Troops find 'hostage slaughterhouses' in Falluja
Coalition forces seize 70 percent of city
FALLUJA, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi troops retaking the city of Falluja have found hostage "slaughterhouses" where people were held captive and beheaded, an Iraqi military official said Wednesday.
Maj. Gen. Abdul Qader Mohammed Jassem Mohan, commander of Iraqi forces in the battle, said his soldiers found CDs that show beheadings and black clothes worn by kidnappers when seen on television.
"We have found hostage slaughterhouses in Falluja that were used by these people (kidnappers) and the black clothing that they used to wear to identify themselves, hundreds of CDs and whole records with names of hostages," The AP quoted the general as saying.
He was unsure if the hostage records included the names of missing British aid worker Margaret Hassan or missing French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot.
The combined U.S. and Iraqi forces have taken control of about 70 percent of the city so far, including key buildings in the heart of the city, military officials said Wednesday.
Troops had expected to encounter heavy resistance in their push to clear the city of insurgents before elections in January. So far, however, fighting has been light.
Troops have seized the mayor's office, as well as several mosques and bridges, military officials said.
An estimated 10,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines, along with about 2,000 troops from Iraq's new army, have been running into small pockets of fighters as they fight their way through the city.
The offensive launched Sunday is dubbed Operation New Dawn and targets an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 insurgents. (Gallery)
Eleven U.S. troops and two Iraqis have been killed since fighting began, officials say. Nine Iraqi soldiers and an unknown number of Ministry of Interior personnel have been injured.
Iraqi forces have "already acquitted themselves well," searching some of the city's 77 mosques, where they have found "lots of munitions and weapons," said Lt. Col. Pete Newell with Task Force 2-2 of the Army's 1st Infantry Division.
Newell said his unit has killed or wounded 85 to 90 insurgents. Only a few have been captured.
Insurgent-reinforced strongholds in and around the city have been destroyed, including defensive positions on the outskirts of the city. Combat units report finding several weapons and explosives caches, along with car bombs and improvised explosive devices.
Military officials said two mosques have been searched because weapons were believed to be hidden there. In an effort to preserve the cultural sensitivity of mosques, only Iraqi forces are sent inside. But U.S. military policy is that, when mosques are used as firing positions, their sanctity is forfeited.
"Today, we saw again the terrorists' practice of abusing public buildings and religious sites to carry out their attacks against Iraqi and multinational forces," said Thair al-Nakib, spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
Falluja's Khilafa al-Rashid mosque was being used as a base for military operations, he said. After small arms fire failed to defeat the group, precision airstrikes were used to secure the area.
"The government will take every step possible to protect the mosques during any military confrontation, but will use the force necessary to evict terrorists from them in order to protect the security forces and civilians," al-Nakib said. Reconstructing the mosques will begin after security returns to the city, he said.
"Several groups have approached the government in the last 24 hours to indicate their willingness to cooperate and to surrender to government authority," said al-Nakib. "The government is willing to offer these groups amnesty, provided that they have not committed major crimes. Discussions will be held later today in order to explore whether this can bring about an early end to the fighting."
Falluja is considered an insurgent command-and-control center for the rest of the country and a base for Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror network. (Falluja map)
The city was sealed off Sunday, and many insurgents could have slipped out before then, Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz said. As for al-Zarqawi, Metz said, "I think it would be fair to assume that he has left."
CNN's Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf, embedded with Army Task Force 2-2, described the urban geography as "very dense."
Arraf said American troops with heavy armor were pushing toward the eastern edge of the city, clearing the way for the Marines.
Allawi has called for insurgents to lay down their weapons. He also ordered a curfew in Baghdad to start at 10:30 p.m. and end at 4 a.m. (2:30 p.m.-8 p.m. ET). The curfew is the first in the capital since October 2003 and has been imposed indefinitely.
This is the third attempt this year to subdue Falluja. Earlier operations in the city -- by U.S. forces and by a short-lived Iraqi force called the Falluja Brigade -- failed to quell the insurgents.
Allawi relatives kidnapped
At least two members of Allawi's extended family were abducted at gunpoint from their home in Baghdad, amid conflicting reports from government officials and sources close to the family.
A group called Ansar al-Jihad claimed responsibility for the kidnapping on a Web site, saying there were three hostages. The group demanded the release of all Iraqi prisoners and an end to the attacks on Falluja within 48 hours or the hostages will be beheaded. Ansar al-Jihad has claimed responsibility for attacks before, but this is its first claim for a kidnapping.
The prime minister's office Wednesday said it was aware of the abduction of two family members -- Allawi's cousin, Ghazy Allawi, 75, and his cousin's daughter-in-law. The office said Ghazy Allawi has no political interest and did not work for any governmental facility. (Full story)
Other developments
Insurgents attacked an Iraqi police station Tuesday night in Karbala, about 50 miles south of Baghdad, using mortars, car bombs and machine guns. A policeman was killed and five others were injured, according to multinational forces.
A U.S. soldier was killed and another injured early Wednesday as an Army 1st Infantry patrol was hit by a roadside bomb near Balad, north of Baghdad, a military statement said. The wounded soldier is listed in stable condition.
In Washington, President Bush visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Hospital on Tuesday and told reporters he wished U.S. troops "all the best and Godspeed" as they moved against the insurgents. (Full story)
From CNN producers Kianne Sadeq, Kevin Flower, Ayman Mohyeldin and Caroline Faraj and Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf, embedded with the U.S. Army
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/10/iraq.main/index.html
Coalition forces seize 70 percent of city
FALLUJA, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi troops retaking the city of Falluja have found hostage "slaughterhouses" where people were held captive and beheaded, an Iraqi military official said Wednesday.
