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| Iraq |
| Fire Erupts at U.S. Ammo Depot in Iraq |
| 2006-10-11 |
| BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A fire broke out at an ammunition depot at a U.S. base in southern Baghdad on Tuesday night, setting off a series of explosions from detonating tank and artillery shells that shook buildings miles away. The U.S. military said there were no immediate reports of casualties. It was not clear whether the depot at Forward Operating Base Falcon was hit by an attack. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, said Lt. Col. Christopher C. Garver, a military spokesman. Explosions from detonating tank and artillery ordnance and small-arms ammunition stored at the site went off for hours after the fire erupted. Large flames and smoke rose from the region, and flashes from the blasts and showers of sparks were visible on the horizon from several miles away in central Baghdad, where the force of the blasts could be felt. The blasts came at times sporadically, at times in rapid succession, lasting into the night. Helicopters were seen in the night sky flying over the area. The blaze broke out in an ammunition holding area, where material is kept temporarily before distribution to the units at Falcon, said Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, a spokesman at the base. He said more than three battalions were stationed there at the time of the fire but he would not give a specific number of troops. ``There is a lot of ammunition there, but it's not a full storage depot,'' he said. ``This does not degrade our operational ability at all.'' He said the cause of the fire was under investigation. Falcon is located in a former commercial trucking depot in a sprawling industrial area at the southern entrance of Baghdad. It lies on the main highway heading south of Baghdad. Much of the area around it is sparsely populated, but on the opposite side of the highway, about 600 yards away, are residential neighborhoods. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #7 Mike, that's a great story! |
| Posted by: WhitecollarRedneck 2006-10-11 18:29 |
| #6 WR- Would you like to make a friendly wager that somebody was trying to demil a souveneir they wanted to take home? Some years back some serious damage was done at old Myrtle Beach AFB, SC, when a couple of idiots tried to remove the primer from an A-10's 30mm round...with a propane torch. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2006-10-11 14:07 |
| #5 My guess is that there are a few privates who are going to be shitting size ten for a week, if they can even get their CO's boot out of their ass. Fires in your ammo depot suggest sloppiness. |
| Posted by: WhitecollarRedneck 2006-10-11 12:51 |
| #4 abu T-Shirt? we're doomed. |
| Posted by: RD 2006-10-11 12:19 |
| #3 From CentCom press release: "Multi-National Division – Baghdad has determined that an 82mm mortar round, fired by militia forces from a residential area in Abu T-Shir, caused the fire at an ammunition holding area at approximately 10:40 p.m. Tuesday." |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2006-10-11 11:22 |
| #2 R.J. called it: Baghdad, 11 Oct. (AKI) - The insurgent attack which triggered an explosion at a munitions dump inside the US military base at al-Doura, in southern Baghdad, was the work of two insurgent factions with a third terrorist group acting as back up support, according to a statement from one of the factions, the Salahuddin al-Ayyubi Brigades. The attack, on Tuesday night, was initially claimed by the Islamic Army in Iraq, however they also relied on a second group calling itself "The Conqueror's Army". The sequence of the attack was filmed and the video posted to the Internet by the third group, the Salahuddin al Ayyubi Brigades, which followed the event at a distance. The group takes its name from a Muslim victory over the Christian crusader forces in 1187 under the leadership of Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi. The attack began with the launch of various missiles which struck the base. According to the US command, one of these struck a munitions dump and as a result there were some 30 explosions which could be heard a long distance away and which shook nearby areas. |
| Posted by: Steve 2006-10-11 09:22 |
| #1 Doesn't matter whether or not it was enemy action, they'll claim it was a "Huge Victory" anyway. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2006-10-11 06:17 |