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| Iraq-Jordan |
| 30 killed in Baghdad attacks |
| 2004-12-04 |
| In the deadliest insurgent violence in weeks, militants stormed two police stations and a mosque in Baghdad yesterday, killing 30 people. In the northern city of Mosul, 11 militants died in street battles with American and Iraqi forces. Roadside bombs in Baghdad and Kirkuk killed two American soldiers and wounded five others, the military said. The surge in violence indicates militants still can stage attacks at will despite a US-led military campaign to quell the insurgency before Jan. 30 elections. Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group, Al Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility for a raid on a Baghdad police station and other attacks. ''The destructive effect that such operations have on the morale of the enemy . . . is clear," said the claim, which could not be independently verified. It was posted on an Islamic website. US commanders and Iraq's interim authorities hope to boost security in the mainly Sunni Muslim areas of central and northern Iraq before the elections. Sunni politicians have urged them to postpone balloting because of escalating violence. The visiting NATO commander expressed surprise yesterday that Iraq's insurgency had proven so resilient by comparison with Afghanistan, where he said security has improved significantly. ''At the beginning I would have projected the opposite, with Iraq coming along faster," said US General James Jones, the supreme allied commander in Europe. The attacks in Baghdad began just before 6 a.m. when 11 carloads of gunmen attacked the police station in the western Amil district with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. Insurgents killed 16 policemen, looted weapons, torched cars, and freed about 35 detainees before escaping, police Captain Mohammed al-Jumeili said. Later, in the Sunni stronghold of Azamiyah, a car bomb exploded at a Shi'ite mosque called Hameed al-Najar, killing 14 people and wounding 19, hospital officials said. Azamiyah was a center of Sunni support for Saddam Hussein, and the attack on the mosque may have been a bid by Sunnis to stoke sectarian strife there. However, the imam of the nearby Sunni Abu Hanifa mosque quickly condemned the attack. ''Iraqi resistance has nothing to do with bombing mosques and churches and killing innocent people in markets and streets," Sheik Ahmed Hassan Al-Taha said in a sermon. ''The resistance [exists] to defend the country and liberate it." Soon after, insurgents and Iraqi government forces fought for about two hours around an Azamiyah police station, officers said. There were no reports of casualties. American and Iraqi forces also clashed yesterday with insurgents in Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hastings said. The fighting started when guerrillas fired several mortar rounds at an American base; no casualties were reported. Major General Rashid Feleih, head of the Iraqi commando force, said gunmen also attacked three Mosul police stations. The defenders returned fire, killing 11 attackers and capturing three others. Another Iraqi official said two civilians also died. Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, saw a major uprising last month that forced the US command and the interim government to divert troops from an offensive in Fallujah. On Thursday, Iraqi and US forces discovered 14 bodies in Mosul, and there were reports five more bodies were picked up by relatives. That brought to at least 66 the number of bodies -- many of them believed to be members of the Iraqi security forces or supporters of the interim government -- found there since Nov. 18. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Later, in the Sunni stronghold of Azamiyah, a car bomb exploded at a Shi’ite mosque called Hameed al-Najar, killing 14 people and wounding 19, hospital officials said. .....However, the imam of the nearby Sunni Abu Hanifa mosque quickly condemned the attack. ’’Iraqi resistance has nothing to do with bombing mosques and churches and killing innocent people in markets and streets," Sheik Ahmed Hassan Al-Taha said in a sermon. ’’The resistance [exists] to defend the country and liberate it." Yes, of course! Sunni's are great neighbors, what was I thinking! |
| Posted by: Jeamp Ebbereting9442 2004-12-04 5:51:48 PM |