American Helicopter Shot Down in Baghdad

On November 1, which the supporters of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein set as “the day of resistance,” concerns about the large-scale demonstrations and bloody affairs caused the shops to shut down and parents to keep their youngsters away from schools in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, forcing the whole city into quasi-paralysis.

A U.S. Chinook helicopter, which was on the way back to the base from a short break in the suburb, was shot down near Fallujah in west side of Baghdad on November 2. In the accident, at least 20 soldiers were dead or injured. It is reported that more than 32 soldiers were on board at that time.

At 7 a.m. on November 1, near the northern city of Mosul, an explosion at the roadside killed two soldiers and wounded two others from the 101st Airborne Division.

On the same day, a bomb exploded in Khaldiya, about 85 km west of Baghdad, killing one U.S. soldier. Also, on the same day, militants armed with automatic rifles and RPGs, attacked the city hall near Fallujah. Furthermore, a fire broke out at the pipe line 15 km north of Tikrit, Hussein’s hometown.

On October 1, the eve of “the day of resistance,” in a clash between U.S. forces and hundreds of Iraqis, who were chanting anti-U.S. slogans and holding up pictures of former President Hussein, American troops opened fire, killing 14 Iraqis in Ghraib area, a northern suburb of Baghdad.

Around Baghdad, leaflets were dropped demanding the general strike for three days from November 1, the date six months from the time when U.S. President George W. Bush declared the end of war (May 1), in the name of Arab Baath Socialist, former Iraq’s ruling party.

On top of this, as rumors that large-scale bloody affairs will occur were spread widely, heavily-armed American troops were warned to be on emergency alert.