The Great IRAQ!

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Influential House Democrat Wants Immediate Iraq Withdrawal

By DAVID STOUT

11/17/05 "New York Times" -- -- WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 - An influential House Democrat called the Iraq campaign "a flawed policy wrapped in illusion" today as he called for the immediate withdrawal of United States troops.

"It is time for a change in direction," Representative John Murtha of Pennsylvania, the leading Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee, said as the debate over the war intensified by the hour. "Our military is suffering, the future of our country is at risk."

Mr. Murtha, a conservative who voted in 2002 for the resolution authorizing use of force in Iraq and who supported the Persian Gulf war in 1991, called for "the immediate redeployment of American forces."

"It is evident that continued military action in Iraq is not in the best interests of the United States of America, the Iraqi people or the Persian Gulf region," Mr. Murtha said during an emotional news conference on Capitol Hill.

Mr. Murtha, a 73-year-old Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam combat, lashed back at Vice President Dick Cheney, who in a speech to a conservative group on Wednesday night condemned critics of the Iraq war. "The president and I cannot prevent certain politicians from losing their memory, or their backbone, but we're not going to sit by and let them rewrite history," Mr. Cheney said in an address to the group, Frontiers of Freedom, in Washington.

Mr. Murtha was disdainful of the vice president's remarks, saying that "people with five deferments" had no right to make such remarks. Mr. Cheney, like millions of other young men of the era, avoided military service during the Vietnam war.

Mr. Murtha's remarks were termed "reprehensible and irresponsible" by a Republican member of the Appropriation's defense subcommittee, Representative Kay Granger of Texas.

"It shows the Democratic Party has chosen a policy of retreat and defeatism which will only encourage the terrorists and threaten the stability of Iraq," she said, according to The Associated Press.

House Republicans were expected to issue a general denunciation of Mr. Murtha this afternoon.

Mr. Murtha's demeanor and personal history as well as his status on the Appropriations Committee may lend extra weight to his words. He generally shuns publicity and does not often speak on the House floor.

After serving in the Marines in the early 1950's, he re-enlisted in 1966, at the age of 34, and served in Vietnam, earning a Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross for Gallantry, according to The Almanac of American Politics. When he won his House seat in a special election in February 1974 he became the first Vietnam veteran to serve in Congress.

Mr. Cheney's speech came a day after the Senate overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for the Bush administration to make regular progress reports on the war and for 2006 to be a "transition year" in which the Iraqis will assume responsibility for security of their own country.

The vice president's assertions that some politicians want to rewrite history was aimed at those who voted in 2002 to authorize force against Saddam Hussein but have more recently become critics of Iraq campaign, charging that the Bush administration manipulated pre-war intelligence to exaggerate the threat posed by the old Baghdad regime.

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, said Mr. Cheney's speech of Wednesday night as well as President Bush's recent remarks on Iraq show that they have "shamlessly decided to play politics."

"We're at war," Mr. Reid said. "We need a commander in chief, not a campaigner in chief."

At his Capitol news conference, Mr. Murtha became emotional as he spoke of hospital visits to wounded troops. "What demoralizes them is going to war with not enough troops and equipment to make the transition to peace," he said.

"Our troops have become the primary target for the insurgency," Mr. Murtha said. Insurgents, he said, "are united against U.S. forces, and we have become a catalyst for violence." He went on to say that, before the Iraqi elections in December, the country's people and its emerging government "must be put on notice that the United States will immediately redeploy."

"All of Iraq must know that Iraq is free," he said. "Free from United States occupation."

NEWS YOU WON'T FIND ON CNN

On the spot: 'torture prison is tip of the iceberg'

Catherine Philp, reporting for The Times from Baghdad, says that a fiery press conference by Bayan Baqer Solagh, the Interior Minister, is unlikely to ease the political damage of a growing torture scandal in Iraq.

By Catherine Philp

11/17/05 "The Times" -- - -"There is not the same kind of shock and controversy over the discovery of the basement prison in Jadriya as there was over abuse scandal Abu Ghraib, because everyone has known for some time that this has been going on. Everyone knows someone to whom this has happened.

"There is more of a sense of relief that it has finally been brought into the open - although people are angry that it has taken so long.

"Sunni groups have been trying to present evidence - photographs, videos and testimony - for months, but they have only been taken seriously now that the Americans have become involved.

"Most of the press today have run the photographs [of the abused prisoners]. They have been in circulation for some time, but it is only now that they are being widely published.

