|
Marines shot man defending shop { April 12 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/12/1050069108087.htmlhttp://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/12/1050069108087.html
Baghdad merchants fire on looters
Saturday 12 April 2003, 10:05 AM
Shopkeepers opened fire at mobs of looters in Baghdad, where residents grew increasingly frustrated about the reigning chaos and humanitarian disaster that US troops have done little to stop.
"We want the law to rule and if the Americans don't defend us then we'll defend ourselves with our own weapons," said store owner Khazen Hussein.
Twenty-five people, including two children, were admitted to Baghdad's Al-Kindi hospital for gunshot wounds after merchants took up arms against thieves for the first time since US troops entered the city to fanfare on Wednesday.
But the hospital, Baghdad's largest, could provide little help as it has been ransacked itself.
"The situation is chaotic and catastrophic," Peter Tarabula, medical coordinator for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said after an ICRC team inspected the hospital.
All staff have fled Al-Kindi hospital with the exception of two doctors who administer first-aid but do not carry out operations.
Iraq's largest archaeological museum and Baghdad's two plushest hotels also fell prey to roving bands of thieves as anarchy took hold in the power vacuum left by the collapse of Saddam Hussein's 24-year regime.
Flames engulfed the Rashid and the Mansur hotels after bandits made off with furniture, carpets and television sets.
US troops say they are still involved in a military campaign and do not have the capacity to maintain law and order.
In Al-Rasafi market, merchants fired pistols in the air outside a seven-storey garment store, while at Al-Arabi market shopkeepers fired Kalashnikov assault rifles toward approaching looters.
Young people were also seen with iron bars running after potential thieves.
Almost everything has been considered fair game, from the luxury homes of senior Iraqi officials to European diplomatic missions and former state institutions that once inspired fear.
US soldiers shot dead a Baghdad merchant who was defending his shop with a Kalashnikov assault rifle against looters, neighbours told an AFP photographer.
The merchant pulled his rifle on the thieves when they began sacking the shop. When US soldiers approached the area, the looters told them that the shopkeeper was a member of Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen paramilitary force.
The American troops opened fire with heavy machineguns, killing the man, the neighbours said.
©2003 AFP
|
|
