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U.S. Troops Cordon Part of Iraqi Town To Trap Insurgents
Soldiers from the Army's Blue Platoon, Eagle Troop, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment rest during house-to-house searches in the city of Tall Afar.
(By Jonathan Finer -- The Washington Post)
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"Um, that's close. Very close," said Pfc. Hector Rodriguez, 20, of Buffalo, after an explosion rattled the windows.
Soldiers scrambled to set up shooting positions on the roof.
"We are receiving sniper fire," a voice over the platoon's radio said.
"Where from?" someone answered. No one knew. The platoon's machine gunner began shooting staccato bursts into the valley from the next roof.
"Who is that shooting?" Hanners asked over the radio.
"Blue saw team, we saw muzzle flashes from the south," came the response.
Another call over the radio said a Tall Afar resident working with the Army had identified an arms dealer in a house across the street. The soldiers gave the woman with the baby a voucher for $300 to repair her gate, redeemable at a nearby military base, and dashed next door.
By the time they reached that house, the suspected arms dealer and two other men had already been handcuffed and blindfolded by other members of the platoon.
"This is my nephew. He does not even live here," a woman in the house said as the men were led away.
"He was identified. That's what you get for selling weapons," a soldier said.
The soldiers continued to the last house on the block. They herded a family of nine into a living room and searched their belongings. A drawer of silverware crashed to the floor, startling the children.
"I am scared. We are all scared, but what are we supposed to do?" said the father, Shimsdain Muhammed, 40, an electrician, according to an account of his remarks provided by a military interpreter traveling with the unit. Muhammed told his children to wave and smile at the soldiers, who responded in kind. "I cannot tell them to leave, so we will do the best we can."
Suddenly, an explosion outside shattered the windows of the house, eliciting screams and confusion. It turned out to be a passing U.S. M1-A1 Abrams tank firing its main gun into the valley.
"This place is too much," another soldier said later, recounting the story to a friend.
Elsewhere Sunday in Tall Afar, an Iraqi army unit freed 35 hostages held in a house south of downtown, according to Maj. Gen. Khorsheed Salim, commander of the army's 3rd Division, which is heavily involved in the operation.
Soldiers in the western part of the city found a laboratory rigged with explosives, McMaster said. The lab also contained a chemical that burned the troops' throats and eyes when they entered. The Army is trying to identify the substance.
[Early Monday, as many as 30 gunmen in 10 cars opened fire on Iraq's Interior Ministry, killing two policemen and wounding five, the Reuters news agency reported.
An Interior Ministry official said gunmen used rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and automatic rifles in the attack.]