"I've been collecting testimony today from people who have been held in all sorts of centres: interestingly, none of them was held in the Jadriya prison - they were all held in other places, which have apparently not been declared. It suggests that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

"This is going to do nothing to calm the tensions between the ethnic groups. We have always laboured under the impression - which now turns out to be a myth - that the Shia groups have been restrained in the face of provocation from the Sunni community.

"Now it has become much more publicly clear that the Shia have been waging their own form of civil war through their security services and death squads.

"In his press conference today the Interior Minister denied this. However, he was extremely defensive and not very convincing.

"I was watching it on television with some local people and at one point we had to turn the volume down. He was just shouting and yelling for an hour. It's hard to imagine how he can survive in his position

"One telling detail was when he said there was no torture and added: 'No one was beheaded, no one was killed.'

"The minister is a former member of al-Badr, a Shia Muslim militia, and that comment suggests that he sets quite a high bar for what constitutes torture."

International outcry greets allegations of police abuse

• Ministers launch inquiry after detainees found

• Shia paramilitaries now control force, say Sunnis

Ewen MacAskill and Rory McCarthy in Beirut Michael Howard

11/17/05 "The Guardian" -- -- Seif Saad, an Iraqi guard, showed no remorse yesterday for the detention and alleged abuse of 173 prisoners in Baghdad. "We placed sacks on their heads and tied their hands behind their backs," he said of their arrests, but, as far as he was concerned, they were suspected terrorists.

He was standing in a watchtower overlooking the ministry of the interior building where the detainees were held. The cells were found at the weekend by US forces and the discovery of the prisoners - and the allegations of torture - have provoked an international outcry.

The Iraqi police force is now subject to intense scrutiny. The main charge is that the police have been infiltrated by Shia Muslim paramilitaries - in particular the Iranian-backed Badr Brigades - who have targeted Iraq's minority Sunni community, from which the insurgency arose.

Since a new Iraqi government was established in the spring, several accounts have emerged of arrests, abuse and extrajudicial killings by paramilitary forces linked to the ministry and dominated by Shia Muslims operating in squads with names such as the Scorpions and the Wolf Brigade. Almost all the incidents have had a sectarian edge.

Mr Saad, 18, a former labourer with no police training, denied the arrests were religiously motivated. He told a Reuters reporter the suspects had been brought in for questioning in connection with bombings, regardless of whether they were Sunni, Shia or Kurd. The reporter said Mr Saad wore a special forces uniform resembling that of a Shia paramilitary group.

US forces said they had been hunting for a missing youth when they uncovered the secret detention centre. The Iraqi government has launched an inquiry and promised an answer within a week.

But Manfred Novak, the UN special envoy on torture, based in Geneva, yesterday called for an independent inquiry. He has received various allegations of torture and degrading treatment by both US and Iraqi forces in Iraq. "That torture is still practised in Iraq after Saddam Hussein is no secret," he said.

Stephen Bowen, an Amnesty International UK campaigns director, said: "This is by no means the first time that we've encountered cases of detainees apparently being tortured by members of the interior ministry - a grisly pattern is emerging. It's tragic that after years of documenting torture, killings and incommunicado detention under Saddam, we are talking about the same issues in the same country - with different perpetrators."

Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, used the organs of the state, particularly 12 branches of the secret police, to oppress the Shias and Kurds. After his fall, the expected mass revenge killings by the Shias against the Sunnis did not take place. But the Shia now effectively control the organs of state, including the interior ministry and the police, allegedly working in collusion with Shia paramilitary groups. Various organisations - human rights groups as well as Sunni groups - claim that the Shia are now using those organs against former members of Saddam's regime and other Sunnis, as well as Sunni political groups.

Ayad al-Samarrai, a senior official with the Iraqi Islamic party, a mainstream Sunni group, said his organisation had made complaints about the illegal arrest and abuse of Sunni Muslims by government paramilitary forces over the past six months. "We submitted our claims to the government, to the ministry of interior, to the multinational forces, to the Iraqi army. We were saying this for many months before this prison was found," he told the Guardian.

The party wanted an independent Iraqi inquiry established, with support from the US military and perhaps the UN, but with the powers to enter interior ministry buildings to investigate the widely reported accounts of abuse and torture. If no suitable Iraqi inquiry team could be set up, then an international investigation should be set up, he said. He said officials from Iraq's human rights ministry had tried to investigate but had been refused access by the powerful interior ministry.

