A Soldiers Blog

Syria Villagers in this tiny hamlet abutting the Syrian-Iraqi border no longer wait for the call to prayer to mark the end of the daily fast for Ramadan. Instead, sundown arrives in tandem with an eruption of mortar rounds and gunfire between Iraqi insurgents and the American forces stationed right next door.
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"Even before the muezzin cries out 'Alluhu Akbar' we start hearing the bombs and shelling," said Fayad al-Hussein, the owner of a one-story cement house with an unexploded mortar round in his front yard and a view of the American flag flapping over a small base some 200 meters, or 650 feet, away in the Iraqi town of Qaim.
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"Now, just 10 minutes before the call to prayer, we gather all the children into the house because we are pretty sure there will be a firefight just as soon as the iftar starts," he added, using the Arabic for the sunset meal....more
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Syrian border village is caught in the cross-fire