US troops fight insurgents on highway
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-04-10 08:43

Cocksure teenagers stand at the edge of Abu Ghraib, waiting to dart out and fire rocket-propelled grenades at an American convoy and then melt back into the town's gritty alleyways.

It's a cat-and-mouse game that often leaves US soldiers dead and their vehicles in flames along the highway leading to Baghdad, a key trade route that's now a no-man's land.

Abu Ghraib, a hard-bitten town surrounded by lush farmland, is one of the trouble spots for American soldiers facing fierce challenges from both Sunni Muslim insurgents and radical Shi'ite militiamen.

On Friday plumes of black smoke rose over the highway were visible for kilometers (miles) away at a Baghdad mosque where worshippers spoke of a holy war that involved many ordinary Iraqis taking up arms against US occupation troops.

It seemed that may already have happened in Abu Ghraib, where guerrillas and civilians seem to have a bond on the few streets that are active.

The latest attack in the town was on a convoy carrying fuel. At least half a dozen fuel trucks erupted in flames and bodies were thrown to the street, according to at least one witness. At least nine people were killed and more wounded.

In an eerie moment, a young boy walked out to the highway and picked up a bag placed near the trucks. Perhaps it was used to plant ordnance for the US convoy or he was just wanted to sell it in this impoverished area.

HARD WAY HOME

US tanks closed off the route, littered by hundreds of bullets and shattered pieces of glass. Iraqi civilians navigated around the debris, hoping to get past the Americans for the 15-kilometer journey to Baghdad.

But it is never easy. When they were turned off the highway motorists tried to wend their way around the overpasses, which were sealed off by US soldiers in tanks, training their gun turrets and machineguns on every vehicle.

So frustrated Iraqis try the sideroads but they are turned back as an American soldier sets his binoculars on a car in a nearby field that looks like a security risk.

American military officials have repeatedly said that the insurgency is limited to a minority of Iraqis who want to undermine efforts to build a new Iraq (news - web sites) after the fall of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime exactly one year ago.

But the dynamics of Abu Ghraib, which is set just beyond the view of US troops passing on the highway, suggest otherwise.

Young men with RPGs and AK-47 assault rifles who rule the streets don't seem like diehard Saddam loyalists or followers of al-Qaeda, accused by the military of staging some of the attacks that have killed 449 US troops since May 1.

They wear tracksuits and mingle with the locals, standing out in the open until they rush to attack. Others ride in groups of four or five in cars, within sight of the Americans.

One guerrilla who faked that his leg was wounded ran to a fence above the highway on a quick reconnaissance mission. He looked like any other Iraqi when he returned and stood by his car, except for the pistol strapped to his shoulder.

Clashes around the bridge seem to work in favor of the guerrillas. The longer Iraqis wait for the highway to open, the more they vent their rage over the myriad problems in post-war Iraq -- no security, civilian deaths, power shortages.

"Why don't they just let us pass? If I had a Kalashnikov I would shoot the Americans myself," said an Iraqi motorist stuck on a parallel road.