12 US troops believed taken by Iraqis; intense battle in southern city
( 2003-03-24 08:18 ) (7 )

Twelve U.S. soldiers are believed to have been captured in an ambush on a convoy today near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriya, in what U.S. military officials called the toughest day of resistance in the war so far.

"We believe them to be in the custody of the irregulars who coordinated the ambush," Central Command Operations Officer Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks told a news briefing in Doha, Qatar.

The group, made up of maintenance workers, was part of a supply convoy that is believed to have taken a wrong turn outside Nasiriya while on a mission to carry out repair work.

The group was traveling in a column of six vehicles that encountered a roadblock and came under heavy fire. A number of others were wounded in the attack and evacuated by helicopter, military officials said.

President Bush said before the briefing that he expected any American POWs to be treated properly.

"We expect them to be treated humanely just like we will treat any prisoners of theirs that we capture humanely," said Bush, who returned to the White House today from the Camp David retreat in Maryland. "If not, the people who mistreat the prisoners will be treated as war criminals."

The maintenance unit was ambushed as some 1,000 Marines were engaged in intensive house-to-house fighting in Nasiriya, a strategically located city on the main road to Baghdad.

"United States Marines defeated an enemy attack there while sustaining a number of killed and wounded in the sharpest engagement of the war thus far," Lt. Gen. John Abizaid told the Central Command briefing.

Videotape of Prisoners

Shortly after news of the capture came, video footage of what was said to be dead and captured American soldiers was aired on the Arab al Jazeera network and Iraqi state television.

At least five American soldiers appeared in the video footage - four men and one woman, some of whom appeared to be wounded. They were asked to give their names, home states, and state whether they were Americans.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers saw the footage and reacted with "steely anger" over the treatment of the captured soldiers, saying that videotaping prisoners was a violation of the Geneva Conventions, ABCNEWS' John McWethy reported.

"It is against the Geneva Convention to show photographs of prisoners of war in a manner that's humiliating for them," Rumsfeld said.

Some of the captives were visibly injured; one of them was lying on a bed partly wrapped with bloody bandages and was obviously in pain. An Iraqi television crew was seen leaning over them and asking them questions.

Heavy Fighting and Ambushes

The battalion engaged in Nasiriya destroyed Iraqi tanks, artillery and anti-aircraft guns, officials said, while also incurring significant losses. The firefight had lasted more than 12 hours and was continuing, although there was little word on the battle later in the day. U.S. forces had defeated Iraqi units in the city the day before.

Allied planes conducted aerial strafing runs in the battle and dropped several bombs, said ABCNEWS' John Berman, who is embedded with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.

U.S. Central Command officers said fewer than 10 U.S. soldiers were killed in the fighting.

In another ambush in the Nasiriya fighting, about 50 Marines were wounded and evacuated by helicopter, officials said.

They had been approached by an Iraqi vehicle waving a white flag of surrender, military officials told ABCNEWS affiliate reporter Keith Garvin of WTVD.

Individuals inside the Iraqi vehicle then opened fire when pulled up alongside the Marines, and a mortar attack apparently destroyed one of Marines' vehicles.

Iraqi forces - some dressed as civilians - used small arms, assault rifles, and some rocket-propelled grenades in the fighting. They were also believed to have one or more tanks engaging coalition forces.

"I'm told it is not just regular [Iraqi] army people but militia, people in plainclothes doing the fighting," Berman said.

Iraqi commanders dispatched Fedayeen counterinsurgency fighters from Baghdad to Nasiriya over the past two weeks, military sources told ABCNEWS. The fighters were meant to bolster regular army soldiers, whose loyalty to Saddam Hussein is considered questionable, the sources said.

The Fedayeen fighters were to be used in urban combat and to threaten potential defectors with death if they didn't fight, the sources said.

Allies Claim Progress, Despite Losses

Despite the losses in Nasiriya, Abizaid told reporters in Qatar coalition forces were making substantial progress in the war.

He cited increased attacks on logistics, command-and-control forces, and Iraqi commando units in western Iraq. In the north, allies were bringing in reinforcements and targeting Republican Guard troops, he said. Special Operations soldiers were operating around Baghdad with continued success.

Two Iraqi generals had been taken prisoner so far, he said, and Iraqi attacks had so far been unorganized and incapable of slowing coalition forces' strategic progress.

"We have not seen on the battlefield not a single coherent military move," Abizaid said.

The U.S.-led forces heading toward Baghdad may get there sooner than expected, despite resistance, reported ABCNEWS' Jim Dolan in Qatar. U.S. forces were within 100 miles of Baghdad and may have to be stopped at some point to wait for the completion of the air campaign against the Iraqi capital.

Reuters news service reported U.S. forces advancing up the Euphrates River toward Baghdad were halted by "small-scale enemy contact" about 45 miles south of the city of Najaf, which is about 100 miles south of Baghdad.

Traveling with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, ABCNEWS' Bob Woodruff reported the units with him had crossed the Euphrates in central Iraq, and were 175 miles from Baghdad.

Other allied forces, such as the 3rd Infantry Division, were possibly even closer to the Iraqi capital.

U.S. and British military officers around Basra and Umm Qasr in southern Iraq reported sporadic clashes with Iraqis and said they were making progress against opposing forces in both cities. A Republican Guard commander was reported captured.

Friendly Fire Kills Two; U.S. Soldier Held in Grenade Attack

The British military said two Royal Air Force fliers died in an friendly fire incident when a U.S. Patriot missile accidentally shot down their Tornado GR4.

"They were returning from one of many successful and professionally conducted missions in Iraq, and I would like to pay tribute to their expertise and dedication," Cmdr. Mike Oldham of Britain's Marham base said in a statement.

Meanwhile, a soldier of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division was being held after he allegedly threw grenades into leadership tents at the division's Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait, killing one and injuring 12.

The soldier - identified as Sgt. Asan Akbar - allegedly threw four grenades into four separate tents, military sources in Kuwait said. Three grenades exploded. He reportedly had been behaving strangely and allegedly refused to proceed north with his unit.

Max Blumenfeld, a spokesman for the U.S. Army V Corps, told The Associated Press preliminary information suggests the motive for the attack was likely resentment, but he did not elaborate.

Allies Reject Claim About Downed Plane Over Baghdad

Meanwhile, Iraqi forces apparently searched in Baghdad for what they said was a downed coalition pilot. U.S. Central Command said all coalition aircraft were accounted for and said no planes had been downed near the Iraqi capital.

"I did not personally see anything. Some troops were shooting into the reeds. I can confirm they were looking for something," said ABCNEWS' Richard Engel in Baghdad.

Since the war began last week, Iraqi officials have routinely made unsubstantiated claims about capturing allied soldiers and destroying planes and equipment. U.S. military officials dismissed this latest Iraqi claim as well.