Saddam’s sons killed in U.S. raid?
msnbc.com
BREAKING NEWS
NBC NEWS AND NEWS SERVICES
BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 22 — Saddam Hussein’s fugitive sons, Odai and Qusai, are believed to have been killed during a raid on a home Tuesday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, military officials in Iraq and Washington told NBC News. One senior U.S. official said it was “highly likely” that the feared offspring of the toppled dictator were among four Iraqis killed in the strike.
THE OFFICIALS, WHO spoke with NBC News on condition of anonymity, initially said there was a “high likelihood” that the sons had been killed or captured, but that they were awaiting confirmation.
One senior U.S. official said it was “highly likely” that the sons, both of whom acted as senior advisers to their father during his rule, were among the dead. Another casualty was a teen-age boy, possibly Qusai’s 14-year-old son who is known to travel with him, the official said.
Separately, The Associated Press and Reuters reported that U.S. forces were investigating whether Saddam’s sons were in the house when U.S. troops swooped down on the villa, which is said to belong to a cousin of Saddam.
White House officials said they were aware of the reports but could not immediately confirm them.
Witnesses to the raid said that U.S. troops encountered hostile fire when they arrived to search the home. The troops called in helicopters to subdue the resistance before storming the house, they said.
The house was badly damaged, and its roof caved in after it was apparently hit by a missile.
Lt. Col. William Bishop of the 101st Airborne Division said earlier in the day that one Iraqi was killed and five were wounded in the raid. The Associated Press later reported that four Iraqis were killed and that they were attempting to determine whether Odai and Qusai Hussein were among the dead.
‘INDIVIDUALS OF VERY HIGH INTEREST’
In an interview with Reuters news agency, Bishop declined to identify the Iraqis apprehended, but said they were “individuals of very high interest to the coalition forces.”
U.S. forces have announced the capture of 34 of the 55 Iraqis on a most-wanted list of members of Saddam’s regime, but Saddam and his sons have not been found.
U.S. officials say Saddam is probably still alive and hiding somewhere in Iraq. Audio tapes said to have been made by the deposed leader have been given to Arab television networks, exhorting Iraqis to fight occupying U.S. and British troops.
Word that two of the most-wanted members of the toppled Iraqi government may have been taken down came as another U.S. soldier was killed in the latest of a series of ambushes in the “Sunni Triangle” — a trio of towns surrounding Baghdad where the U.S. military has come under almost daily attack by Saddam loyalists.
The soldiers targeted Tuesday were from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. The attack happened around 9 a.m. (1 a.m. ET) in an area populated mainly by minority Sunni Muslims, from among whom Saddam once drew much of his support.
Central Command in Tampa, Fla., said the attackers used rocket-propelled grenades and small arms in the assault staged along the road between Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, and Ramadi, 60 miles west of the capital.
The military had no other details on the attack, many of which lately have been staged with remote-controlled roadside explosions.
NEW ATTACK IN ‘SUNNI TRIANGLE’
Both towns lie within the “Sunni Triangle,” so named because it is home to much of the remaining support for ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim who used his Baathist Party to oppress the country’s Shiite Muslim majority.
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The soldier’s death brought to 153 the number of U.S. troops killed in action since the March 20 start of war — six more than during the 1991 Gulf War.
Tuesday’s attacks followed ambushes on Sunday and Monday, which killed three U.S. soldiers and an Iraq interpreter.
Monday’s bomb attack wounded three other soldiers. “One man who worked at a nearby stand helped the soldiers out of the vehicles. That probably saved one soldier’s life,” Lt. Col. John Kem said at the scene of the attack.
Two other U.S. soldiers in a Bradley fighting vehicle were wounded Monday when they came under fire in the restive town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad.
On Sunday, two U.S. soldiers died and a third was injured when their convoy was attacked near Tal Afar. All the victims were from the 101st Airborne Division.
Another soldier was killed and two others were injured when their vehicle crashed and rolled over near Baghdad International Airport in what appeared to be an accident.
Also on Sunday, a two-car convoy carrying members of the International Organization for Migration was ambushed near the southern city of Hilla when a pickup truck drove alongside one car and opened fire.
Meanwhile, the new chief of U.S. and allied forces in Iraq visited the country for the first time since taking the post and said he planned to establish a nearly 7,000-strong force of Iraqis to work with U.S. soldiers.
Gen. John Abizaid, who took over command of U.S. Central Command from Gen. Tommy Franks, said Monday that he would create eight battalions of armed Iraqi militiamen, each with about 850 men.
They will be trained by conventional U.S. forces — a job usually handled by American special operations forces — and are expected to be ready to begin operating within 45 days, he said.
‘JIHAD BRIGADE’ VIDEO
The insurgency took a new turn Monday as the Arab satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera aired what it said was videotape of a newly created “Jihad Brigade.”
The tape showed several men sitting on the floor in white robes with red keffiyas covering their faces. They clutched Kalashnikov automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. A picture of Saddam hung on the wall.
One of the men read a statement vowing to “take revenge” for all Iraqis killed by U.S. forces.
In a bid to stamp out the insurgency, U.S. troops over the last week staged raids in “the Sunni triangle.”
Seventy percent of the attacks on U.S. troops have been in that area, and NBC News’ Jim Miklaszewski reported from the Pentagon that the raids had netted 1,200 enemy forces — 60 of them believed to be regional leaders or commanders.
Weapons seized included 9,000 pounds of C-4 plastic explosives, 13,000 rocket-propelled grenades and 4,000 mortars.
The civil administrator for Iraq, Paul Bremer, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he saw no evidence of central control in the recent assaults, calling them “highly professional but very small, sort of squad-level attacks, five or six people at a time attacking us.”
Still, he said, eliminating Saddam would ease the situation. “The sooner we can either kill him or capture him, the better, because the fact that his fate is unknown certainly gives his supporters the chance to go around and try to rally support for him,” Bremer said.
WP: Saddam more dangerous after war?
MASS GRAVE DISCOVERED
On Monday, the coalition director for human rights said the investigation of a newly uncovered mass grave outside Mosulhad been delayed until more forensic teams arrived in the next few weeks.
The 101st Airborne discovered the site last week. Initial findings revealed that the grave held the remains of women and children all with bullet holes in their heads, many shot from above.
Residents have said there were 4,000 to 5,000 bodies in that region.
NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski in Washington, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. |
