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Why are we suprised anyway?
According to the Minister, neither their appearance nor their clothing would have attracted attention. In fact, they did not appear Western and had
been well trained in adapting themselves to their surroundings. They blended in and did not have reason to raise any suspicions. They carried
firearms, but these were concealed.
It was unusual for eight intelligence agents to travel together, but on that occasion, they did so because they were inspecting the area prior to
turning it over to the new team. The objective was to make contact with the region and learn the terrain, and they had taken advantage of the day to
work together.
Had they been careless? The Defense Minister denies it. The element of surprise is key to secret agents, and thus they had decided to move up the time
of their return to their base, between Diwaniya and Najaf, where the Spanish military contingent is located.
They had chosen a route that runs along next to the highway. It is a road usually taken as an alternative route and, because it has more traffic, is
considered better for passing unnoticed.
30 km from Baghdad, after crossing Mahmudiya, a region in which there is a US base, they noticed that they were being followed on the run-down
two-lane highway by a passenger car. It was a white Oldsmobile, occupied by five passengers, who began to fire at them with Kalashnikov rifles. The
driver of one of the SUVs was hit and the vehicle went off the road. The other stopped. They were 50 meters from the entrance to Latifya. At that
point, snipers began to shoot from the walls on either side.
The agents fought back for 20-30 minutes, defending themselves with pistols. One of the agents was able to communicate with the CNI headquarters in
Madrid to tell them what was happening and ask for help. The agents fell one after another.
The only survivor, Jos� Manuel S�nchez Riera, managed to get across the road. He attempted to get to a car to escape, and was finally able to do so.
An Iraqi in a passenger car picked him up and brought him to the nearby town of Mahmudiay, where he notified local police.