Iraqâs prime minister toured the ex-insurgent stronghold of Tal Afar yesterday as security forces rounded up over 300 rebels who failed to make their escape from a 10,000-strong Iraqi and US assault. Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari visited the northern town of Tal Afar on a road to Syria âto show his defiance of the terrorists,â Interior Minister Bayran Baker Solagh said. Jaafari authorized the operation on Tal Afar on Friday after days of deadly clashes failed to dislodge rebels.Responding to Internet pledges by Al-Qaeda linked groups to launch deadly revenge â including chemical â attacks over the Tal Afar assault, Solagh said they had âlost their senses.â In a series of Internet postings Sunday whose authenticity could not be verified, insurgents promised retaliation and offered rewards for killing top Iraqi officials. One site contained a voice recording attributed to Al-Qaedaâs Iraq frontman Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi that accused the US military of using chemical weapons in the assault, while another Al-Qaeda-linked group threatened to retaliate against US forces with chemical weapons.
Iraqi and US troops continued to search the town, but it appeared that many insurgents had melted away after initially resisting. âA majority of terrorists left the town without fighting,â according to Interior Ministry commando Gen. Adnan Sabet. The Defense Ministryâs Gen. Adel Azis Mohammed said that âa total of 157 terrorists had been killed over the past 24 hours,â while over 300 people had been arrested and 24 weapons caches discovered. One member of the Iraqi forces was killed and âfive to sixâ civilians also died in fighting over the same period, Mohammed added, although more detailed civilian casualty figures were unavailable.