Baghdad, Iraq – In perhaps the boldest and most sophisticated attack in four years of warfare, gunmen speaking English, wearing U.S. military uniforms and carrying American weapons abducted four U.S. soldiers last week at the provincial headquarters in the Shiite holy city of Karbala and then shot them to death.
The U.S. military confirmed Friday that three of the soldiers were dead and each had a gunshot to the head when they were found in a neighboring province, about 25 miles from the compound where they were captured. A fifth soldier was killed in the initial attack on the compound.
The new account contradicted a military statement Jan. 20, the day of the raid on an Iraqi governor’s office, that five soldiers died while “repelling” the attack.
In a statement late Friday, the military said two of the soldiers were handcuffed together in the back seat of an SUV near the southern town of Mahawil. A third dead soldier was on the ground nearby. The fourth died on the way to the hospital.
The assault, 50 miles south of Baghdad, was conducted by nine to 12 gunmen posing as an American security team, the military confirmed.
The attackers traveled in black GMC Suburban vehicles – the type used by U.S. government convoys – and wore new U.S. military combat fatigues, according to two senior U.S. military officials as well as Iraqi officials, all speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The precision of the attack, the equipment used and the possible use of explosives to destroy the military vehicles in the compound suggests that the attack was well-rehearsed prior to execution,” said Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, spokesman for Multi-National Division-Baghdad.
“The attackers went straight to where Americans were located in the provincial government facility, bypassing the Iraqi police in the compound,” he said.
