Salahuddin
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The US military has rejected claims that its soldiers abandoned civilian truck drivers during an attack in Iraq.
Three drivers were killed when insurgents attacked a convoy of Halliburton trucks in Balad, north of Baghdad, on 20 September 2005.
The incident was captured on recently released video by the driver of one of the trucks, who was himself shot.
The US military insisted that its personnel had acted properly and "fought back bravely".
The dramatic amateur footage, shot by driver Preston Wheeler, shows the convoy of military escort vehicles and civilian trucks driving through Balad.
The convoy came under small arms fire from insurgents
The trucks, which initially attracted the attention of stone-throwing locals, missed their turn and were forced to turn around. "We have to go back through that hell-hole again," Mr Wheeler is heard to say.
The convoy is then seen coming under small arms fire from insurgents before a truck ahead of Mr Wheeler's vehicle is overturned by a roadside blast.
Mr Wheeler is heard calling for help on the radio as gunfire continues and he is shot in the arm, while a US military Humvee is seen leaving the scene.
'They just killed him'
In the video soundtrack, prolonged gunfire is heard and Mr Wheeler says insurgents have killed one of the drivers ahead. "They just killed him," he is heard to say in the video. "Oh Jesus."
A US military Humvee was filmed leaving the scene
Aerial footage shot by an unmanned predator drone - and released alongside Mr Wheeler's video - showed insurgents stripping the body before throwing rocks at it.
Mr Wheeler said that 40 minutes passed before US troops returned. "I do not know who the driver was of that Humvee, but he abandoned us," he told ABC news.
But military officials rejected the suggestion and said an investigation immediately afterwards found troops, from the Virginia National Guard, had reacted appropriately.
"They fought back bravely while waiting for reinforcements and attending to the casualties," a spokeswoman for US forces in Iraq, Lt Col Michelle Martin-Hing, told the Associated Press news agency.
Halliburton, meanwhile, said that all employees were "fully briefed" on the risks of working in Iraq.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5390854.stm
Three drivers were killed when insurgents attacked a convoy of Halliburton trucks in Balad, north of Baghdad, on 20 September 2005.
The incident was captured on recently released video by the driver of one of the trucks, who was himself shot.
The US military insisted that its personnel had acted properly and "fought back bravely".
The dramatic amateur footage, shot by driver Preston Wheeler, shows the convoy of military escort vehicles and civilian trucks driving through Balad.
The convoy came under small arms fire from insurgents
The trucks, which initially attracted the attention of stone-throwing locals, missed their turn and were forced to turn around. "We have to go back through that hell-hole again," Mr Wheeler is heard to say.
The convoy is then seen coming under small arms fire from insurgents before a truck ahead of Mr Wheeler's vehicle is overturned by a roadside blast.
Mr Wheeler is heard calling for help on the radio as gunfire continues and he is shot in the arm, while a US military Humvee is seen leaving the scene.
'They just killed him'
In the video soundtrack, prolonged gunfire is heard and Mr Wheeler says insurgents have killed one of the drivers ahead. "They just killed him," he is heard to say in the video. "Oh Jesus."
A US military Humvee was filmed leaving the scene
Aerial footage shot by an unmanned predator drone - and released alongside Mr Wheeler's video - showed insurgents stripping the body before throwing rocks at it.
Mr Wheeler said that 40 minutes passed before US troops returned. "I do not know who the driver was of that Humvee, but he abandoned us," he told ABC news.
But military officials rejected the suggestion and said an investigation immediately afterwards found troops, from the Virginia National Guard, had reacted appropriately.
"They fought back bravely while waiting for reinforcements and attending to the casualties," a spokeswoman for US forces in Iraq, Lt Col Michelle Martin-Hing, told the Associated Press news agency.
Halliburton, meanwhile, said that all employees were "fully briefed" on the risks of working in Iraq.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/5390854.stm
