U.S.: Soldiers abducted in Karbala, killed elsewhere

Story Highlights

• Original reports said five U.S. soldiers killed in brazen attack
• Insurgents posed as Americans, drove American SUVs
• Sources say U.S. soldiers captured, killed in SUVs

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Four U.S. soldiers the military reported killed in an attack on the governor's office in Karbala last week were actually abducted and killed dozens of miles away, the U.S. military said Friday.

The brazen assault, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad on January 20, was conducted by nine to 12 militants posing as an American security team. They traveled in black GMC Suburban vehicles -- the type used by U.S. government convoys -- had American weapons, wore new U.S. military combat fatigues and spoke English.

In a written statement, the U.S. command reported at the time that five soldiers were killed while "repelling the attack." Now, two senior U.S. military officials as well as Iraqi officials say four of the five were captured and taken from the governor's compound alive. Three of them were found dead and one mortally wounded later that evening as far as 25 miles east of the governor's office.

The U.S. officials said they could not be sure where the soldiers were shot after being captured at the compound. Iraqi officials said they believe the men were killed just before the Suburbans were abandoned.

The insurgent commando team also took an unclassified U.S. computer with them as they fled with the four soldiers and left behind an American M-4 automatic rifle, senior U.S. military officials said.

The new information has emerged after nearly a week of inquiries. The U.S. military in Baghdad repeatedly declined comment on reports emerging from Iraqi government and military officials which suggested a major breakdown in security at the Karbala site.

The two senior American military officials now confirm the reports, gathered from five senior Iraqi government, military and religious leaders. The U.S. military also has provided additional details.

None of the American or Iraqi officials would allow use of their names because of the sensitive nature of the information.

The Karbala raid, as explained by Iraqi and American officials, began after nightfall at about 6 p.m. on January 20, while American military officers were meeting with their Iraqi counterparts on the main floor of the Provisional Joint Coordination Center, known as the PJCC, in Karbala. (Watch how the sneak attack was carried out)

The first U.S. military statement on the raid, which reported five soldiers killed and three wounded, said "the PJCC is a coordination center where local Iraqi officials, Iraqi security forces and coalition forces stationed within the center meet to address the security needs of the population."

Melee at military compound

Iraqi officials said the approaching convoy of SUVs was waved through an Iraqi checkpoint at the edge of Karbala. The Iraqi soldiers assumed it was American because of the type of vehicles, the distinctive camouflage American uniforms and because the men spoke English. One Iraqi official said the leader of the assault team was blond, but no other official confirmed that.

A top Iraqi security official for Karbala province said the Iraqi guards at the checkpoint radioed ahead to their compatriots at the PJCC to alert them that the convoy was on its way.

Iraqi officials said the attackers' convoy divided upon arrival, with some vehicles parking at the back of the main building where the meeting was taking place, others parked in front.

The U.S. military in Baghdad received a first report of the attack about 6:15 p.m., the senior U.S. military officials said.

The attackers threw a grenade and opened fire with automatic rifles as they grabbed two soldiers inside the compound. Then the insurgent assault team jumped on top of an armored U.S. Humvee and captured two more soldiers, the U.S. military officials said.

One U.S. soldier was killed in the melee at the compound, and three were wounded.

The attackers fled with the four abducted soldiers and headed east toward Mahwil, in neighboring Babil province, about 25 miles away, the U.S. military officials said.

The U.S. accounts did not say where the soldiers were killed. Iraqi officials said the four were captured alive and shot just before the vehicles were abandoned.

Iraqi officials said the U.S. military found the four U.S. soldiers in the SUVs near Bu-Alwan, a village near Mahawil.

The U.S. officials, who had seen incident reports of the assault, said the documents indicated two of the soldiers were found in one of the SUVs at one location and two others in a second SUV elsewhere. The exact locations were not specified, they said.

Both sides agreed that -- when found -- three soldiers were dead and one was wounded and died as U.S. troops rushed the service member away for treatment.

Three days after the attack, the U.S. military in Baghdad announced the arrest of four suspects in the attack and said they had been detained on a tip from a Karbala resident. No further information was released about the suspects.

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