Multi-National Corps – Iraq
Public Affairs Office, Camp Victory
APO AE 09342

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20070126-21a
Jan. 26, 2007

Update to Initial Findings from Karbala Militant attack used deception, U.S. Army type uniforms
Multi-National Corps – Iraq PAO

Correction: A previous version of this release cited an incorrect date for the
incident.

BAGHDAD -- Armed insurgents attacked the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in
Karbala, about 30 miles south of Baghdad, dressed in U.S. Army styled combat
uniforms Jan. 20, in which five U.S. Soldiers were killed and three others wounded.

At approximately 5 p.m., a convoy consisting of at least five sport utility vehicles
entered the Karbala compound. The armed militants wore American-looking uniforms
and carried U.S.-type weapons convincing Iraqi checkpoints to allow their passage.

Once inside the compound, an estimated nine to 12 armed militants engaged the
American troops with rifle fire and hand grenades.

While defending the command post, one Soldier was killed and three others were
wounded by a hand grenade thrown into the center's main office which contains the
provincial police chief's office on an upper floor.

During the attack in the main building, Soldiers defending it reported hearing a
series of explosions in the compound causing the Soldiers to seek cover. Three U.S.
military Humvees were damaged from the explosions.

The attackers broke off the assault withdrawing from the compound with four
captured U.S. Soldiers.

The insurgents then drove out of the Karbala province and into neighboring Babil
province, encountering an Iraqi police checkpoint. The sport utility vehicles passed
through the checkpoint, but the Iraqi police trailed the vehicles, suspicious of the group.

After proceeding further east and crossing the Euphrates River, the assailants
drove north toward Hillah, abandoning five SUVs, U.S. Army-type combat uniforms,
boots, radios and a non-U.S. made rifle.

Iraqi police in pursuit found the abandoned vehicles and equipment near the Iraqi
town of Al Mahawil.

Two Soldiers were found handcuffed together in the back of one of the SUVs.

Both had suffered gunshot wounds and were dead. A third Soldier was found shot and
dead on the ground. Nearby, the fourth Soldier was still alive, despite a gunshot wound
to the head. The Iraqi police rushed the severely wounded Soldier to a nearby hospital,
but the Soldier died enroute.

"The precision of the attack, the equipment used and the possible use of
explosives to destroy the military vehicles in the compound suggests that the attack was
well rehearsed prior to execution," said Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, spokesman for Multi-
National Division-Baghdad.

"The attackers went straight to where Americans were located in the provincial
government facility, by-passing the Iraqi police in the compound," said Bleichwehl. "We
are looking at all the evidence to determine who or what was responsible for the
breakdown in security at the compound and the perpetration of the assault."

Bleichwehl said the U.S. Soldiers of the Karbala compound demonstrated
uncommon courage and valor.

"Our hearts go out to the families of the fallen warriors from Karbala," he said.
"They were true heroes who fought to the last."

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