By John Murphy Sun Foreign Staff Originally published April 5, 2003
AL MUHAYDI AS SALIH, Iraq - It was early morning, and the blue skies over this farming community less than 20 miles south of Baghdad turned black and hazy with the smoke of burning oil.
It was also the beginning of one of the longest, hardest days to date for members of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. Before it was over, one Marine was killed in action by a sniper and at least two others were injured.
An M-1 Abrams tank - considered the safest ride in Iraqi because so little could destroy it - was left smoldering on the highway, its ammunition shooting and spraying like a fireworks show. Dozens of enemy fighters lay dead in a farmer's field, and dozens more were captured.
The Marines were not battling the Iraqi army or Saddam Hussein's elite Republican Guard, but a group of well-trained fighters from Syria, Egypt and perhaps other countries, Marine officers said.
They were an enemy who fought with more will than any other fighters the Marines have encountered so far.
The "jihad" fighters, as Marines dubbed them yesterday, wore civilian clothes or full-length black robes. They were equipped with brand new ammunition and some of the best sniper rifles and armaments money can buy. They set pools of oil on fire, masking the skies with eye-stinging black smoke.
More than anything, however, they showed determination as fighters.
"They wouldn't give up," said Capt. Ethan Bishop, commander of India Company, which lost one of its Marines in a firefight yesterday. "It was a tough fight, and they are still out there." The Marine was shot in the abdomen by a sniper while trying to clear the enemy from an open field outside this town.
The Marines appeared a little stunned by the resistance.
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