US to 'take fight to enemy'

2003-12-01 15:19

Samarra, Iraq - The US commander in the Iraqi town of Samarra vowed on Monday to continue to take the fight to the enemy after clashes with insurgents left 54 people dead, including at least eight civilians, prompting calls for a US pullout from the area.

"We are going to continue to take the fight to this enemy," said Colonel Frederick Rudesheim, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

"This is the most significant contact we have had to date in the city of Samarra. We are going to have to respond accordingly."

The bloodshed from the clashes on Sunday afternoon prompted members of the city's tribal council to demand an immediate US pullout from the built-up area.

But both the US colonel and one of his officers, Captain Andy Deponai, denied that US forces had fired indiscriminately, as charged by senior police, hospital and municipal officials in the town.

"When my forces go into town and we engage the terrorists that are engaging us we take proper aimed fire at those firing at us," said Rudesheim.

"We are working as hard as we can to inform the people of Samarra as to what happened," he said, saying a meeting had already been held with the head of the city council.

"I am concerned about disinformation as much as anything else. We are going to continue to do what we can to inform the people of Samarra."

Fed up

Deponai echoed his comments. "We don't indiscriminately enage people, we are engaging people who are firing at us."

The colonel insisted that the "overwhelming majority" of inhabitants of Samarra were fed up with the "Saddam Fedayeen and the terrorists" carrying out the attacks.

"They are very unhappy - as far as going to attack the funerals of some of those killed yesterday," he said, but adding that that was an "anecdotal" report.

Challenged about calls for US troops to pull out of the town, Rudesheim said his forces had already done what they could to make their presence in the city as unobtrusive as possible.

"For Ramadan we made a significant effort to withdraw from the city," he said, referring to the Muslim fasting month, which closed last month. "That seemed to work.

"We have withdrawn some of our positions from nearer the city to further out so that we are not as close to the urban areas as we were before."

Rudesheim played down the absence of insurgent casualties in the city's hospital and the presence of at least eight civilian dead and scores of wounded.

"As far as the reports you are getting at the local hospital, our adversary, the local terrorist, will not bring his casualties to the local hospital."

- AFP