BAGHDAD, 5 October 2003 — Soldiers in Saddam Hussein’s disbanded army clashed with occupying troops in Baghdad and Basra yesterday. At least two of them were killed.
The British Army said one of its soldiers shot dead an armed Iraqi during an angry demonstration in Basra by hundreds of men who had gathered to collect redundancy payments after being laid off from the military.
Hundreds of former Iraqi soldiers also rioted at a disused airport in Baghdad where redundancy payments are handed out.
They hurled rocks and rushed toward US soldiers who beat them back with batons and fired shots. At least one Iraqi was killed and several were wounded in the violence. The US Army said two of its soldiers were wounded.
The US administration in Iraq disbanded the country’s army in May. The administration later agreed to pay compensation to the hundreds of thousands of men who had served in the army.
Late on Friday, guerrillas attacked a US convoy near Baghdad with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades, killing a 4th Infantry Division soldier and wounding another, the US Army said.
It said American troops pursued the attackers, killing two and wounding one. With the latest death, at least 85 US soldiers have been killed in action in Iraq since Washington declared major combat over on May 1.