"All those who were released from this prison were Sunnis," Mr Samarrai said. "It looks like part of a plan to make this community terrified, or to push them to leave Iraq or to leave their homes, or to force them into violence as they will think it is the only way to protect themselves."

The treatment of the Sunnis has caused concern among the Kurds, who urged in a memo to the Iraqi prime minister, Ibrahim Jaafari, a Shia, to "put an end to arbitrary crimes against the Sunni Arabs".The Kurds are in coalition government with the Shia and the memo was signed by the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, a Kurd.

An Iraqi law student, who would only give his initials, MI, said yesterday he had been among those detained at the interior ministry. He had been arrested in August and released six weeks ago. Interviewed by Reuters at a Sunni party office, the 22-year-old said he had been blindfolded, his hands bound and hung from a ceiling hook. He was whipped with metal cables. "They called us Sunni dogs and thieves or friends of Saddam Hussein." He said he had been in a room with 100 others, and that sometimes the captors used drills against people. "They put me in a barrel full of cold water during questioning and gave me electric shocks," he said.

He said life was so tough that prisoners prayed for a transfer to the notorious US-run Abu Ghraib prison.

¶ 1:02 PM

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Iraqi Resistance Report
for events of Saturday, 12 November 2005.

Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice.

Saturday, 12 November 2005.
· Recovery of more bodies brings civilian death toll from US offensive on al-Qa’im to 97 killed.
· Fifteen American troops reported killed in Saturday morning battle with US troops in al-Karabilah village.
· At least seven US troops reported killed in Resistance ambush in ar-Ridwaniyah.
· Two US troops reported killed in roadside bombing in Baghdad Saturday morning.
· Morning bombing near at-Tarimiyah reportedly kills US soldier.
· Two US troops reported killed in Resistance ambush in al-Mushahadah.
· Two US troops reported killed in Resistance bombing north of Balad.
· Two US troops reported killed in triple Resistance bombing as Americans start major offensive in Ba‘qubah and other cities in Diyala Province Saturday evening.

Al-Anbar Province.
Al-Qa’im.

Recovery of more bodies brings civilian death toll from US offensive on al-Qa’im to 97 killed.
Iraqi rescue workers extracted 41 bodies of civilians killed in their houses during the American campaign to crush al-Qa’im that raged from the 5th through the10th of November. The new discoveries brought the total number of civilians killed in the American offensive to 97.
Dr. ‘Umar al-‘Ubaydi, the Chairman of the Ambulance Service told Mafkarat al-Islam that of the 41 bodies just recovered, 18 were those of children, 12 belonged to women, and 11 were those of men – seven of them elderly. Dr. al-‘Ubaydi said that the bodies appeared fresh, as if they had died this morning rather than five days ago.
Volunteers and people of good will were continuing, as the correspondent filed his report, to work burying the martyred dead in a cemetery specially designated for them outside al-Qa’im.
Al-Anbar Province Health Department declares al-Qa’im disaster area following “crime of occupiers.”
The General Director of the Health Department for al-Anbar Province in ar-Ramadi, the provincial capital, declared the city of al-Qa’im a disaster area. The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in ar-Ramadi reported a source in the Health Department as saying that:
“The destruction wrought on al-Qa’im requires us to declare it a disaster area, as disease and epidemic threaten the city and its children – particularly typhoid and bilharziasis – after the military operations brought the sewage systems to a halt and flooded the streets with filthy water, making an ideal environment for the spread of disease and the possibility of raising the death toll among civilians to near 100. The number of buildings and houses destroyed is 188 in addition to one hospital and other medical clinics.”
The official in the al-Anbar Health Department made use of the platform afforded by Mafkarat al-Islam to call on people to go to al-Qa’im and see for themselves the extent of “the crime committed by the occupation,” as he expressed it.

Fifteen American troops reported killed in Saturday morning battle with US troops in al-Karabilah village.
In a dispatch posted at 5:25pm Mecca time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters, “pockets” of whom are still present in the village of al-Karabilah, east of al-Qa’im, had fought a battle with US forces in the village on Saturday morning.
The Mafakrat al-Islam correspondent in al-Qa’im reported Lieutenant Colonel Kamil al-Musawi, a spokesman for the Iraqi puppet army, as saying at noon on Saturday that four US military vehicles had been destroyed in a four-hour battle between Resistance fighters and American occupation troops in al-Karabilah.
Lieutenant Colonel al-Musawi said that “pockets” of Resistance fighters, some of whom, he believed, were volunteers from other Arab regions, had been attacking the Americans over the last 48 hours, following the announcement on Thursday that the fighting in the city of al-Qa’im had come to an end. The puppet army spokesman claimed that the number of Resistance fighters was no more than 20.

