the helicopter crash and how many were seriously ill soldiers from elsewhere in occupied Iraq.

The U.S. forces in Iraq regularly move patients to Europe if they need more extensive treatment than field hospitals in Iraq can provide.

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