Today was a bloody and tragic day for U.S. forces in Iraq.
An explosion in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul has killed at least 22 people and wounded at least 60 more. Although it was initially reported to be a rocket or mortar attack, military officials now say the cause of the blast is unknown. Reports from Baghdad an Iraqi militant group has claimed responsibility.
The blast at Forward Operating Base Marez occurred as hundreds of soldiers were in a dining tent for lunch. An embedded American newspaper reporter on the scene said the force of the explosion blew soldiers out of their chairs.
The commander of U.S. forces in Mosul, Brigadier General Carter Ham, said casualties include U.S. soldiers, American and foreign civilian contractors, and members of the Iraqi Army.
….
General Ham called it tragic and a sad day in Mosul. But he said the troops responded bravely, with wounded soldiers caring for those more severely wounded.
“And in that chaos that followed that attack, there was no differentiation by nationality, whether one wore a uniform or civilian clothes. They were all brothers in arms, taking care of one another, and I think that is something that all Americans, and indeed all Iraqis can be very proud of,” he said.
An Iraqi militant group known as Ansar al-Sunna has claimed responsibility for what it says was a suicide operation. Ansar al-Sunnah is a Sunni extremist group that also took responsibility for beheading 12 Nepalese hostages in August. It is believed to have split off from another group, Ansar al-Islam, which U.S. officials say has ties to al-Qaida.
This story, which lists the dead as including “15 [American] military service members and five civilians, as well as two Iraqi security force members,” says that the relatively soft mess hall was only days away from being replaced by a safer, sturdier facility.
Iraqi insurgents have attacked several U.S. military dining hall tents in recent months and the Pentagon was finishing a hardened bunker to replace the dining tent at the base near Mosul attacked Tuesday, military officials said.
Days before the hardened dining hall was scheduled to be completed, a 122mm rocket slammed into the tent at Forward Operating Base Marez near Mosul where hundreds of troops were sitting down to lunch.
The story also points out that, while the results were unprecedented in the Iraq campaign, the attack itself was not.
Attacks from rockets or mortars — what the military calls “indirect fire” — have been commonplace for months at U.S. bases in the Mosul area as well as other insurgency hot spots in Iraq. Dining halls are a prime target because they offer a readily identifiable place where lots of troops congregate at predictable times.
For example, a mortar round hit near the mess hall of a U.S. base in Tikrit during dinner one night in March. The round didn’t explode and no one was injured. Insurgents also launched rockets that month which exploded near a large military dining hall within Baghdad’s Green Zone where U.S. and Iraqi government offices are located. Another mortar round injured three soldiers at a dining hall on another Baghdad base in February.
At many bases — including Marez — troops have been required to wear their body armor and helmets while in the dining hall because of the threat of attack. Most of the attacks don’t hit any structures or cause any injuries, however.
As is so often the case, a unlucky shot at an unlucky time results in tragedy.
Jeremy Redmon, reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, was embedded at the base and filed this wrenching description of the carnage.
“I can’t hear! I can’t hear!” a soldier cried as she was held by a friend. All around them, people were screaming for medics.
It was a brilliant day of warmer-than-usual weather in the northern city of Mosul, and hundreds of U.S. soldiers had just sat down for lunch when the mess tent was struck in a suspected rocket attack. The force of the explosion knocked soldiers off their feet and out of their seats. A fireball enveloped the top of the tent, and shrapnel sprayed those below.
Amid the screaming and smoke that followed, soldiers scrambled, turning their tables upside down, placing the wounded on them and carrying them into the parking lot.
“Medic! Medic!” soldiers shouted.
Medics rushed into the tent, where puddles of bright red blood covered lunch trays, overturned tables and chairs on the floor.
Go read it.
EDIT: Here’s an even more powerful, emotionally draining tale of the aftermath by a chaplain on the scene (hat tip to Chapomatic).
Even as an atheist, I had nothing but admiration for every single chaplain I’ve met. They are an amazing breed — gentle peacefulness and kindness complemented by an iron strength.