The Mafkart al-Islam correspondent observed, however, that the Resistance seized control of the whole northern part of al-Karabilah village after the Americans took over the center of al-Qa’im. Eyewitnesses in al-Karabilah told Mafkarat al-Islam that at least 15 US troops were killed and others wounded in the battle there. The arrival of American medevac helicopters after the battle attested to US losses of some sort.
Meanwhile a commander of the Resistance revealed in an exclusive interview with Mafkarat al-Islam that the Resistance had lost two of its men martyred in the fighting with the Americans that began Saturday morning and went on until noon. He said that five other Resistance fighters were wounded, but that “all of them are in good condition, thanks be to God.”
US tanks bombard al-Karabilah village east of al-Qa’im.
In a bulletin posted at 5:20pm Mecca time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported from al-Qa’im that American tanks had shelled the village of al-Karabilah east of al-Qa’im a short while earlier.

The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported that no information was immediately available about the nature or extent of casualties from the American bombardment or about what kind of house the American tanks had targeted with their fire.
US soldiers kill wounded Resistance fighter in house in al-Karabilah.
In another incident in al-Karabilah, US troops stormed into a house in the village following the end of fighting in the al-Qa’im area. Inside the building the Americans found a wounded Resistance fighter and killed him instantly.
The Makfarat al-Islam correspondent reported eyewitnesses as saying that they found more than 30 bullets in and around the body of the fighter, most of them in his head.

The witnesses reported that the wounded Resistance fighter had only one pistol with him.
US launches night time offensive on al-Karabilah.
In a dispatch posted at 7:35pm Mecca time Saturday night, Mafkarat al-Islam reported from al-Qa’im that American forces were at the time of writing carrying out an extensive military operation against al-Karabilah.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported that in the course of their house-to-house raids and searches so far, US forces, backed up by helicopter gun ships and warplanes, had encountered no resistance from Iraqi Resistance fighters

Al-Hadithah.
Resistance bomb blasts joint patrol near al-Hadithah dam.
In a dispatch posted at 5pm Mecca time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb had exploded in the area of the al-Hadithah dam west of Baghdad.

The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in al-Hadithah reported that a bomb that had been planted under a paving tile on the main road to the US camp by the dam blew up as a joint American-Iraqi puppet army foot patrol was walking past. The explosion killed two Iraqi puppet soldiers and wounded three other troops, one of them an American.

Al-Fallujah.
Resistance bombards US-Iraqi puppet army base north of al-Fallujah.
In a dispatch posted at 9:55am Mecca time Saturday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces had bombarded a joint US-Iraqi puppet army military camp north of al-Fallujah, some 60km west of Baghdad.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported eyewitnesses as saying that the Resistance fired three mortar rounds into the middle of the camp, setting off explosions and sending smoke rising into the sky.

Baghdad.
At least seven US troops reported killed in Resistance ambush in ar-Ridwaniyah.
In a dispatch posted at 4:40pm Mecca time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces had attacked a US patrol on a farm road in the ar-Ridwaniyah area southwest of Baghdad.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in ar-Ridwaniyah reported local owners of farms and groves as saying that about 20 Resistance fighters armed with light and medium weapons mounted a surprise attack on a US patrol sparking a half-hour battle.
In the course of the engagement, the Resistance fighters destroyed two American Humvees, killing at least seven US troops and wounding another eight. Three Resistance fighters were wounded but withdrew with their comrades after the battle.
Two US troops reported killed in roadside bombing in Baghdad Saturday morning.
An Iraqi Resistance car bomb exploded by a joint US-Iraqi puppet army column on the main road between Baghdad’s ash-Sha‘b neighborhood and the al-A‘zamiyah district at 10:15am local time Saturday morning.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in Baghdad reported a source in the Iraqi puppet forces as saying as a joint patrol passed by, Iraqi Resistance fighters used remote control to detonate an explosives-laden car that had been parked by the side of the road.
The explosion set fire to one Humvee, and damaged an Iraqi puppet army troop transport. Two US soldiers were killed and two more of them wounded. One Iraqi puppet soldier was killed and two more of them injured in the attack.

