Violence continued across the country as a mortar attack killed six Iraqis at their prison Sunday and new sabotage cut off water for the entire capital. U.S. soldiers killed a Reuters cameraman filming at the scene of the prison attack, the news service said. It was in the latest in a series of controversial shootings by U.S. troops. In the north, a second blaze ravaged a major oil pipeline two days after it was bombed by saboteurs. Loss of the pipeline, which carried exports to Turkey, was costing Iraq $7 million a day, officials said.
The bombing of a water main in a crowded area of northern Baghdad caused an eruption of water that flooded nearby streets. The BBC network estimated that hundreds of thousands of residents lost water service for about 12 hours in this city already short on electricity. The new attacks highlighted the persistent threat from insurgents and the vulnerability of the efforts to foster a sense of stability in post-war Iraq.
The most deadly and puzzling attack came about 11 p.m. Saturday night, when two mortar rounds landed in the prisoners' quarters of the U.S.-guarded Abu Ghraib prison complex. Three prisoners died immediately and three others died in hospitals. About 59 were injured, including nine seriously. U.S. officials allowed reporters to visit a military hospital an hour's drive outside Baghdad. "We went outside at the sound of the first mortar and were standing there when the second fell near us," said prisoner Musab Al-Khafarji, 28, who said he was arrested almost a month ago when U.S. raided his home in the northern city of Mosul looking for weapons. He said prisoners ran toward a perimeter fence seeking to escape the center of the prisoners' area where the mortars were falling. He collapsed from his abdominal and chest wounds. "All the prisoners were yelling, 'God is Great,' " he said of the chaos in the prison yard.
| Sometimes I think a better translation of "Allahu Akbar" would be "Holy Shit!" |
After American officials announced the prison attack, Reuters cameraman Mazen Dana was shot as he was filming near the prison. According to Reuters, witnesses said he was shot by U.S. troops on a tank nearby. U.S. troops tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate the cameraman. A Pentagon spokesman told Reuters that U.S. troops "engaged an individual" near the prison who was later identified as a reporter. |