More casualties in Operation Iraqi Freedom

A group of about 10 U.S. soldiers from an Army maintenance unit was captured and/or killed by Iraqi military forces Sunday, Pentagon officials said. Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-based news network, broadcast a tape of the soldiers stating their names and their place of origin. The video showed the extent of the captives’ wounds and some of the prisoners being shot. Fox News reported that one of the prisoners was a woman.

The treatment of the soldiers appears to be a violation of Article 13 of the Geneva Convention, said Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. President George W. Bush said he expected the prisoners to be treated humanely and anyone who mishandles them will be treated as war criminals. Pentagon officials are in the process of notifying the soldiers’ families.

Earlier Sunday, three grenades were launched into Camp Pennsylvania where the 101st Airborne Division is stationed. U.S. military officials said 12 people were wounded, at least five of them seriously. A U.S. with the 101st Airborne Division is being questioned in connection with the grenade attack. Military criminal investigators said the suspect was recently reprimanded for insubordination and was told he would stay behind when his unit left camp for Iraq. The Army criminal investigation command is probing the incident.

The tragedies coincided with heavy fighting on the ground as coalition forces made their way through the Iraqi desert toward Baghdad. A New York Times reporter saw Marines under machine-gun fire. There is no indication that any Marines were killed. A U.S. military source told CNN that members of the Iraqi Republican Guard are using women and children as human shields at key military positions.

About 10 Marines were killed, however, while preparing to accept a faked surrender by Iraqi soldiers, said Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks. In a separate instance, 12 soldiers were reported missing after an army convoy was ambushed by Iraqi forces. The military believes the 12 soldiers are in the custody of their attackers and their status is not known.

Another tragedy included a British Tornado GR4 aircraft that was shot down by a Patriot missile neat the Kuwait border, said a British military spokesman Sunday. The crew is missing and an investigation is under way.

U.S. Central Command said a soldier was killed and a second was injured Sunday morning in a vehicle accident in southern Iraq. Since the war began last week, the total number of confirmed coalition deaths has risen to 23, 14 British and nine American. All but three of the deaths were the result of accidents.

Sunday evening, in another part of the Middle East, a HH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Afghanistan. The U.S. Air Force chopper was on a medical evacuation mission. U.S. Central Command said the crash was not the result of enemy action, although the exact cause is under investigation.

Compiled from news sources by Sarah Kite