Maj. Gen. Abdul Qader Mohammed Jassem Mohan, commander of Iraqi forces in the battle, said his soldiers found CDs that show beheadings and black clothes worn by kidnappers when seen on television.
"We have found hostage slaughterhouses in Falluja that were used by these people (kidnappers) and the black clothing that they used to wear to identify themselves, hundreds of CDs and whole records with names of hostages," The AP quoted the general as saying.
He was unsure if the hostage records included the names of missing British aid worker Margaret Hassan or missing French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot.
The combined U.S. and Iraqi forces have taken control of about 70 percent of the city so far, including key buildings in the heart of the city, military officials said Wednesday.
Troops had expected to encounter heavy resistance in their push to clear the city of insurgents before elections in January. So far, however, fighting has been light.
Troops have seized the mayor's office, as well as several mosques and bridges, military officials said.
An estimated 10,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines, along with about 2,000 troops from Iraq's new army, have been running into small pockets of fighters as they fight their way through the city.
The offensive launched Sunday is dubbed Operation New Dawn and targets an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 insurgents. (Gallery)
Eleven U.S. troops and two Iraqis have been killed since fighting began, officials say. Nine Iraqi soldiers and an unknown number of Ministry of Interior personnel have been injured.
Iraqi forces have "already acquitted themselves well," searching some of the city's 77 mosques, where they have found "lots of munitions and weapons," said Lt. Col. Pete Newell with Task Force 2-2 of the Army's 1st Infantry Division.
Newell said his unit has killed or wounded 85 to 90 insurgents. Only a few have been captured.
Insurgent-reinforced strongholds in and around the city have been destroyed, including defensive positions on the outskirts of the city. Combat units report finding several weapons and explosives caches, along with car bombs and improvised explosive devices.
Military officials said two mosques have been searched because weapons were believed to be hidden there. In an effort to preserve the cultural sensitivity of mosques, only Iraqi forces are sent inside. But U.S. military policy is that, when mosques are used as firing positions, their sanctity is forfeited.
"Today, we saw again the terrorists' practice of abusing public buildings and religious sites to carry out their attacks against Iraqi and multinational forces," said Thair al-Nakib, spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
Falluja's Khilafa al-Rashid mosque was being used as a base for military operations, he said. After small arms fire failed to defeat the group, precision airstrikes were used to secure the area.
"The government will take every step possible to protect the mosques during any military confrontation, but will use the force necessary to evict terrorists from them in order to protect the security forces and civilians," al-Nakib said. Reconstructing the mosques will begin after security returns to the city, he said.
"Several groups have approached the government in the last 24 hours to indicate their willingness to cooperate and to surrender to government authority," said al-Nakib. "The government is willing to offer these groups amnesty, provided that they have not committed major crimes. Discussions will be held later today in order to explore whether this can bring about an early end to the fighting."
Falluja is considered an insurgent command-and-control center for the rest of the country and a base for Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terror network. (Falluja map)
The city was sealed off Sunday, and many insurgents could have slipped out before then, Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz said. As for al-Zarqawi, Metz said, "I think it would be fair to assume that he has left."
CNN's Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf, embedded with Army Task Force 2-2, described the urban geography as "very dense."
Arraf said American troops with heavy armor were pushing toward the eastern edge of the city, clearing the way for the Marines.
Allawi has called for insurgents to lay down their weapons. He also ordered a curfew in Baghdad to start at 10:30 p.m. and end at 4 a.m. (2:30 p.m.-8 p.m. ET). The curfew is the first in the capital since October 2003 and has been imposed indefinitely.
This is the third attempt this year to subdue Falluja. Earlier operations in the city -- by U.S. forces and by a short-lived Iraqi force called the Falluja Brigade -- failed to quell the insurgents.
Allawi relatives kidnapped
At least two members of Allawi's extended family were abducted at gunpoint from their home in Baghdad, amid conflicting reports from government officials and sources close to the family.
A group called Ansar al-Jihad claimed responsibility for the kidnapping on a Web site, saying there were three hostages. The group demanded the release of all Iraqi prisoners and an end to the attacks on Falluja within 48 hours or the hostages will be beheaded. Ansar al-Jihad has claimed responsibility for attacks before, but this is its first claim for a kidnapping.
The prime minister's office Wednesday said it was aware of the abduction of two family members -- Allawi's cousin, Ghazy Allawi, 75, and his cousin's daughter-in-law. The office said Ghazy Allawi has no political interest and did not work for any governmental facility. (Full story)
Other developments
Insurgents attacked an Iraqi police station Tuesday night in Karbala, about 50 miles south of Baghdad, using mortars, car bombs and machine guns. A policeman was killed and five others were injured, according to multinational forces.
A U.S. soldier was killed and another injured early Wednesday as an Army 1st Infantry patrol was hit by a roadside bomb near Balad, north of Baghdad, a military statement said. The wounded soldier is listed in stable condition.
In Washington, President Bush visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Hospital on Tuesday and told reporters he wished U.S. troops "all the best and Godspeed" as they moved against the insurgents. (Full story)
From CNN producers Kianne Sadeq, Kevin Flower, Ayman Mohyeldin and Caroline Faraj and Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf, embedded with the U.S. Army
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/10/iraq.main/index.html
