One Iraqi Detainee Killed, Several Injured During Escape Attempt
Saturday, June 14, 2003
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BAGHDAD, Iraq — Coalition troops foiled an escape attempt by Iraqi detainees at a prison complex west of Baghdad (search), shooting one dead and injuring seven others, the U.S.-led coalition forces said Saturday.
Brandishing metal bars and throwing rocks, detainees rushed military police guards at Abu Ghreib, a sprawling complex that once held thousands of political detainees opposed to the rule of Saddam Hussein, according to a statement from the coalition forces.
Two of the injured were listed in serious condition, the statement said.
One military policeman also was slightly injured in the incident.
The dead prisoner was the fourth of thousands of Iraqis held by the Americans to die while in custody.
On Thursday, two Iraqi prisoners were shot trying to escape from a U.S. camp and one later died of his wounds, the military said.
U.S. Central Command (search) released few details of the incident, other than to say one prisoner died at an Iraqi hospital and the other was recaptured after the escape attempt.
American military officials ruled that a Marine acted in self-defense in killing a prisoner on March 29. The Pentagon has launched a criminal investigation into the death of an inmate at a U.S. prisoner camp in Nasiriyah (search) whose corpse was found Friday.
The United States has more than 2,000 Iraqis in custody. They include more than half of the top 55 most wanted Iraqis, other former officials of Saddam Hussein's regime, prisoners of war and looters and other common criminals.
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