Resistance bombards headquarters of puppet “Shock Troops” in Hur Rajab.
In a dispatch posted at 4:45pm Mecca time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces had fired three medium-range Katyusha rockets into the headquarters of the puppet “Iraqi Interior Ministry Shock Troops” in the Hur Rajab area south of Baghdad.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported residents of Hur Rajab as saying that three Katyusha rockets blasted directly into the headquarters, setting off explosion and sending plumes of smoke rising into the sky.

Resistance attacks Iraqi puppet army checkpoint in ar-Ridwaniyah southwest of Baghdad.
In a dispatch posted at 10:05am Mecca time Saturday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces had attacked a checkpoint manned by Iraqi puppet army troops in the ar-Ridwaniyah area southwest of Baghdad.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported residents of ar-Ridwaniyah as saying that Resistance fighters armed with light and medium weapons and pipe rockets attacked the checkpoint, sparking a 15-minute firefight. One Iraqi puppet army vehicle was destroyed in the clash and four Iraqi puppet soldiers killed. Five other Iraqi puppet troops were wounded in the attack.
Attack on Omani Embassy reported Friday evening.
A source in the Iraqi puppet police announced that there had been an armed attack on the Omani Embassy in Baghdad on Friday night in which four persons were woudned.
Mafkarat al-Islam reported the BBC as quoting a source as saying that armed men opened fire from a moving car on the Omani Embassy in the al-Mansur neighborhood at 6pm local time Friday evening. Two Iraqi puppet policemen and one Embassy employee were among the wounded.

Salah ad-Din Province.
At-Tarimiyah.
US soldier reported killed in morning bombing.
An Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US military column on the main road from at-Tarimiyah to ar-Rashidiyah, a northern suburb of Baghdad, Saturday morning.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported residents of at-Tarimiyah as saying that a bomb that had been planted by the side of the road blew up as a patrol of five American Humvees passed by. The explosion disabled one of the vehicles, killing one US soldier and wounding a second, the witnesses reported.

Bayji.
Resistance bomb blasts US column near Bayji.
In a dispatch posted at 3:30pm Mecca time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by an American military column on the road to the al-Jazirah area southwest of Bayji, north of Baghdad.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported a source in the Iraqi puppet police as saying that a bomb that had been planted by the side of the road blew up as a US column was passing by, damaging one American armored vehicle and wounding two US soldiers.

Al-Mushahadah.
Two US troops reported killed in Resistance ambush north of Baghdad.
In a dispatch posted at 3:15pm Mecca time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters had carried out a two-pronged attack on a joint US-Iraqi puppet army column on the main road in the al-Mushahadah area north of Baghdad.
He Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported residents of al-Mushahadah as saying that the Resistance began its attack when two bombs exploded simultaneously by the passing column, damaging two vehicles and bringing the column to a halt.
At that point the Resistance fighters opened fire with light and medium weapons and pipe rockets on the column, destroying one Iraqi puppet army troop transport and a US Humvee, killing two US troops and five Iraqi puppet soldiers and wounding two American soldiers and three Iraqi puppet troops.

Balad.
Two US troops reported killed in Resistance bombing north of Balad.
In a dispatch posted at 10:40am Mecca time Saturday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that An Iraqi Resistance bomb had exploded by a US military column on the road between Balad and ad-Dulu‘iyah north of Baghdad.
The Balad correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported a source in the Iraqi puppet police as saying that a bomb that had been planted by the side of the road to ad-Dulu‘iyah blew up by a passing column of three US Humvees and two troop transport vehicles.
The source said that the blast set fire to one troop transport, killing two US soldiers and wounding three more of them.

Babil Province.
Al-Latifiyah.
Resistance bomb blasts US patrol south of al-Latifiyah.
In a dispatch posted at 11:02am Mecca time Saturday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb had exploded by a US patrol of several Humvees south of Baghdad near the southern entrance to al-Latifiyah.
The al-Latifiyah correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported local residents who witnessed the attack as saying that a bomb that had been planted by the side of the main road blew up by a US patrol, disabling one American vehicle and killing or wounding four US troops, two of the men being seriously wounded.

