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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Police stations recaptured in Mosul |
| 2004-11-17 |
| U.S. and Iraqi troops fought to crush the spreading insurgency in Iraq (news - web sites)'s third largest city Tuesday, recapturing police stations and securing Tigris River bridges as they battled to oust fighters who had moved into Mosul as a distraction to the Marine offensive in Fallujah. Troops met "very little resistance" in securing several of the dozen or so police stations that had been captured by insurgents, the U.S. military command said. Nineveh province's deputy governor said militants blew up the Zuhour police station ahead of the U.S. advance, but the U.S military denied any stations were destroyed. Loud explosions and gunfire could be heard as U.S. warplanes and helicopters circled over Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city with more than 1 million residents. Mortar shells hit two areas near the main government building in the city center, killing three civilians and wounding 25, hospital officials said. One American soldier was wounded when a car bomb exploded near a U.S. convoy in western Mosul, the military said. The U.S.-led offensive is aimed at seizing control of the city 225 miles north of Baghdad, where gunmen stormed police stations, bridges and political offices last week. The city's police force was overwhelmed and in many places failed to even put up a fight. Some officers also allegedly cooperated with insurgents. The operation was launched after U.S. and Iraqi reinforcements were rushed to Mosul. A U.S. Army infantry battalion was recalled from the fighting in Fallujah, 300 Iraqi National Guard soldiers came from garrisons along the borders with Iran and Syria and a special police battalion was sent from Baghdad. U.S. military spokeswoman Capt. Angela Bowman said the attack began Tuesday as troops closed Mosul's five bridges and American soldiers began securing police stations in the western part of the city. "We are in the process of securing all of the police stations and returning the police to these stations," she said. U.S. Marines continued to hunt for fighters hiding in Fallujah, but airstrikes and gunfire waned considerably after a week of heavy fighting that left the Americans in control of the city west of Baghdad that had been the main insurgent bastion. U.S. aerial missions over Iraq are beginning to slow after a 50 percent jump that accompanied the Fallujah offensive, said Rear Adm. Barry McCullough, commander of the USS John F. Kennedy battle group in the Persian Gulf. "The operation is starting to wind down now. That doesn't mean there aren't pockets of insurgents and terrorists in Fallujah," McCullough told The Associated Press. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 There must be a Law of Islam that all Arab "Hospital Spokesmen" belong to the Everyone's a Civilian Union. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-11-17 4:59:04 AM |