adhabuhu

see http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...8456408.htm?1c

6 Marines, scores of Iraqis killed in fierce battle

BY RON HARRIS

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

HUSAYBAH, Iraq - (KRT) - Six Marines were killed and scores of
insurgent Iraqis slain in a fierce 14-hour battle Saturday between
Marines and mujahedeen fighters who slipped into this town near the
Syrian border.

According to Marines, an estimated 300 Iraqis from Fallujah and Ramadi
launched an assault against the Americans in Husaybah around 8 a.m.
local time, beginning with a roadside bombing and a flurry of 24
mortars.

When Marines responded to the bombing, they were met with small-arms
and machine-gun fire as they neared a former Baath Party headquarters.

Marines responding to the call for help were mortared and strafed as
they made their way into the city. Additional Marines then joined in
the fight.

Fighting continued late into the night as Marine Cobra helicopter
gunships strafed enemy positions near a downtown soccer stadium and
Marine helicopters continued to take wounded to their main base 22
miles away at Camp Al-Qaim.

At least nine Marines were injured and about 20 Iraqis captured,
Marines said. The detainees were taken to Camp Al-Qaim late Saturday
night for questioning.

All of the Marines were killed in the first hour of the fighting, four
of them when they went to clear out a house where Iraqi fighters were
hiding.

The battalion commander, Col. Matthew Lopez, said he believed the
Marines had crushed the insurgents' attack.

"I don't think they expected us to retaliate as hard as we did," said
Lopez, 40, of Chicago, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines.

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© 2004, St. Louis Post-Dispatch.