U.S.-led forces stormed Samarra Friday and said nearly 100 guerrillas were killed in air strikes and street-to-street combat during a major new American offensive to wrest control of the Iraqi town. Doctors at Samarra's hospital said 47 bodies were brought in, including 11 women, five children and seven elderly men. They said ambulances could not reach many wounded as fighting, which lasted throughout the night, was still going on. A spokesman for the U.S. 1st Infantry Division said an estimated 94 insurgents were killed. He said a U.S soldier was killed during the offensive and four wounded. The U.S. military said Iraqi commandos had taken over Samarra's Golden Mosque and seized 25 rebels inside. Iraqi troops also secured the town's renowned spiral minaret. The Interior Ministry in Baghdad said that by midday (0900 GMT) Iraqi police were in control of the center of Samarra and most surrounding areas after a joint U.S. and Iraqi operation to "remove the terrorists who have been holding the town hostage." The U.S. military says it will retake guerrilla strongholds such as Samarra, the western cities of Falluja and Ramadi and the Baghdad districts of Sadr City and Haifa Street by the end of the year so elections can go ahead in January as planned. Before dawn, troops backed by tanks pushed through the streets as guerrillas unleashed mortar attacks and fired rocket-propelled grenades and rifles from the rooftops. Sporadic fighting was still being heard in the early afternoon and electricity and water were cut off in the town of more than 100,000 people, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad.
HOSTAGE RESCUED
A Turkish worker kidnapped by guerrillas had been rescued during the Samarra offensive, the U.S. military said. Dozens of foreigners are being held hostage in Iraq. A Frenchman who says he is trying to mediate for two French journalists said he was with the pair Friday and hoping to negotiate their release.
The Samarra assault began shortly after midnight with air strikes and artillery barrages pounding the mainly Sunni Muslim town, which had been a no-go zone for U.S. forces for months. The U.S. military said troops destroyed several mortar sites, rocket-propelled grenade teams and guerrilla vehicles. Overnight, guerrillas were seen unloading weapons and ammunition from two speedboats on the Tigris River in the town, the military said. Troops opened fire and destroyed the boats. "In response to repeated and unprovoked attacks by anti-Iraqi forces, Iraqi security forces and multi-national forces secured the government and police buildings in Samarra early in the morning of October 1," the U.S. military said. The military said the Samarra raid was "to facilitate orderly government processes, kill or capture anti-Iraqi forces, and set the conditions to proceed with infrastructure and quality of life improvements for the people of Samarra." A U.S. helicopter took small arms fire during the operation but made a safe landing, the 1st Infantry Division said. U.S. forces had stayed out of the city for three months, as rebels tightened their grip. The Americans moved in briefly earlier this month to try to re-establish the local government, but much of the town remained in rebel hands.
The Samarra offensive came after a day of bloodshed in Baghdad, where three car bombs were detonated near a U.S. military convoy Thursday, killing 41 people, 34 of them children rushing to collect sweets from American troops. An Internet statement claimed responsibility in the name of the Tawhid and Jihad group of Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, which beheaded two American hostages last week. The group is also threatening to kill a third captive, Briton Kenneth Bigley.
Iraq dominated Thursday's first U.S. presidential debate between President Bush and Democratic challenger Senator John Kerry. Bush insists progress is being made toward democracy in Iraq, Kerry said it was "chaos." Iraq's government has insisted that elections will go ahead as planned in January. But unless some areas are excluded, U.S. and Iraqi forces will need to re-establish control over areas held by guerrillas, and that could mean fierce fighting.
For once, I agree with Al Reuters' editorial content; though, once again, its insertion into an ostensibly objective news story is yet more evidence of the light regard the editors have for the target audience of Euro-sheep.