U.S. troops withdrew Friday from a police station in Fallujah after Iraqi officers complained that the American presence put them at risk, the head of the town's police force told The Associated Press.
Col. Jalal Sabri said the Americans left the station Friday morning.
Police in the town said they were willing to work with the Americans, but did not want them using the station as a base, fearing it would make the Iraqi officers the target of resistance attacks.
"We feel more comfortable because of this withdrawal. We can solve the problems here better than the Americans and communicate better with the people," Sabri said. "We have told the Americans many times that we have the capability. We asked them to give us a chance and see our work. If they don't like how we perform, they can come back."
Before dawn Friday, insurgents fired two mortar rounds into the U.S. base in the western city of Ramadi. Capt. Michael Calvert, public affairs officer for the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, said there were no injuries or damage to the base. It was the seventh attack on the base in the last 10 days.
Meanwhile, several Iraqi civilians, including a young Iraqi girl, were injured after getting caught in the crossfire of skirmishes between U.S. soldiers and insurgents, the U.S. military said Friday.
One Iraqi was shot in the neck and another in the abdomen when troops opened fire after a rocket-propelled grenade attack late Thursday on a military convoy on a road leading to Baghdad International Airport. The wounded Iraqis were both taken to a nearby hospital.
Also Thursday, a young Iraqi girl sustained shrapnel wounds during a night-time firefight between United States forces of the 4th Infantry Division and suspected militants near the city of Balad, the military said. The girl was in stable condition and being treated at an Army hospital on the massive Sustainer air base near Balad. (Albawaba.com)
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