Diyala Province.
Ba‘qubah.
US launches major sweep through Ba‘qubah and other major cities northeast of Baghdad, rounding up hundreds of local residents.
In a bulletin posted at 5:15pm Mecca time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported from Ba‘qubah, northeast of Baghdad that US and Iraqi puppet forces had announce the beginning of their larges military operation in Diyala Province aimed, as usual, at cracking down on the Iraqi Resistance.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in Ba‘qubah reported that the operation began in the cities of Ba‘qubah, al-Khalis, Buhriz, Bani Kan‘an, Abu Sayda, al-Yarmuk, and at-Tahrir. The correspondent in the heart of Ba‘qubah wrote that hundreds of US troops backed up by tanks, armored veicles, helicopter gun ships, and war planes and accompanied by thousands of Iraqi puppet army troops are taking part in the sweep.
The first step in the operation was for the occupation troops to close all entrances and exits of the cities they plan to raid and to seize control of the local hospitals. The Americans threatened to arrest any doctor or first aid worker who receives a wounded Resistance fighter or gives him medical assistance.

Later, in a dispatch posted at 5:45pm Mecca time Saturday evening, the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in Ba‘qubah reported that the American forces were at that moment carrying out extensive sweeps through Ba‘qubah. Numerous local residents could be seen bound and blindfolded and being loaded on American trucks.
The correspondent noted that most of those arrested by the US forces were officers in the Iraqi army prior to the American invasion of the country in spring 2003.
Quds Press reported that Iraqi puppet military units had raided the Diyala towns of Khan Bani Sa‘d and al-Miqdadiyah during the night of Friday – Saturday, arresting some 200 residents of those areas.
‘Awf Rahumi, a deputy puppet governor of Diyala said that the puppet regime troops were rounding up people solely on the basis of their religious identity. Quds Press quoted Rahumi as describing the sweep as being an attempt to eliminate the Sunnis from the area prior to the US-sponsored “election” slated for December. Rahumi, a member of the Islamic Party, a Sunni organization that cooperates with US occupation forces, said that the sweep is only targeting Sunni Arabs. He said that among those arrested were members of the regional puppet council of Ba‘qubah, all of them Sunni. Also arrested, Rahumi said, was an official in the Islamic Party in Khan Bani Sa‘d.
In a bulletin posted at 9:55pm Mecca time Saturday night, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a source in the puppet “Provincial Council” in Ba‘qubah had said that US troops had already rounded up and arrested 412 local residents in their sweep, which was still under way.

The correspondent reported that among the prisoners, all of whom are Sunni, are several disabled persons and youths no older than 15.
Resistance attacks US column in Kharnabat area Saturday evening.
In a bulletin posted at 6:35pm Mecca time Saturday evening, the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in Ba‘qubah reported that a short while earlier Iraqi Resistance forces had attacked a US column in the nearby Kharnabat area.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported eyewitnesses coming from the area as saying that more than 10 Resistance fighters attacked a US column in Kharnabat, setting fire to one of the American vehicles. Although the witnesses had no precise information on the nature or extent of US casualties, they noted that American and Iraqi puppet army forces were at that moment surrounding the area where the attack had occurred.
Resistance bombards US base east of Ba‘qubah Saturday evening.
In a dispatch posted at 7:30pm Mecca time Saturday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces had carried out a rocket attack on a US base east of Ba‘qubah.
The Ba‘qubah correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that thick smoke was rising over the base following the barrage, but no details about the nature or extent of US casualties inside the base were available.

Witnesses who live near the US base told the correspondent that they heard several explosions following the landing of the rockets in the base. They also confirmed that American helicopters had landed there directly after the attack, in a sign that the barrage had inflicted casualties.

Abu Sayda.
Two US troops reported killed in triple Resistance bombing as Americans start offensive.
In a bulletin posted at 6pm Mecca time Saturday evening, the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in al-Mundhiriyah, near the Iranian frontier, reported that a short while earlier three Iraqi Resistance bombs had exploded by a US military column that was entering the town of Abu Sayda to carry out their campaign aimed at the Resistance in Diyala Province.
Residents of the town told the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent by telephone that the explosions had disabled two US Humvees and killed two US troops and wounded another five, some slightly, others moderately.

Ninwa Province.
Mosul.
Resistance attacks puppet army checkpoint in Mosul.
In a dispatch posted at 10:15am Mecca time Saturday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters had attacked an Iraqi puppet army patrol in the al-Karamah neighborhood of southern Mosul.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in Mosul reported residents of al-Karamah who witnessed the attack as saying that Resistance fighters armed wit light and medium weapons attacked the patrol. One Iraqi puppet army vehicle was burned in the attack and two Iraqi puppet troops killed and two more wounded. The Resistance fighters withdrew from the area after the attack.

