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Zarqawi in control of a new pocket stretching between Haditha and Qaim
Despite repeated offensives US troops still do not control of parts of northwestern Iraq and militants all but govern some towns, dispensing summary justice with public executions, residents say.âThere are no US forces, no Iraqi army or police,â said an Iraqi reporter who works for Reuters in the region. He visited the town of Haditha some days after a US operation this month and did not want to be named for fear of reprisals. âThree days ago, three people were executed on Haqlaniya bridge after being accused of spies,â he said, citing residents of Haditha with whom he keeps in contact and referring to a bridge that connects the town with another across a river. The Euphrates Valley area, a conduit for small numbers of foreign radicals entering Iraq from Syria, is effectively closed to outside observers by threats of violence and local journalists also work in fear of intimidation and worse. However, a reporter for Reuters and other Iraqi correspondents in Anbar province, which covers much of western Iraq, provided accounts similar to a detailed report on conditions in Haditha in Britainâs Guardian newspaper yesterday by a journalist who spent time there. The US military, which has conducted several offensives against insurgents near Haditha, most recently Operation Quick Strike which ended on Augsut 10, said it was working with Iraqi security forces to try to bring stability to whole of Anbar. âAs the number of Iraqi army forces continues to grow, operations where we enter a city and assist them in establishing a permanent presence will be the norm versus the exception,â said Captain Jeffrey Pool of the US Marines, mentioning the success of such an operation in the town of Hit. He did not refer directly to the situation in Haditha or Qaim. Local people said substantial parts of a 120-km stretch between the towns of Haditha and Qaim on the Euphrates are now run by fighters loyal to Jordanian Al Qaeda figure Abu Musab Al Zarqawi and other groups fighting US forces. In Haditha, a town of about 90,000, and Qaim, a smaller town close to the Syrian border, forms of Islamic court have been set up and guerrillas mete out punishments such as execution or beating with cables, residents said. âSome people who are brought here we treat for torture wounds,â said a doctor at Hadithaâs hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals. Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-08-23 |
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