Troops Backed by Helicopters Battle Insurgents in Baghdad
Fighting in Sunni Enclave Is Heaviest of Security Offensive

By Sudarsan Raghavan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, April 11, 2007

BAGHDAD, April 10 -- With attack helicopters firing into the streets below, U.S. and Iraqi forces fought Sunni gunmen in a densely packed downtown enclave on Tuesday, the heaviest fighting seen in the capital since the launch of a security offensive eight weeks ago.

The U.S. military said four Iraqi army soldiers and three insurgents were killed and 16 American soldiers were wounded in a street battle that raged throughout the day in the Fadhel neighborhood. The military reported one civilian casualty, an injured child, but witnesses said that they saw at least 18 bodies, including those of civilians, and that a dozen people were injured.

Two U.S. helicopters involved in the battle, an Apache and a Black Hawk, were struck by gunfire from the streets and rooftops, forcing them to return to their base. As the Apache left, it jettisoned a pod containing small rockets, said Lt. Col. Christopher C. Garver, a military spokesman.

"We saw the Humvees rolling into the neighborhood. Suddenly, the mujaheddin emerged onto the street, and the clashes began to take place from one alley to another," said Abdul Rahman Abdul Latif, 63, a mechanic, using a term for Muslim guerrilla fighters. "People fled into their houses. Others were caught in the crossfire. The shooting didn't stop at all."

As thousands more U.S. troops enter the capital, Tuesday's battle illustrated the tenuous hold that security forces have over volatile areas. Only days ago, U.S. troops were patrolling and conducting security sweeps in Fadhel, a Sunni insurgent stronghold, without incident, according to witnesses and U.S. military officials.

"We know there are anti-Iraqi forces waiting out there to fight, and wanting to fight when it is to their advantage," said Garver, using the military's term for insurgents. "We expect the enemy to strike back. He's not done. He's going to keep fighting hard."U.S. and Iraqi troops face greater risks now than in earlier attempts to pacify Baghdad because they are spending more time in violent areas. A constellation of neighborhood security outposts, where U.S. and Iraqi soldiers live 24 hours a day, is a key element of the new counterinsurgency strategy that U.S. military officials say is needed to bring stability.

Tuesday's battle was a reminder of the challenges facing U.S. and Iraqi forces in neighborhoods where Sunni militants or Shiite militias have become entrenched after months of sectarian violence and have the ability to attack at any moment.

Fadhel is across the Tigris River from Haifa Street, another predominantly Sunni area where U.S. and Iraqi forces fought a fierce battle against insurgents in January, as President Bush was about to announce his new strategy to pacify Iraq. In that 11-hour clash, the gunmen were determined to hold their turf, surprising U.S. soldiers who used heavy firepower and technology to take control.

The U.S. military reported the deaths of four American soldiers on Tuesday, three in a roadside bombing in southeastern Baghdad and one in Anbar province. The deaths brought the number of U.S. dead this month to 45, half of whom were killed in Baghdad, according to the military's figures. If the pace continues, April would become the deadliest month for U.S. troops so far this year.

In the town of Muqdadiyah, northeast of Baghdad, a suicide bomber wearing an explosives belt under her head-to-toe garment killed at least 15 recruits and injured 17 near a police station, police officials said.

In Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near the Baghdad University campus, killing five people. Police also found nine unidentified corpses, all blindfolded and shot in the head, in various neighborhoods of the capital.

To the south, in the city of Iskandariyah, a bomb planted near a house killed four people and injured six, said Capt. Muthana Ahmad, a Babil province police spokesman.

In Fadhel, witnesses said U.S. and Iraqi forces began streaming into their neighborhood in the pre-dawn hours. About 7 a.m., Waleed al-Azawi, 33, an engineer, was leaving his house for the airport when, he said, he heard shooting and saw people running in the street and shouting, "Go, go!"

The father of three children rushed back into his house as gunfire erupted in the neighborhood's narrow alleys.

"The shooting was loud, and until now, I feel nervous," Azawi said in a telephone interview Tuesday night. "The sounds scared my baby. It scared my whole family."

Outside, gunmen were shooting at U.S. and Iraqi soldiers from street corners and rooftops, witnesses said. Combat helicopters were hovering, firing machine guns into buildings, and U.S. snipers were positioned on top of a nearby school and other buildings, witnesses said.

The U.S. and Iraqi soldiers appeared reluctant to enter the alleyways where insurgents were using their knowledge of the maze-like enclave to their advantage, said Abdul Latif.

"Each mujahed was giving orders to colleagues on how to fight and where to shoot," he said.

He was among groups of residents ferrying the dead and wounded on stretchers to nearby clinics and a mosque. Abdul Latif said he saw 18 bodies at the mosque, but others said the total was at least 28.

"Some civilians were killed, and others were mujaheddin," said Abdul Latif, who has lived in Fadhel for three decades.

Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, an Iraqi military spokesman, said 18 insurgents were killed, a figure far higher than the U.S. military's.

Abdul Latif offered an explanation for the sudden attack. He said many residents were suspicious of the mostly Shiite Iraqi army, which is widely believed to be infiltrated by Shiite militias.

"When the Americans came into our neighborhood several times, they search the houses. They never take weapons. Their treatment is good," Abdul Latif said. "But we hated it when the national army comes to the neighborhood. They hurt us. They are full of hatred, full of sectarianism."

By late afternoon, the U.S. and Iraqi forces had retaken control of the neighborhood, erecting checkpoints and conducting patrols. But hours later, some residents were still shaken.

"I am a man and I was scared. What about the women and children? I am an engineer, a peaceful man," Azawi said. "I will ask one question: Why?"

Special correspondents Waleed Saffar and Salih Dehema in Baghdad and other Washington Post staff in Iraq contributed to this report.