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US steps up attacks on Iraq insurgents
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-12 23:40

U.S. forces stepped up operations Tuesday across a wide swath of the Sunni insurgent strongholds northwest of the capital, pounding targets in three urban centers from the air and supporting Iraqi troops in raids on mosques suspected of harboring insurgents.

U.S. warplanes struck twice in insurgent-held Fallujah, destroying a popular restaurant and a house which the U.S. command said were used by members of Iraq's most feared terrorist organization. At least five people were killed and two wounded, the city hospital said.

More airstrikes were reported near Qaim, where hospital officials said at least 15 Iraqis were killed, and in Hit, where two bodies were brought to a hospital. U.S. officials had no immediate comment on the reported strikes.

A 12:01 a.m. blast flattened the Haj Hussein restaurant in Fallujah as well as nearby shops, residents said. The restaurant was closed, but two night guards were killed, said Dr. Ahmed Thaer of Fallujah General Hospital.

The U.S. military command in Baghdad made no mention of the restaurant but said the target was used as a meeting place for the Tawhid and Jihad terror network, led by Jordanian-born extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The second blast occurred at 4:02 a.m. and flattened a building in northeastern Fallujah that the military said was a known terrorist safe house. Intelligence sources confirmed that al-Zarqawi associates were using the building at the time of the strike, a military statement said.

At least three people were killed and two wounded in that blast, Thaer said.

Al-Zarqawi's network has claimed responsibility for car bombings, kidnappings and beheadings of foreign hostages.

Despite the overnight attacks, a delegation from Fallujah met in Baghdad on Tuesday with Iraqi officials as part of a series of talks aimed at restoring government control. Both sides report good progress and the main unresolved issues involve terms under which the Iraqi National Guard would enter the city to maintain order.

Tuesday's strikes were the first since Oct. 6.

Also Tuesday, residents said American warplanes struck a civil defense compound east of Qaim, near the Syrian border. City hospital official Hamid Ahmed Ali said between 15 and 20 people were killed in the strike.

U.S. Marines said one of their patrols in Qaim took fire about 6 a.m., but there were no American casualties.

American warplanes and helicopters struck in two parts of Hit, killing two people and injuring five, the hospital said. Residents went to the town hall to demand authorities negotiate a cease-fire.

On Monday, U.S. aircraft attacked a mosque and set it ablaze after insurgents hiding inside opened fire on American Marines, the U.S. military said. Sporadic clashes continued through the night, killing at least two Iraqis and wounding 15, according to Hit General Hospital.

In nearby Ramadi, Iraqi forces backed by U.S. soldiers and Marines raided seven mosques in suspected of harboring terrorists, storing weapons, promoting violence and encouraging insurgent recruitment, the U.S. command said.

Sheikh Abdul-Aleim Saadi, the provincial leader of the influential Association of Muslim Scholars, was detained at Mohammed Aref Mosque, his relatives and followers said.

Angry residents accused Americans of breaking down doors and violating the sanctity of city mosques.

"This cowboy behavior cannot be accepted," said cleric Abdullah Abu Omar of the Ramadi Mosque. "The Americans seem to have lost their senses and have gone out of control."

The 1st Marine Division said the raids followed a pattern of insurgent activity in and around Ramadi mosques recently. The city 70 miles west of Baghdad has seen fierce clashes between U.S. and insurgent forces in recent days.

"The 1st Marine Division respects the religious and cultural significance represented by mosques," it said. "However, when insurgents violate the sanctity of the mosque by using the structure for military purposes, the site loses its protective status."

Marines and soldiers provided backup and protection for Iraqi security forces in the raids but did not enter the mosques, said Maj. Francis Piccoli, a Marine spokesman.

U.S. and Iraqi forces appear to have stepped up military activity in the region north and west of Baghdad, a Sunni militant stronghold, ahead of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which saw an upsurge in rebel attacks last year. Ramadan, four weeks when Muslims fast and abstain from sex between dawn and dusk, begins about Oct. 15 with the sighting of a new moon.

The latest violence came as Shiite fighters in Baghdad's Sadr City unloaded cars full of machine guns and grenade launchers on the second day of a five-day, weapons-for-cash disarmament program. A lasting peace in the sprawling slum would allow U.S. and Iraqi forces to focus on the mounting Sunni insurgency in Fallujah, Ramadi and elsewhere.

Followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr promised the government they would hand over medium and heavy weapons for cash in a deal considered an important step toward ending weeks of fighting with U.S. and Iraqi forces. Iraqi police and National Guardsmen will then assume security responsibility for the district, which is home to more than 2 million people.

In return, the government has pledged to start releasing al-Sadr followers who have not committed crimes, suspend raids and rebuild the war-ravaged slum.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, on a trip to Romania, said he was following the disarming of al-Sadr's followers.

"It is true, some elements are turning in some weapons," he said, adding that it was too early to know its significance or whether it would continue. "One hopes that over time, all of them will" turn in their weapons, he said.

In other violence Tuesday:

_ Unknown assailants shot and killed Abdul Majeed al-Antar, a member of the Nineveh provincial council, as he was en route to his office in Mosul, a council spokesman said. Insurgents regularly target government officials perceived as collaborators with U.S. forces, and Nineveh has seen a number of similar attacks, including the high-profile killing of the provincial governor in July.

_ A bomb planted in a trash can in Basra exploded outside the complex of the British and American consulates as a British convoy drove out, police said. No major casualties were reported.

_ Iraqi National Guardsmen detained eight people Monday wanted for planting roadside bombs in the northern city of Tal Afar, scene of heavy fighting last, the military said. Improvised explosives are among the biggest killers of American forces in Iraq.



 
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