New insurgency confronts US forces
Fri, 12 Nov 2004 00:00:28 -0800-Summary: While U.S. marines battle in the streets of Fallujah, U.S. army troops faced a new war in Mosul. Insurgents attacked or set fire to at least seven police stations as well as government buildings in the once relatively quiet northern city. A group of insurgents tried to storm an office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two major Kurdish parties, and fought gunbattles with Kurdish guards. This is one of the scenarios Iraq experts have feared most – the Kurds come under attack from the Sunni hordes, they retaliate with their heavily armed army (which some say has been trained by the Israelis), taking control of the northern oil fields, setting in motion a series of events that ends up kick-starting a regional civil war. Yikes… [Posted By anthony]By Rory McCarthy in Baghdad and Michael Howard in Sulaymaniyah
Republished from Guardian (UK)
Kurds come under attack as rebels rampage in city
US troops were drawn into a new offensive in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul yesterday to tackle a tide of insurgency unchecked by the military assault on Falluja.
In Baghdad at least 17 Iraqis were killed in a suicide car bombing as gunmen set up checkpoints on roads in the west of the capital and fought battles with US troops.
Rebels also took to the streets of the northern town of Baiji, home to Iraq’s main refinery, clashing with security forces.
The violence suggests the four-day operation in Falluja may have cleared out the most important insurgent stronghold in Iraq, but has done little to curb the burgeoning militant movement.
For two days insurgents have defied a curfew to rampage through Mosul, attacking or setting fire to at least seven police stations as well as government buildings.
Masked gunmen stole bullet-proof jackets and Kalashnikov rifles from police stations and were roaming the city centre yesterday setting fire to police cars and taking control of bridges. The five bridges over the Tigris were later closed to civilian traffic.
At one stage a group tried to storm an office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two major Kurdish parties, and fought gunbattles with Kurdish guards. Mosul’s television channel went off air for an hour and the US military admitted the Iraqi police were unable to handle the crisis. At least five Iraqi national guardsmen and a civilian have been killed and a dozen injured.
By 1pm soldiers from the US 25th Infantry Division and a team of Iraqi national guardsmen were called in to launch “offensive operations” in south-east and south-west Mosul against “known concentrations of insurgents”.
A senior Kurdish official in Mosul said he believed the gunmen were militants loyal to the wanted Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and former Ba’athists. He said the men had arrived three days ago from Falluja and Samarra, another troubled Sunni town.
The official, who declined to be named, said: “They are working together and know what they are doing. They have had a lot of notice about the Falluja assault, and were prepared to move the fight.”
Residents said there had been explosions and heavy gunfire from assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
“I have been inside my house for 24 hours and am too frightened to go out,” said Shereen Hawleri, a Kurdish resident. “I think they could turn on the Kurds next.”
Since the start of the Falluja offensive on Sunday night, attacks have taken place across Sunni areas in central and northern Iraq in towns such as Samarra, Baiji, Baquba, Tikrit, Ramadi, Hawija and now Mosul. The violence in Mosul has been the worst since the invasion began and a sign of the growing influence of Sunni militants.
“The [insurgent] activities have now spread to the borders with the Kurdish self-rule area, and are threatening Kurdish and other minorities in the region,” said the official.
The Kurdish governor of Kirkuk, a disputed city to the north-east, survived an assassination attempt yesterday when a car bomb exploded as his convoy passed.
Abdulrahman Mustafa was not hurt, but six members of his personal security detail and eight civilians were hurt, according to Arif Qurbany, the director of a local TV station.
“The situation in the city is very tense,” he said. “The Kurds here believe that Arab militants are deliberately targeting them just for being Kurds.”
Last night Kurdish leaders in Arbil and Sulaymaniya, inside the Kurdish self-rule region, said they were preparing Kurdish troops in the national guard to restore order in Mosul and Kirkuk in coordination with the US military.
“We cannot stand by and let minorities be attacked, as they were under Saddam,” said a military commander in Sulaymaniya. But the deployment of Kurdish fighters in Kirkuk would be sensitive.
A Baghdad centre car bomb killed at least 17 and wounded 30. It also destroyed 11 cars and brought down a building.
The bomb detonated at 11.15am, moments after a US convoy had passed in a crowded high street.