At-Ta’mim Province.
Tuz Khurmatu.
Resistance bomb blasts joint US-Iraqi puppet patrol.
In a dispatch posted at 11:25am Mecca time Saturday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb had exploded by a joint US-Iraqi puppet army patrol near the Tuz Khurmatu aera.
The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported a source in the puppet “Iraqi Rapid Deployment Force” in Kirkuk as saying hat a bomb that had been planted near the entrance to Tuz Khurmatu blew up, killing one Iraqi puppet soldier and wounding three more soldiers, one of them an American.

Sources:
http://www.albasrah.net/
http://www.qudspress.com/data/aspx/d37/15687.aspx
http://www.qudspress.com/
http://www.islammemo.cc/
http://www.freearabvoice.org
http://www.albasrah.net/moqawama/english/iraqi_resistance.htm

¶ 10:18 AM

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Thursday, 3 November 2005. Iraq celebrates Eid al-Fitr.

· Two US troops reported killed in bombing northeast of ar-Ramadi.

· Two US troops reported killed in Resistance ambush near al-Fallujah.

· Iraqi Resistance destroys puppet army patrol of 30 soldiers, seizes four Nissan pickups, other equipment in early morning battle south of al-Fallujah.

· US soldier reported killed in attack near ad-Dulu‘iyah.

Al-Anbar Province.

Ar-Ramadi.

Two US troops reported killed in bombing northeast of ar-Ramadi.
In a dispatch posted at 4:30pm Mecca time Thursday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb had exploded by a US patrol in the as-Sajariyah area northeast of ar-Ramadi, some 110km west of Baghdad.

The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported residents of ar-Ramadi as saying that a bomb that had been planted by the side of a farm road at the entrance to the as-Sajariyah area blew up as a US patrol passed by on a mission to raid one of the houses in the village. The blast destroyed one Humvee, killing two US soldiers and wounding two more American troops.

Al-Qa’im.
Resistance ambushes US patrol near al-Karabilah early Thursday morning.

Iraqi Resistance forces mounted a violent attack on a US patrol in the area between the town of al-Karabilah and the town of ar-Rummanah, both near al-Qa’im on the border with Syria in western Iraq at 6am local time Thursday morning.

The local Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported residents of al-Karabilah as saying that the attack began when Resistance fighters armed with medium weapons attacked the Americans. Later they opened up on them with mortars, destroying one Humvee.

One US armored vehicle was set ablaze in the attack as well, but the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent had no direct information on the nature or extent of US casualties after American forces closed the roads leading to the area where the attack took place.

Al-Fallujah.
Resistance bomb blasts Iraqi puppet army foot patrol midday Thursday.

An Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by an Iraqi puppet army foot patrol in the Nazal neighborhood of southern al-Fallujah, some 60km west of Baghdad, at 1pm local time Thursday.

The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported residents of al-Fallujah who witnessed the attack as saying that a bomb that had been planed under a pile of garbage on a side street in Nazal blew up as the Iraqi puppet army patrol was walking past. The blast killed one Iraqi puppet army soldier and wounded three others, one of them seriously.

Two US troops reported killed in Resistance ambush in as-Saqlawiyah.

In a dispatch posted at 1:10pm Mecca time Thursday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces armed with PKS machine guns and RPG7 rocket-propelled grenades had attacked a US patrol in the as-Saqlawiyah area on the highway to western Iraq.

The local correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported residents of as-Saqlawiyah, northeast of al-Fallujah, as saying that the Resistance fighters attacked a patrol of two American armored vehicles and two US Humvees, setting one of the armored vehicles on fire and killing two US soldiers and wounding two more.

The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported that three Resistance fighters were wounded in the engagement but withdrew with their comrades after the battle.

Iraqi Resistance destroys puppet army patrol of 30 soldiers, seizes four Nissan pickups, other equipment in early morning battle south of al-Fallujah.

Iraqi Resistance fighters ambushed a force of Iraqi puppet regime troops in the al-‘Anqur area on the main road to ‘Amiriyat al-Fallujah, just south of the city of al-Fallujah itself, at 6am local time Thursday morning.

The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported that after combat that lasted until 8am local time, the Resistance fighters won and seized everything that the puppet army troops had with them – including four Nissan pickups. There were about 30 puppet army men in the patrol.

