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Second Attack on U.S. Forces Averted

U.S. officials, Kuwaitis say first attack was terrorist act

Wednesday, October 9, 2002
NBC News & News Services



NBC’s Tammy Kupperman at the Pentagon, The Associated Press, & Reuters contributed to this report

Kuwaiti Deputy Premier and Defense Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Sabah, right, visits the U.S. Marine wounded by two Kuwaiti assailants. The name of the Marine has not been disclosed by the U.S. military.
Image Credit: Kuwait Defense Ministry -- AFP.

The Pentagon identified the dead Marine as Lance Cpl. Antonio J. Sledd, 20, of Tampa, Fla. He was assigned to Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Camp Pendleton, Calif.



The wounded Marine was identified on Wednesday as Lance Cpl. George R. Simpson, 21, of Dayton, Ohio. He is assigned to Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Camp Pendleton, Calif.



KUWAIT -- NBC & Newswires
A day after two Kuwaitis killed a U.S. Marine in what the government called a terrorist attack, a second attack was narrowly averted Wednesday when a U.S. soldier fired his weapon at a civilian vehicle after an occupant pointed what appeared to be a gun at him, U.S. officials said.

Details of Wednesday’s averted attack were still sketchy. U.S. officials, who discussed the incident on condition of anonymity, said initial reports from U.S. authorities in Kuwait did not indicate whether the U.S. troops were Army or Marines.

The initial report said U.S. troops in a Humvee utility vehicle were overtaken by a civilian vehicle and that as the civilian vehicle went by, a person inside drew a gun and pointed it at the Americans. One of the Americans opened fire, and they reported having seen the civilian vehicle veer off the roadway.

“A round was fired by a U.S. soldier at a car as a force protection measure as he felt a threat,” a U.S. military spokesman told Reuters.

It was not immediately clear if anyone was hit. The spokesman said an investigation was under way.

Other sources said a car had approached the U.S. troops and someone could have pointed a weapon at them. The spokesman could not confirm this, saying, “All I can tell you is that there is an investigation.”

The troops were heading out from Camp Doha on the outskirts of the capital, Kuwait City, which the United States uses as its main base in Kuwait for troops and storing military supplies.

* AL-QAIDA TIES
* KUWAITI LINKS
* PICKUP TRUCK ATTACK
* KEY U.S. ALLY
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2002 © NBC News.

Dan