Fri, 12 Nov 2004 00:00:28 -0800-Summary: While U.S. marines battle in the streets of Fallujah, U.S. army troops faced a new war in Mosul. Insurgents attacked or set fire to at least seven police stations as well as government buildings in the once relatively quiet northern city. A group of insurgents tried to storm an office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two major Kurdish parties, and fought gunbattles with Kurdish guards. This is one of the scenarios Iraq experts have feared most – the Kurds come under attack from the Sunni hordes, they retaliate with their heavily armed army (which some say has been trained by the Israelis), taking control of the northern oil fields, setting in motion a series of events that ends up kick-starting a regional civil war. Yikes… [Posted By anthony]By Rory McCarthy in Baghdad and Michael Howard in Sulaymaniyah
Republished from Guardian (UK)
Kurds come under attack as rebels rampage in city
US troops were drawn into a new offensive in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul yesterday to tackle a tide of insurgency unchecked by the military assault on Falluja.
In Baghdad at least 17 Iraqis were killed in a suicide car bombing as gunmen set up checkpoints on roads in the west of the capital and fought battles with US troops.
Rebels also took to the streets of the northern town of Baiji, home to Iraq’s main refinery, clashing with security forces.
The violence suggests the four-day operation in Falluja may have cleared out the most important insurgent stronghold in Iraq, but has done little to curb the burgeoning militant movement.
For two days insurgents have defied a curfew to rampage through Mosul, attacking or setting fire to at least seven police stations as well as government buildings.
Masked gunmen stole bullet-proof jackets and Kalashnikov rifles from police stations and were roaming the city centre yesterday setting fire to police cars and taking control of bridges. The five bridges over the Tigris were later closed to civilian traffic.
At one stage a group tried to storm an office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two major Kurdish parties, and fought gunbattles with Kurdish guards. Mosul’s television channel went off air for an hour and the US military admitted the Iraqi police were unable to handle the crisis. At least five Iraqi national guardsmen and a civilian have been killed and a dozen injured.
By 1pm soldiers from the US 25th Infantry Division and a team of Iraqi national guardsmen were called in to launch “offensive operations” in south-east and south-west Mosul against “known concentrations of insurgents”.
A senior Kurdish official in Mosul said he believed the gunmen were militants loyal to the wanted Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and former Ba’athists. He said the men had arrived three days ago from Falluja and Samarra, another troubled Sunni town.
The official, who declined to be named, said: “They are working together and know what they are doing. They have had a lot of notice about the Falluja assault, and were prepared to move the fight.”
Residents said there had been explosions and heavy gunfire from assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
“I have been inside my house for 24 hours and am too frightened to go out,” said Shereen Hawleri, a Kurdish resident. “I think they could turn on the Kurds next.”
Since the start of the Falluja offensive on Sunday night, attacks have taken place across Sunni areas in central and northern Iraq in towns such as Samarra, Baiji, Baquba, Tikrit, Ramadi, Hawija and now Mosul. The violence in Mosul has been the worst since the invasion began and a sign of the growing influence of Sunni militants.
“The [insurgent] activities have now spread to the borders with the Kurdish self-rule area, and are threatening Kurdish and other minorities in the region,” said the official.
The Kurdish governor of Kirkuk, a disputed city to the north-east, survived an assassination attempt yesterday when a car bomb exploded as his convoy passed.
Abdulrahman Mustafa was not hurt, but six members of his personal security detail and eight civilians were hurt, according to Arif Qurbany, the director of a local TV station.
“The situation in the city is very tense,” he said. “The Kurds here believe that Arab militants are deliberately targeting them just for being Kurds.”
Last night Kurdish leaders in Arbil and Sulaymaniya, inside the Kurdish self-rule region, said they were preparing Kurdish troops in the national guard to restore order in Mosul and Kirkuk in coordination with the US military.
“We cannot stand by and let minorities be attacked, as they were under Saddam,” said a military commander in Sulaymaniya. But the deployment of Kurdish fighters in Kirkuk would be sensitive.
A Baghdad centre car bomb killed at least 17 and wounded 30. It also destroyed 11 cars and brought down a building.
The bomb detonated at 11.15am, moments after a US convoy had passed in a crowded high street.