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| Iraq-Jordan |
| An Najaf turned over to Iraqi military |
| 2005-09-07 |
| U.S. jets struck targets Tuesday near the Syrian border where al-Qaeda has expanded its presence, and civilians fled fighting in the northern city of Tal Afar, complaining they were running short of food and water. To the south, U.S. troops handed the Iraqi army control of a Shiite city that saw bitter fighting last year — a sign of the uneven pattern of insecurity in this fragmented country. The U.S. command also said four more Americans had been killed in action. The airstrikes took place near Karabilah, about 185 miles west of Baghdad and one of a cluster of towns near the Syrian border used by foreign fighters to slip into Iraq. In the first attack, Marine F/A-18 jets dropped bombs shortly after midnight on two bridges across the Euphrates River that the U.S. command said insurgents used to move fighters and arms toward Baghdad and other cities. Hours later, a Marine jet destroyed a building used by insurgents to fire on U.S. and Iraqi troops, a U.S. statement said. One Iraqi soldier was wounded when Marines and Iraqi soldiers stormed the building, killing two foreigners and arresting three, it said. Late Tuesday, Iraqi civilians reported a suicide bomber struck a checkpoint in Haditha, 60 miles east of Karabilah. There were no reports of casualties. The airstrikes occurred about six miles east of the border city of Qaim, major parts of which have fallen under control of al-Qaeda-linked foreign fighters. Iraqi officials and residents say al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, took over parts of Qaim after residents fled fighting between tribes supporting and opposing the insurgents. The U.S. military maintains a presence in the area, but U.S. officers have complained privately that they don't have enough American and Iraqi troops to secure Qaim. Elsewhere, thousands of civilians fled Tal Afar, a predominantly ethnic Turkomen city 260 miles northwest of Baghdad where U.S. and Iraqi soldiers are trying to wrest control from insurgents. Plumes of smoke rose from the city, which sits along a major trade and smuggling route to Syria. Ambulances were seen carrying at least 10 wounded civilians toward nearby Mosul. Some of those who fled sought refuge in the village of Taha, where local officials scrambled to provide for about 700 families. Some of the refugees disputed claims by Iraqi officials that foreign fighters had joined local insurgents in the fighting inside Tal Afar. "We did not see any strangers like Saudis, Syrians or others," said Hazem Mohammed Ali, deputy chairman of a Turkomen association in Tal Afar. "The people are suffering from lack of food stuff, drinkable water and blankets, because it is getting cold during the night here." One U.S. soldier was killed Monday in Tal Afar, the military reported. Two others died Tuesday in a roadside bombing in Baghdad, and another was killed the day before near Ramadi west of Baghdad. Despite the fighting, security is better in Shiite Muslim areas of central and southern Iraq, including the holy city of Najaf, scene of heavy combat last year between American soldiers and Shiite Muslim extremists. But the Shiite clerical hierarchy mediated a truce, and the area was deemed peaceful enough for U.S. forces to hand over one of their bases in the city to Iraq's army. The transfer of Forward Operating Base Hotel means Iraqis are fully responsible for security in the city. During a ceremony Tuesday, Lt. Col. James Oliver handed the ceremonial keys to the base to the new Iraqi commander, Col. Saadi Salih al-Maliky. About 1,500 Iraqi soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 8th Division marched by. U.S. troops relocated to a base outside the city in case their help is needed in a major security crisis. The move is the first step in a plan to gradually hand over areas once Iraqi forces are deemed capable of ensuring security. The goal is for the United States and its international partners to begin drawing down their troop numbers next year and focus on the insurgency-ridden Sunni Arab areas to the north. "This is indeed a very important day for the province of Najaf," said Brig. Gen. Augustus L. Collins, commander of the 155th Brigade Combat Team. "It gives me great pleasure to say the Iraqi army in Najaf can control the area." U.S. and Iraqi officials also hope a new constitution, which goes to the voters in an Oct. 15 referendum, will weaken the insurgency by luring Sunni Arabs into political participation. However, Sunni negotiators rejected the proposed charter last month and vowed to defeat it in the referendum. The bitter, protracted talks appeared to raise tensions among Iraq's ethnic and religious communities. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #3 Have fun, boys. And feel free to beat the crap out of any fat bastard self-proclaimed Imams you run across... |
| Posted by: mojo 2005-09-07 15:30 |
| #2 The U.S. military maintains a presence in the area, but U.S. officers have complained privately that they don't have enough American and Iraqi troops to secure Qaim. Maybe they will, someday, when other cities get turned over to the Iraqis. Has any soldier ever not wanted more manpower? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2005-09-07 09:41 |
| #1 a sign of the uneven pattern of insecurity in this fragmented country. Can't report about the silver lining without making a cloud! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2005-09-07 09:40 |