After the battle another force of US and puppet troops showed up to search for the first patrol. Witnesses told Mafkarat al-Islam that the bodies of the 12 dead had been thrown into a little river that runs by the village of al-‘Anqur. The US and Iraqi puppet army troops then began a search for the rest of the bodies.

Babil Province.
Al-Latifiyah.
Resistance bomb blasts US fuel convoy south of Baghdad late Thursday morning.

An Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a convoy of tankers hauling fuel to US forces on the road between al-Latifiyah and Baghdad in the north at 11am local time Thursday morning.

The Mafakrat al-Islam correspondent in the area reported residents of al-Latifiyah who witnessed the bombing as saying that an explosive device that had been planted by the side of the road blew up as a convoy of US fuel trucks and four Humvees passed by.

The explosion completely burned up one of the tankers, killing one driver and wounding a second – both of whom were working for the US occupation forces.

Al-Iskandariyah.
Shi‘i sectarian Badr Brigades blamed for sectarian shooting at Sunni mosque in which seven worshippers died Thursday morning.

Shi‘i sectarian Badr Brigade gunmen, loyal to the US occupation of Iraq attacked a Sunni mosque in the town of al-Iskandariyah, south of Baghdad on Thursday, the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Fitr celebrations marking the end of Ramadan.

Dr Mahmud Farhan told the local Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent that the Badr Brigade attack took place following the Eid Prayers mid-morning Thursday. The attack left seven worshippers dead and five others wounded by the door of the mosque.

Eyewitnesses told Mafkarat al-Islam that cars belonging to the puppet regime’s “Interior Ministry al-Husayn Brigades” brought the gunmen wearing official uniforms. They got out of the cars and opened fire at the worshippers killing seven and wounding five. The witnesses said that they had seen the attackers more than once strolling around the mosque area in the past.

The Imam of the mosque accused the pro-American Shi‘i sectarian Badr Brigades of being behind the killing. Since the US invasion of Iraq in the spring of 2003 the Badr Brigdes, who took part in the US attack together with American troops, have formed the backbone of the American-installed “security services” in occupied Iraq, including those of the puppet “Ministry of the Interior.”

Salah ad-Din Province.
Ad-Dulu‘iyah.
US soldier reported killed in attack near ad-Dulu‘iyah.

In a dispatch posted at 5:15pm Mecca time Thursday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters attacked a joint US-Iraqi puppet army patrol near the area of ‘Arab Jabbur in ad-Dulu‘iyah on the road to Samarra’ in the northwest.

The local Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported residents of ad-Dulu‘iyah who witnessed the attack as saying that Resistance fighters armed with light and medium weapons, including PKC machine guns and RPG7 rocket-propelled grenades, attacked the patrol, sparking a 15-minute firefight.

One US soldier and two Iraqi puppet troops were killed and one American soldier was wounded in the engagement.

At-Tarimiyah.
Resistance bombards joint US-Iraqi puppet army headquarters mid-morning Thursday.

Iraqi Resistance forces bombarded a joint US-Iraqi puppet army headquarters in at-Tarimiyah, just north of Baghdad, at 10am local time Thursday morning.

The local Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported residents of at-Tarimiyah who witnessed the attack as saying that five mortar rounds blasted directly into the headquarters from two different directions setting off explosions and sending pillars of smoke rising into the sky.

Ninwa Province.
Mosul.
Iraqi Resistance fighters ambush puppet “Interior Ministry Shock Troops” west of Mosul.

In a dispatch posted at 5:30pm Mecca time Thursday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters had attacked a patrol of puppet “Iraqi Interior Ministry Shock Troops” on the road between the northern Iraqi cities of Mosul and Tall ‘Afar some 55km to the west.

The Mosul correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported a source in the Iraqi puppet police as saying that Resistance fighters armed with light and medium weapons attacked a puppet “shock troop” patrol on the road to Tall ‘Afar, setting one GMC vehicle in the column on fire and killing one “shock troop” soldier, and seriously wounding three others. The Resistance fighters then withdrew from the area.

Sources:
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=88078
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=88077
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=88075
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=88073
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=88070
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=88068
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=88059
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=88056
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=88055
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=88054
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=88053
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=88050
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=88048
http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=88046
http://www.freearabvoice.org
http://www.albasrah.net/moqawama/english/iraqi_resistance.htm

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