From Reuters, December 17, 2004, Fallujah
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| Combination handout pictures released on December 17, 2004, (Upper L frame) showing U.S. Marine Platoon Gunnery Sergeant, Ryan P. Shane, from the 1st. Battalion of the 8th. Marine Regiment as he pulls a fatally wounded comrade to safety while under fire during a military operation in the Iraqi western city of Falluja. (Upper R frame) Shane and another member of the 1/8 pulled their fatally wounded comrade under fire. (Lower L frame) Shane (extreme, L) is hit by insurgent fire and (Lower R frame) lies wounded (L). REUTERS/HO/USMC/Cpl. Joel A. Chaverri |
On the same day this was happening in Fallujah the Iraqi “government” was saying Fallujah was all ready for the refugees’ return. The Marines were forced to issue a denial.
From Baghdad today, Sunday, December 19, 2004:
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| A gunman, left, shoots and kills a man lying in Baghdad’s Haifa Street after being pulled from a car Sunday, Dec. 19, 2004. The man at right on his knees was executed moments later, along with another man not shown in picture. About 30 militants hurling hand grenades and firing machine guns attacked a car carrying five people employed by the commission’s Baghdad office and tried ‘to drag them out,’ said Adel al-Lami, a member of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq. (AP Photo/Str) |
Related story: Three electoral employees killed in Iraq
This happened, obviously, in broad daylight near the Green Zone (Haifa street is in downtown Baghdad.) Reuters describes the scene:
Witnesses said insurgents opened fire on the vehicle before dragging three people from it and shooting them. The car was set on fire and the bodies left lying near the burning wreckage.
Guerrillas armed with AK-47 assault rifles and pistols then set up a roadblock on the street, stopping and searching every car that passed, pointing their guns in through the windows.
Fierce gunbattles ensued, witnesses said, as police tried for several hours to get to the scene of the attack. U.S. military helicopters flew low overhead scanning the area, which echoed with gunfire and small explosions, residents said.