US Tank Destroyed, More Than 19 Americans Annihilated in Iraq

More than 10 US soldiers were killed in the as-Siniyah area northwest of Tikrit at dawn on Friday, Sept. 8,  and others were wounded.  In retaliation the Americans stormed into the old as-Siniyah Mosque, killed the muezzin and desecrated and then set fire to the copies of the Qur'an in the building.

Eyewitnesses who live near the scene of the fighting said that Muhahideen planted four bombs on a side streets that US columns regularly pass over about a quarter of hour before the break of dawn Friday morning.

When an American column came along the bombs destroyed an American Abrams tank and a Humvee, killing more than 10 US troops, witnesses said.

After that, American troops stormed into the old as-Siniyah Mosque that is only about 100 meters from the scene of the bomb attack.  They killed the muezzin and three other worshippers in front of the mihrab (the niche in the front of the mosque facing in the direction of Makkah).

The US troops then kicked the copies of the Qur'an in the mosque to the door where they gathered them together and set them on fire.  They then attacked the furniture in the mosque setting some of it on fire and breaking up some of the rest.

On coming out of the mosque, the American survivors of the bomb attack found three youths heading towards the place of worship and arrested them.  It later became known that the three youths were the sons of the muezzin murdered by the American troops.

A source in the as-Siniyah puppet police cofirmed that "more than 10 US troops were killed in a series of explosions that targeted the occupation forces near the as-Siniyah Mosque."

Meanwhile Iraqi Mujahideen bombs exploded by a US military patrol in the at-Tarimiyah area, about 30km north of Baghdad at 11:30pm local time Thursday night. Eyewitnesses in at-Tarimiyah as saying that the Resistance bombs ripped apart a column of four American Humvees and one Zeal troop transport vehicle.

The explosion destroyed the Zeal troop transport killing all the US troops aboard, an estimated nine US Marines.

Witnesses said they saw the vehicle ablaze and helicopters flying overhead, as US vehicles arrived and surrounded the area.