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U.S. jets bomb terrorist training camp in northern Iraq: military
U.S. jets bombed what the military called ''a terrorist training camp'' in central Iraq on Thursday, while ground forces pressed forward with a massive sweep north of Baghdad aimed at finding militants organizing attacks on occupation forces. U.S. planes attacked the site 95 miles north of Baghdad at about 1:45 a.m., U.S. Central Command said. A firefight then broke out, and one coalition soldier was slightly injured. It did specify the location of the camp, or say if there were Iraqi casualties. Meanwhile, a combined sweep, dubbed ''Operation Peninsula Strike,'' continued for a third day, sending thousands of American troops through an area near the Tigris River town of Duluiyah, 45 miles north of Baghdad, U.S. Central Command spokesman Lt. Ryan Fitzgerald said. Ground troops were backed up by fighter jets, attack helicopters and unmanned aerial drones. About 400 people were detained. Fitzgerald said he had no information on the capture of wanted Baathists from the list of top 55 fugitives, which includes Saddam Hussein and his two sons. He said interrogators armed with intelligence on particular suspects were still questioning those captured. Prisoners deemed not hostile will be released. Interrogators are ''working with information that has directed the finger toward these suspects,'' Fitzgerald said. ''If we believe they're dangerous and will cause problems for the Iraqi people or coalition forces, we'll keep them for further information.'' No Americans have been killed in the operation, Fitzgerald said. He could not confirm reports of deaths among the Iraqis. The region north and west of Baghdad is part of the so-called Sunni Triangle, the heartland of support for Saddam's now banned Baath Party. In Habaniyah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, a top U.S. commander said his men had made significant progress in restoring security. ''There are three elements we are having to deal with: first, armed bandits; second, former Baath Party officials are paying people to attack us; and then the Fedayeen,'' said Maj. Gen. Buford Blount III, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division. The Fedayeen were a paramilitary force set up by Saddam's regime. U.S. intelligence has made progress in figuring out which groups are responsible for which attacks and U.S. troops are working to dismantle them, Blount said. The leader of an Iraqi exile group opposed to Saddam's regime said in New York on Tuesday that the ousted leader was seen north of Baghdad as recently as three weeks ago. Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress, also claimed Saddam was paying a bounty for every American soldier killed, using $1.3 billion in cash stolen from the Central Bank on March 18. In Washington, Pentagon officials said Tuesday they had no information that Saddam was alive or offering bounties for killing U.S. troops. However, anecdotal evidence such as large amounts of cash seized during arrests of militants suggests that someone is paying them, said Sgt. Brian Thomas, a U.S. Army spokesman in Baghdad. Fighters who have attacked U.S. forces have used effective guerrilla tactics and coordinated their raids with signaling devices, including flares. Duluiyah, largely untouched during the war, is said to be a likely place of refuge for Saddam loyalists. In the first stage of the raids, soldiers moved into attack and reconnaissance positions while seeking help from local police, Central Command said. The troops then began air, land and river raids to block escape routes. By Wednesday, 397 suspects were in custody near the town of Balad, 37 miles north of Baghdad, and a large number of arms and ammunition had been seized, the U.S. military said. A curfew was imposed from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Posted by: Frank G 2003-06-12 |
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