54 Iraqis killed in anti-U.S. insurgency ambush

SAMARRA, Iraq -- An ambush and shootout that killed dozens of Iraqis represented a new level of coordination in the anti-coalition insurgency, U.S. officials said Monday.\nThe U.S. military said 54 Iraqis were killed Sunday in the northern city of Samarra as U.S. forces used tanks and cannons to fight their way out of simultaneous ambushes while delivering new Iraqi currency to banks.\nResidents said the casualty figure was much lower and that the dead were mostly civilians. By the American account, the battle was the bloodiest combat reported since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in a U.S.-led invasion.\nOn Monday, assailants ambushed a U.S. military convoy with small arms fire about 50 miles west of Baghdad, killing one soldier, the U.S. military said.\nThe U.S. military said attackers in Samarra, many wearing uniforms of Saddam's Fedayeen paramilitary force, struck at two U.S. convoys at opposite sides of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.\nCapt. Andy Deponai, whose tank was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, said the guerrillas had deployed about 30-40 men near each of the two banks where the new currency was being delivered.\n"It was a large group of people," said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt. "Are we looking at this one closely? Yes. Is this something larger than we've seen over the past couple of months? Yes. Are we concerned about it? We'll look at it and take appropriate measures in future operations."\nDeponai said he was surprised by the scale of the attack.\n"Up to now you've seen a progression -- initially it was hit and run, single RPG shots on patrols, then they started doing volley fire, multiple RPG ambushes, and then from there this is the first well-coordinated one," he said.\n"Here, it seems they had the training to stand and fight," Deponai said.\nThe scars of the battle were evident Monday. About a dozen cars lay destroyed in the streets, many apparently crushed by tanks, and bullet holes pocked many buildings. A rowdy crowd gathered at one spot, chanting pro-Saddam slogans. One man fired warning shots in the air when journalists arrived at the scene.\nThere was no U.S. military presence in the city center. Shops opened, and residents moved around town.\nAt a news conference at a U.S. military base in Samarra, Col. Frederick Rudesheim said the Iraqi guerrillas acted in "a concerted fashion" against the American convoys.\nAt the U.S. base, half a dozen suspects were seen with bags over their heads and their hands bound by plastic cuffs.\nMany residents said Saddam loyalists attacked the Americans, but that when U.S. forces began firing at random, many civilians got their guns and joined the fight. Many said residents were bitter about recent U.S. raids in the night.\n"Why do they arrest people when they're in their homes?" asked Athir Abdul Salam, a 19-year-old student. "They come at night to arrest people. So what do they expect those people to do?"\n"Civilians shot back at the Americans," said 30-year-old Ali Hassan, who was wounded by shrapnel in the battle. "They claim we are terrorists. So OK, we are terrorists. What do they expect when they drive among us?"\nMany residents said the Americans opened fire at random when they came under attack, targeting civilian installations. Six destroyed vehicles sat in front of the hospital, where witnesses said U.S. tanks shelled people dropping off the injured. A kindergarten was damaged, apparently by tank shells. No children were hurt.\n"Luckily, we evacuated the children five minutes before we came under attack," said Ibrahim Jassim, a guard at the kindergarten. "Why did they attack randomly? Why did they shoot a kindergarten with tank shells?"\nMilitary officials in Baghdad said they haven't reported a deadlier attack since May 1, when President Bush declared major combat over. U.S. officials have only sporadically released figures on Iraqi casualties, and wouldn't say whether there has been a deadlier unreported firefight.\nResidents of Samarra disputed the death toll of 54, saying at most eight or nine people died. Three bodies lay in the hospital morgue. There was no way to reconcile the accounts.\nAt least 104 coalition troops have died in Iraq in November, including 79 American troops. In terms of coalition losses, it has been the bloodiest month of the war that began March 20.\nAs of Nov. 26, 434 U.S. service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq, according to the Department of Defense. Of those, 298 died as a result of hostile action and 136 died of non-hostile causes, the department said. This total did not include Monday's reported death.\nAlso Sunday, two South Korean contractors were killed near Samarra in a roadside ambush in what U.S. officials called a new campaign aimed at undermining international support for the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq. Attacks on Saturday killed seven Spaniards, two Japanese diplomats and a Colombian oil worker.\nThe bodies of the two Japanese diplomats were flown to Kuwait and arrangements are being made for transporting them home, a Japanese diplomat said Monday on condition of anonymity.\nIn Seoul, the South Korean government vowed Monday to stick by plans to send up to 3,000 troops to Iraq despite the killing of two South Korean engineers.\nJapanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated Monday his vow that the attack on the Japanese diplomats would not alter Tokyo's commitments to send non-combat troops, provide humanitarian aid and participate in the reconstruction of Iraq.