Spoetnik
31-01-05, 23:21
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. troops in Iraq shot dead four inmates during a prison riot on Monday, the military said.
Six prisoners were wounded in the violence, which affected hundreds of detainees at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq on the day after Iraqis voted in their first free election in decades.
There were no serious injuries among the Americans during 45 minutes of rioting, Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson told Reuters. Troops shot the four dead with rifles after failing to quell the riot with plastic pellets fired from shotguns.
"We're not sure exactly what sparked it. There's no obvious connection with the election. We're not sure if that had anything to do with it," Johnson said.
Prisoners began throwing rocks and fashioning weapons after a routine search of one of 10 compounds at the camp near the port of Umm Qasr, the military said in a written statement.
Violence spread to three other compounds, which together house more than 2,900 of Camp Bucca's 5,300 inmates.
Some detainees have been held for more than a year, Johnson said, noting that the camp was now the main internment facility for suspected guerrillas in Iraq. Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail, scene of abuses by American guards, now holds fewer prisoners.
Those injured were hurt variously by U.S. troops or other detainees, the military statement said. Three of the six wounded were taken to a military hospital for further treatment.
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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7490624
Six prisoners were wounded in the violence, which affected hundreds of detainees at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq on the day after Iraqis voted in their first free election in decades.
There were no serious injuries among the Americans during 45 minutes of rioting, Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson told Reuters. Troops shot the four dead with rifles after failing to quell the riot with plastic pellets fired from shotguns.
"We're not sure exactly what sparked it. There's no obvious connection with the election. We're not sure if that had anything to do with it," Johnson said.
Prisoners began throwing rocks and fashioning weapons after a routine search of one of 10 compounds at the camp near the port of Umm Qasr, the military said in a written statement.
Violence spread to three other compounds, which together house more than 2,900 of Camp Bucca's 5,300 inmates.
Some detainees have been held for more than a year, Johnson said, noting that the camp was now the main internment facility for suspected guerrillas in Iraq. Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail, scene of abuses by American guards, now holds fewer prisoners.
Those injured were hurt variously by U.S. troops or other detainees, the military statement said. Three of the six wounded were taken to a military hospital for further treatment.
(....)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7490624