Uncle Sam
04-24-2004, 06:20 PM
http://news.independent.co.uk
Two sailors were killed during three suicide boat raids in the waters south of Basra.
A boat was intercepted by coalition forces, but it exploded as they boarded, killing two of the coalition members and injuring at least four others, according to *******.
In one of the worst incidents, at least 13 Iraqis were killed and 30 wounded when mortar bombs struck a busy market in the Shia slum of Sadr City, in Baghdad.
The bombardment of the chicken market, which is close to no obvious military target, may be an effort by the insurgents to keep the political temperature high.
Violent incidents are now so frequent in Iraq that many go unreported.
"We were standing talking when two rockets landed," said a witness, Bassam Abdul Rahim. "The second hit a gas cylinder and the explosion was huge. There was blood and bodies everywhere."
North of Baghdad at the US base at Taji, four US soldiers were killed and six wounded early yesterday morning by two 57mm rockets, an American military spokesman said. Three of the wounded were in a critical condition and three were listed as serious.
More than a 100 US soldiers have been killed in April so far, making it the worst month for casualties since George Bush invaded Iraq last year; at least 900 soldiers have been wounded in action since the beginning of the month, three times the number in March.
Although there was little fighting around Fallujah and Najaf, the two Iraqi cities the US is threatening to storm, there is still an exceptionally high level of violence throughout Iraq. One man died and three sisters were badly burned in Sadr City when US troops opened fire. Several cars and houses caught fire.
Four Iraqis * two civilians and two policemen * were also killed yesterday by a car bomb near Tikrit. On Friday, a US soldier was killed by a roadside bomb and a Bulgarian soldier was killed as his convoy was ambushed in Karbala and at least one vehicle was set ablaze. Polish troops said they killed five gunmen who attacked them in Karbala.
The one breakthrough in identifying who is behind at least some of the violence came in Basra where police arrested five men suspected of involvement in the suicide bombings that killed 73 people, including 16 children, last week. The men led the police to a safe house where 20 tons of explosives * TNT, rockets, mortar and artillery shells * were discovered.
Five vehicles, driven by the suicide bombers, were used in the attacks on three police stations in Basra and a police academy in nearby Zubair. Two more vehicles packed with explosives were found before they could be used.
It was the Iraqis arrested with these vehicles who provided information about where other explosives were stored. A truck carrying 3.5 tons of TNT was stopped and another house was raided where a ton of explosives was stored.
The five men arrested have reportedly said they were working with a Syrian, connected to al-Qa'ida, who had been travelling between Iraq and Kuwait.
Overall the suicide attacks in Basra are similar to those in the rest of the country. The organisation, safe houses, intelligence and explosives are provided by Iraqis while evidence of foreign involvement is limited. The attackers pay no regard to Iraqi casualties, evidently calculating that popular anger will be directed against the US-led coalition for failing to provide security for ordinary Iraqis.
The US appears to have decided not to attack Karbala, where Muqtada al-Sadr has sought refuge. US commanders are making clear that they intend to attack Fallujah, where there has been a ceasefire for two weeks, if guerrillas do not hand over their heavy weapons. So far they have received only a truck- load of ageing rockets, mortar shells and a machine gun.
If the US Marines do storm Fallujah, this will further fuel a backlash against the coalition in the rest of Iraq. On the other hand the generals would like a stand-up fight with the guerrillas in which the US can crush them using overwhelming fire-power.
Two sailors were killed during three suicide boat raids in the waters south of Basra.
A boat was intercepted by coalition forces, but it exploded as they boarded, killing two of the coalition members and injuring at least four others, according to *******.
In one of the worst incidents, at least 13 Iraqis were killed and 30 wounded when mortar bombs struck a busy market in the Shia slum of Sadr City, in Baghdad.
The bombardment of the chicken market, which is close to no obvious military target, may be an effort by the insurgents to keep the political temperature high.
Violent incidents are now so frequent in Iraq that many go unreported.
"We were standing talking when two rockets landed," said a witness, Bassam Abdul Rahim. "The second hit a gas cylinder and the explosion was huge. There was blood and bodies everywhere."
North of Baghdad at the US base at Taji, four US soldiers were killed and six wounded early yesterday morning by two 57mm rockets, an American military spokesman said. Three of the wounded were in a critical condition and three were listed as serious.
More than a 100 US soldiers have been killed in April so far, making it the worst month for casualties since George Bush invaded Iraq last year; at least 900 soldiers have been wounded in action since the beginning of the month, three times the number in March.
Although there was little fighting around Fallujah and Najaf, the two Iraqi cities the US is threatening to storm, there is still an exceptionally high level of violence throughout Iraq. One man died and three sisters were badly burned in Sadr City when US troops opened fire. Several cars and houses caught fire.
Four Iraqis * two civilians and two policemen * were also killed yesterday by a car bomb near Tikrit. On Friday, a US soldier was killed by a roadside bomb and a Bulgarian soldier was killed as his convoy was ambushed in Karbala and at least one vehicle was set ablaze. Polish troops said they killed five gunmen who attacked them in Karbala.
The one breakthrough in identifying who is behind at least some of the violence came in Basra where police arrested five men suspected of involvement in the suicide bombings that killed 73 people, including 16 children, last week. The men led the police to a safe house where 20 tons of explosives * TNT, rockets, mortar and artillery shells * were discovered.
Five vehicles, driven by the suicide bombers, were used in the attacks on three police stations in Basra and a police academy in nearby Zubair. Two more vehicles packed with explosives were found before they could be used.
It was the Iraqis arrested with these vehicles who provided information about where other explosives were stored. A truck carrying 3.5 tons of TNT was stopped and another house was raided where a ton of explosives was stored.
The five men arrested have reportedly said they were working with a Syrian, connected to al-Qa'ida, who had been travelling between Iraq and Kuwait.
Overall the suicide attacks in Basra are similar to those in the rest of the country. The organisation, safe houses, intelligence and explosives are provided by Iraqis while evidence of foreign involvement is limited. The attackers pay no regard to Iraqi casualties, evidently calculating that popular anger will be directed against the US-led coalition for failing to provide security for ordinary Iraqis.
The US appears to have decided not to attack Karbala, where Muqtada al-Sadr has sought refuge. US commanders are making clear that they intend to attack Fallujah, where there has been a ceasefire for two weeks, if guerrillas do not hand over their heavy weapons. So far they have received only a truck- load of ageing rockets, mortar shells and a machine gun.
If the US Marines do storm Fallujah, this will further fuel a backlash against the coalition in the rest of Iraq. On the other hand the generals would like a stand-up fight with the guerrillas in which the US can crush them using overwhelming fire-power.