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NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894

December 16, 2003
Release Number: 03-12-35


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


SAMARRA AMBUSH

TIKRIT, Iraq - Task Force Ironhorse soldiers traveling through the city of Samarra repelled a complex ambush in the afternoon of Dec. 15 and killed eleven attackers without suffering any Coalition casualties. As the patrol from B Company, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division drove through the city soldiers saw a large flock of pigeons take flight. The pigeons were apparently used as a signal to announce the arrival of the soldiers in Stryker infantry vehicles.

Moments later, two men on a motorcycle firing automatic weapons used children leaving school as cover to attack the patrol. Soldiers, in consideration of the children and a nearby mosque, employed snipers to target the attackers and successfully suppressed the enemy's ability to inflict damage. The attackers fled as the patrol continued their movement through the city.

A short distance later the patrol was attacked again by automatic weapons fire from a group using an overgrown field for cover. In a simultaneous action attackers detonated an improvised explosive device to the south of the patrol. The patrol was then inundated by fire when, in a continuing coordinated effort, the patrol was attacked by former regime elements using rocket propelled grenades coming from the west and mortar fire that emanated from the north. The enemy's attack was ineffective, causing neither casualties nor damage to any vehicle.

Soldiers radioed a nearby patrol and requested support. A Company, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division soldiers responded and moved toward the embattled patrol. Both U.S. elements fought through the ambush and eliminated the threat. A company commander on the scene confirmed that 11 attackers had been killed. After confirmation, Samarran residents moved the attackers' bodies from the area. There were no Coalition casualties during the firefight and, except for a civilian automobile that was damaged by a rocket-propelled grenade, there was no damage to any other property or equipment.

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