US soldier working as imam on Iraqi base kills five US soldiers
Dig Dug, a commenter at The Hostages, told us about this story from the BBC:
US soldier kills comrades in Iraq
A US soldier has shot dead five of his colleagues at a base in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the Pentagon says.
Two other people were hurt in the shootings and the gunman is in custody, Pentagon officials have said.
An earlier military statement said the incident had happened at Camp Liberty near Baghdad’s international airport at about 1400 (1100 GMT).
The White House said US President Barack Obama was shocked by news of the “terrible tragedy”.
The president planned to discuss it with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said spokesman Robert Gibbs.
“Any time we lose one of our own, it affects us all” Colonel John Robinson US army spokesman
The shooting reportedly occurred at a clinic where troops receive help for personal issues or combat stress.
It is not the first time a US soldier has opened fire on comrades in recent years.
One soldier was sentenced to death in 2005 after killing two officers and wounding 14 other personnel with grenades and a rifle at a camp in Kuwait.
‘Terrible tragedy’
The BBC’s Natalia Antelava, in Baghdad, says troops at Camp Liberty had been enjoying a much more relaxed atmosphere in recent months.
She says there have been few attacks on the base recently, so the timing of the shooting will make it particularly shocking to the soldiers there.
It is the deadliest single incident involving US forces since 10 April, when five soldiers were killed by a truck bomb in the northern city of Mosul.
“Any time we lose one of our own, it affects us all,” said military spokesman Colonel John Robinson.
“Our hearts go out to the families and friends of all the service members involved in this terrible tragedy.”
Earlier this month, a man in an Iraqi army uniform shot dead two US soldiers and injured three others at a base near Mosul.
Iraqi military reports said he was a soldier also working as an imam at a mosque on the base.
US forces are due to withdraw combat troops from Iraq by August 2010.
A tragedy.
Lipstick said,
May 15, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Really?! An Imam? None of the reports I’ve read in USA Today mentioned that fact. Big surprise!
(I’ve been traveling and that’s been my only source of news this week)
Arend said,
May 17, 2009 at 10:28 pm
If only your English comprehension was a tenth as good as your Urdu comprehension.
Kevin said,
May 29, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Wait, what? The murderer wasn’t a Christian? Wait, let me add the day’s tally to the score… Ok, according to my charts, roughly 0 percent of scumbaggerous terrorism is carried out by Christians. It seems to all be carried out by muslims. Am I reading the data wrong?
Lynn said,
June 5, 2009 at 12:00 pm
‘Earlier this month, a man in an Iraqi army uniform shot dead two US soldiers and injured three others at a base near Mosul.
Iraqi military reports said he was a soldier also working as an imam at a mosque on the base.’
Iraqi soldier, different incident than what the article was about.
The headline shows that the person who wrote it has no idea what the article is about.
raj said,
June 14, 2009 at 11:20 am
hello muslihoon. i am a christian from india, currently living in US. i am very worried about the growing islamic fanaticism and pray that the True Gospel of Christ be proclaimed so muslims can be liberated from this evil cult.
thank you for this good site.
- raj, chicago