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Iraq-Jordan
At Least Seven Killed in Iraq Truck Convoy
2005-06-08
A convoy of trucks believed to be carrying supplies to a U.S. military base west of Baghdad was ambushed Tuesday, and reporters who arrived after the attack said they saw the bodies of at least seven people. The attack occurred in Habaniyah, 50 miles west of Baghdad and between the restive cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. The victims, all apparently Iraqi men in their 20s and 30s, were placed side by side in a ditch on the side of the road, the reporters said. Several bullet-riddled trucks were on fire and bystanders, including young boys, were seen taking items from the trucks. As some at the scene of the attack tried to put out the fires, a group of heavily armed and masked men came to watch.

Hart Security Ltd., a Cyprus-based British security firm, announced that a convoy of trucks its employees were escorting had been "ambushed by insurgents" near Habaniyah.
Posted by:Fred

#7  JF:
Shipman has a point. Even unescorted convoys help because that makes fewer targets. If you imagine every truck going separately, that would be a steady stream of targets traveling past and the terrorists can pick their time and place. Go in convoys and they have to attack at a certain time at a certain place, which they may not logistically be capable of.

Of course, if they do hit the convoy, they have a much bigger payoff.
Posted by: Jackal   2005-06-08 16:02  

#6   There is no reason to convoy if there is no escort/support.

the escort was provided by a private security firm. Who obviously failed.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2005-06-08 10:05  

#5  On the sea convoy is still safer than individual ships even with no escort. Weird yet true. Operational Analysis never lies. :>
Posted by: Shipman   2005-06-08 10:00  

#4  The last time I understood the concept, the reason to convoy is to provide group protection by accompanied military escort. There is no reason to convoy if there is no escort/support. There is a lot of traffic in which to hide among for singular transfers, so why create an obvious big target unless there is some inside work being done by the dispatchers to provide big juicy targets.
Several bullet-riddled trucks were on fire and bystanders, including young boys, were seen taking items from the trucks. And this sounds like it could be a crimial conspiracy using the war as cover to set goods up for looting.
Posted by: Jert Flinert7749   2005-06-08 09:34  

#3  I suspect they were lined up before they were killed. Standard Saddam era mass murder technique.
Posted by: phil_b   2005-06-08 04:33  

#2  No humvee of MPs to save them this time.

Lining up the dead like that is a military tactic. Worrying development.
Posted by: gromky   2005-06-08 03:05  

#1   a group of heavily armed and masked men came to watch.

So ... why didn't the group get blown away?????


Posted by: 3dc   2005-06-08 01:29  

00:00