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Residents allege attack on civilians by U.S. forces

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA Dec. 1. The claim by the U.S. military that it had killed 54 Iraqi fighters in an engagement in the northern Iraqi city of Sammara on Sunday has become the subject of a major controversy, with local Iraqis saying the casualty figure is exaggerated and most of the dead were civilians.

The U.S. military said 54 Iraqis were killed in Sammara as its forces used tanks and heavy weapons in response to two well-coordinated ambushes that took place nearly simultaneously.

At a press conference at a U.S. military base in Sammara, Col. Frederick Rudesheim said the American convoys were on a mission to deliver currency to banks when they were ambushed.

Initially, the U.S. military said 46 Iraqi fighters were killed and five American soldiers were injured.

But a statement on Monday said the number of Iraqis who were slain was 54.

U.S. military officials said Sunday's encounter was the fiercest since May 1, when the U.S. President, George W. Bush, declared major combat operations over.

Contrary to U.S. assertions, a resident in Sammara said a maximum of eight or nine people had died and three bodies lay in the hospital mortuary. According to residents, the casualties resulted when U.S. troops began to fire at random after they came under attack, and targeted civilian installations.

Six vehicles were destroyed in front of the hospital, as a result of tank shelling. Tank shells apparently damaged a kindergarten, but no children were hurt.

According to witnesses, many local people who kept weapons joined the fighters after the U.S. forces began to fire randomly. Several cars were wrecked due to the fighting and many buildings bore bullet holes.

Significantly, the controversial encounter appears to have diverted attention from the killing by Iraqi fighters of seven Spanish intelligence officers, two Japanese diplomats, a Colombian civilian and two South Korean electrical workers.

In another incident, Iraqi resistance forces ambushed a U.S. military convoy on Monday, at Habbaniyah, 80 km west of Baghdad, killing one soldier.

Assumes presidency

Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, a leader of Shias who object to U.S.-led plans for Iraqi sovereignty, on Monday became the head of the U.S.-picked Governing Council, a rotating position that will last until the end of December.

Mr. Al-Hakim holds the presidency at a time when the Council members are rethinking an agreement with Washington for a power handover by July. — AP

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