| US-backed forces killed 15 Iraqis in a blistering shootout north of Baghdad yesterday as a hostage crisis deepened and a threatened deadline to kill one of seven captive truckers drew near. The main hospital in Baqubah said it received one body and nine wounded from the clashes near Buhruz, just south of the city. The US military said insurgents opened fire on Iraqi security forces as they provided security for the 1st Infantry Division during a raid in a nearby farming area. "Iraqi security forces pursued the anti-Iraqi forces into town while being attacked by sporadic small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades," said Maj. Neal O'Brien. US forces provided air and ground support as Iraqi forces battled the insurgents, who "fired mortars indiscriminately" into the town, he said. The firefight left palm and pomegranate groves smoldering. A body, said to be that of a civilian, was buried as masked men carried machine guns and RPGs, shouting anti-Iraqi government and anti-US slogans. The bloodshed came hours after the US military arrested 15 people near Baqubah at dawn on suspicion of ties to alleged Al-Qaeda operative Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. |