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Burnt bodies hanged off bridge
31/03/2004 18:20 - (SA)
Fallujah - Jubilant residents yanked the bodies of four foreign contractors working for the US-led coalition - one a woman, at least one an American - out of their burning cars on Wednesday, dragged the charred corpses through the streets, and hung two of them from the bridge spanning the Euphrates River.
Five American soldiers died in a roadside bombing nearby on one of the bloodiest days this year for the coalition governing Iraq.
The brutal treatment of the four corpses came after they were killed in a rebel attack on their SUVs in the Sunni Triangle city about 55km west of Baghdad, scene of some of the worst violence on both sides of the conflict since the beginning of the American occupation a year ago.
In Baghdad, Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt said the victims were contractors working with the coalition. He did not say what they were doing in Fallujah.
Chanting "Fallujah is the graveyard of Americans," residents cheered after the grisly assault on two four-wheel-drive civilian vehicles, which left both in flames. Others chanted, "We sacrifice our blood and souls for Islam."
Associated Press Television News pictures showed one man beating a charred corpse with a metal pole. Others tied a yellow rope to a body, hooked it to a car and dragged it down the main street of town. Two blackened and mangled corpses were hung from a green iron bridge across the Euphrates.
"The people of Fallujah hanged some of the bodies on the old bridge like slaughtered sheep," resident Abdul Aziz Mohammed said. Some of the corpses were dismembered, he said.
Beneath the bodies, a man held a printed sign with a skull and crossbones and the phrase "Fallujah is the cemetery for Americans."
APTN showed the charred remains of three slain contractors. Some were wearing flak jackets, said resident Safa Mohammedi. Residents said one was a woman.
One resident displayed what appeared to be dog tags taken from one body. Residents also said there were weapons in the targeted cars. APTN showed one American passport near a body and a US Department of Defence identification card belonging to another man.
Witnesses said the two vehicles were attacked with small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades.
Hours after the attack, the city was quiet. No U.S. troops or Iraqi police were seen in the area.
- AP
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