Attack injures 13 US troops in Kuwait
( 2003-03-23 08:52 ) (7 )

A grenade and gunfire attack injured 13 American soldiers at the 101st Airborne Division's camp in Kuwait early Sunday, US military officials said. Six of the troops were seriously hurt.

"From our reports it appears that a terrorist penetrated Camp Pennsylvania, one or more terrorists threw two hand grenades into a tent," said George Heath, spokesman at Fort Campbell, Ky., home base of the 101st.

The injured were rushed to a field hospital but military officials had no word on their conditions, Lt. Cmdr. Charles Owens said from Camp As Sayliyah in Qatar. Their names were not released.

"As of right now, we have 10 soldiers from the 101st that were transported by helicopter to a hospital facility," said Sgt. Scott Whittington, spokesman for the 101st Airborne Division in Kuwait City.

The attack happened at a rear base camp of the 101st, near the Iraqi border, US military officials said.

Jim Lacey, a correspondent for Time magazine, told CNN that he was about 20 yards away when explosions went off at what he said were two tents that housed division leadership.

"The people who did it ran off into the darkness," he said.

He said he interviewed an Army major who was sitting outside the tent. "He said he saw the grenade roll by him," Lacey said.

After the attack, troops fanned out around the compound to find the perpetrators, Lacey said.

The military did not identify the unit of the 101st that was in the camp but said it had been in Kuwait for about one week. Most of the division has entered southern Iraq.

Sunday's attack was the fourth against Americans in Kuwait since October. Kuwait was the main launching point for the tens of thousands of ground forces who have entered Iraq.

The 101st Airborne is a rapid deployment group trained to go anywhere in the world within 36 hours. The roughly 22,000 members of the 101st were deployed Feb. 6. The last time the entire division was deployed was during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, which began after Iraq invaded neighboring Kuwait.

Most recently, it hunted suspected Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in the mountains of Afghanistan. Its exploits are followed in Kentucky with much pride.

Willee Cooper, 55, a Hopkinsville, Ky., resident who helped organize a pro-troop rally and prayer service scheduled for Sunday, had just returned home from a meeting when she heard about the attack.

"I know my heart feels like it's dropped. I know we were all feeling very buoyant," because of the progress made by US troops in Iraq, she said.

Hopkinsville is 20 miles north of Fort Campbell.

Three Kuwaitis were arrested last month on suspicion of planning terrorist attacks on US forces in the tiny, oil-rich emirate.

The men were described as Muslim extremists who followed the principles of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. The arrests followed several attacks against Americans in Kuwait.

On Jan. 21, Islamic extremists were blamed for killing a San Diego computer contractor and injuring another American close to Camp Doha, where US forces are based.

A Kuwaiti policeman faces trial on charges of shooting and seriously wounding two US soldiers on Nov. 21 after allegedly stopping their car on a highway.

In October, Muslim fundamentalists killed one US Marine and injured another on a Kuwaiti island. Other Marines killed the gunmen, who were religious extremists.