XI. ATTACKS ON U.S. SOLDIERS IN MAY AND JUNE

Since the first two incidents documented in this report, U.S. soldiers of the 3^rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which replaced the 82^nd Airborne Division in al-Falluja, have come under further attack, with four U.S. soldiers killed and twenty wounded. On the night of April 30, after the second demonstration, unidentified people approached the U.S. base at the Ba`th Party headquarters, and threw three grenades at the compound. Two of them landed inside, injuring seven soldiers. Machine gun rounds were also fired to provide cover, Col. Bray said.

Around 11:00 p.m. on May 21, unknown gunmen opened fire with machine guns and rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) on a U.S. armored vehicle in al-Falluja, the press and U.S. Centcom reported. In the return fire, U.S. soldiers killed two Iraqis.

In the early morning of May 28, gunmen attacked a U.S. military convoy in town with machine guns and RPGs, killing two U.S. soldiers and injuring nine. Two Iraqis were killed and six captured. By now local residents were speaking openly about their armed resistance. "We want to revenge all of the martyrs that al-Falluja gave and we will not allow American forces to occupy Iraq," said Barakat Jassim al-Zuba`i, a former brigadier in the Iraqi Republican Guard.⁷⁶

On June 4, in response to the continuing armed attacks, the U.S. Army deployed an additional 1,500 soldiers from the Third Infantry Division in al-Falluja and nearby al-Habaniyya. Hours later, U.S. soldiers again came under attack. In the early morning of June 5, assailants opened fire with RPGs on soldiers from the 101^st Airborne Division manning a checkpoint, killing one and wounding five.

76 Patrick E. Tyler, "Gunmen Kill Two U.S. Soldiers in a Firefight in Central Iraq," New York Times, May 28, 2003.