Enemy continues to use human shields in attacks

AP:

U.S.-led forces raided a house near a volatile city northeast of Baghdad on Monday, killing nine people, including two children, the military said.

The raid was staged in the area where terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed, and the military said the targeted terrorists had ties to senior al-Qaida leaders across and were involved in helping foreign fighters.

Local residents accused the Americans of targeting civilians, and a man wearing a white dishdasha held up the charred body of a toddler whose head had been blown in half. The Iraqis screamed "Allahu akbar" or "God is Great" as they loaded two wooden coffins onto pickup trucks.

AP Television News footage also showed the burned-out shells of vehicles and a devastated house with a large hole in the roof.

The military said coalition forces received enemy machine-gun fire from a rooftop and two people with AK-47s had been seen fleeing the area just prior to the assault.

"Coalition aircraft supporting the ground force immediately suppressed the enemy fire, killing seven," the military said in a statement. "Following the assault, coalition troops discovered two children had been killed. One child was wounded and evacuated for treatment."

It also said three terror suspects were wounded and detained in the raid near Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. Coalition forces seized rocket-propelled grenade launcher, five rockets, nine AK-47 assault rifles and 20 loaded ammunition magazines.

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The AP manages to print the allegations without explaining the enemy's war crime of using human shields. By deliberately firing from a position where civilians will be put at risk the enemy put those civilians at risk. It is ridiculous to suggest that enemy attacks should not be resisted.