Sniper Tactics
The Iraqi insurgents have also used snipers, including vehicle-borne units, to isolate enemy combatants from larger forces and strike at their leader—a demonstration of their technological capabilities and tactical patience. Major Greg Rowlands of the Royal Australian Infantry, a tactics instructor to US company commanders, wrote in 2008 that
| “ | hey generally engage targets from 100 to 1000 meters and primarily use the SVD sniper rifle. However, they have also been known to use .50 Cal and captured coalition M24 sniper rifles. insurgent sniper pair usually operates from a dominant terrain feature ... The pair usually films the shot, extracts, and then posts the very graphic and shocking event to the internet ... lucrative targets | ” |
As of December 23, 2006, 43 U.S and three British soldiers have been killed by sniper fire in Iraq since the beginning of the invasion. Private security contractors have also been targeted; on March 22, 2004 two Finnish businessmen were shot and killed by snipers in Baghdad. Two private security contractors, one British and one American (the last working for Blackwater Worldwide) have also been killed by sniper insurgents. Soldiers tell of a supposed member of the insurgency who is alleged to be a very accurate sniper. Nicknamed Juba, he is said to have killed and wounded up to a hundred United States soldiers. Iraqi government or rival sectarian medical personnel and ambulances are not assured safety from snipers as seen during 2005 in a now famous video of an attempted kill on a US army medic
Read more about this topic: Tactics Of The Iraqi Insurgency