Thursday, November 04, 2004
Three British Troops Die in Iraq, City Hit
1 hour, 12 minutes ago
By Fadel al-Badrani
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Three British soldiers have been killed in a deadly Iraqi region to which their unit had just redeployed to free up U.S. forces for an expected all-out offensive on Falluja, the country's most rebellious city.
Reuters Photo
AP Photo
Slideshow: Iraq
Iraqis React To Bush Victory(Reuters Video)
Latest headlines:
·
Allawi Receives Boost From Italian Gov't AP - 3 minutes ago
·
3 British Soldiers Killed in Iraq Attack AP - 10 minutes ago
·
Marines Go Through Urban Warfare Drills AP - 29 minutes ago
Special Coverage
U.S. forces launched fresh air and artillery strikes on Falluja late on Thursday after overnight air and tank attacks killed five people in the Sunni Muslim city, braced for assault now the U.S. presidential election is over.
Further underlining the rapid deterioration in security in Iraq (news - web sites), Medecins sans Frontieres, one of the few remaining international aid groups, said it was quitting the country due the "extreme risk" to aid workers.
The British Black Watch soldiers' deaths are likely to stoke anger at Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s decision to extend their tour of duty by a month and move them to a dangerous U.S.-run area near Baghdad from their relatively safe southern base.
Details are sketchy, but junior defense minister Adam Ingram told parliament on Thursday some soldiers had also been wounded.
Medecins sans Frontieres said Iraq had become too dangerous to work in and it would end all operations within a few days.
"It has become impossible ... to guarantee an acceptable level of security for our staff, be they foreign or Iraqi," the agency's general director Gorik Ooms said in Belgium.
Another major aid group, Care International, also ceased its operations last month after the British-Iraqi woman running them was kidnapped. She is still being held by an unnamed group.
Iraqi's government and its U.S. backers are battling to capture rebel-held cities such as Falluja and Ramadi and pacify the country to prepare for elections due in January.
But they face a mounting insurgency and kidnappings aimed at driving out U.S.-led forces and foreign workers.
AIR STRIKES
There was no immediate word on casualties on the latest U.S. raids. Rebels responded with fierce mortar and rocket-propelled grenade attacks against U.S. positions on the edge of the city, witnesses said.
U.S. forces also launched air and tank attacks on Wednesday and into Thursday morning that witnesses said where the heaviest for several weeks. Hospital doctor Ahmed Mohammed said five people had been killed, including a woman and a child. All had been in a car hit in an air raid while trying to escape.
U.S. artillery was back in action during the day, said a Reuters reporter with marines near Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad.
Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, visiting Europe, has not publicly given the go-ahead to storm Falluja and the sister city of Ramadi, but the marines say they only need the order from him and newly re-elected President Bush (news - web sites).
Shi'ites in the slums of Baghdad's Sadr City, where anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has a strong following, said Bush must keep his pledges to reconstruct Iraq and hold polls.
"It is Bush who destroyed this country and our city and he is obliged to rebuild them," said resident Qassem al-Kaabi.
Sadr, whose militia staged two uprisings this year, has recently moved toward joining the political process, ordering his Mehdi Army fighters to hand in their weapons in Sadr City.
People in Falluja said the prospect of four more years of Bush depressed them.
"Choosing Bush creates a crisis for Iraqis and especially for Falluja because we believe he will continue his policy against our country and our city," said Mohammed Ali.
"His policy is based on violence and hatred against Muslims and Arabs," the 20-year-old student added.
A car bomb killed four Iraqis in al-Dujail, north of Baghdad, and another exploded in Iskandariya, 50 km (30 miles) south of the capital, but there was no word of casualties.
Militants in Iraq issued a videotape of three Jordanian truck drivers pleading with their government to warn its nationals against working with U.S.-led forces in the country.
"We will not have mercy on anyone. We will strike with an iron fist whoever deals with the occupation," one of three masked gunmen said on the videotape released to Reuters.
It showed the drivers sitting in front of the gunmen under a black banner that reads Army of Islam Counter-Attack Brigades. The tape showed close-ups of their passports. It was not clear if they were among four Jordanian drivers kidnapped on Tuesday.
Militants have seized scores of foreigners since April. Many have been freed. More than 35 have been killed, some beheaded.
There was no word on whether the captors of Care's Iraq chief, Margaret Hassan, had carried out a threat made on Tuesday to hand her to a group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi within 48 hours unless British troops quit Iraq.
Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for hostage beheadings and some of Iraq's bloodiest suicide attacks. (Additional reporting by Michael Georgy near Falluja, Waleed Ibrahim in Baghdad and Madeline Chambers in London)
1 hour, 12 minutes ago
By Fadel al-Badrani
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Three British soldiers have been killed in a deadly Iraqi region to which their unit had just redeployed to free up U.S. forces for an expected all-out offensive on Falluja, the country's most rebellious city.
Reuters Photo
AP Photo
Slideshow: Iraq
Iraqis React To Bush Victory(Reuters Video)
Latest headlines:
·
Allawi Receives Boost From Italian Gov't AP - 3 minutes ago
·
3 British Soldiers Killed in Iraq Attack AP - 10 minutes ago
·
Marines Go Through Urban Warfare Drills AP - 29 minutes ago
Special Coverage
U.S. forces launched fresh air and artillery strikes on Falluja late on Thursday after overnight air and tank attacks killed five people in the Sunni Muslim city, braced for assault now the U.S. presidential election is over.
Further underlining the rapid deterioration in security in Iraq (news - web sites), Medecins sans Frontieres, one of the few remaining international aid groups, said it was quitting the country due the "extreme risk" to aid workers.
The British Black Watch soldiers' deaths are likely to stoke anger at Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites)'s decision to extend their tour of duty by a month and move them to a dangerous U.S.-run area near Baghdad from their relatively safe southern base.
Details are sketchy, but junior defense minister Adam Ingram told parliament on Thursday some soldiers had also been wounded.
Medecins sans Frontieres said Iraq had become too dangerous to work in and it would end all operations within a few days.
"It has become impossible ... to guarantee an acceptable level of security for our staff, be they foreign or Iraqi," the agency's general director Gorik Ooms said in Belgium.
Another major aid group, Care International, also ceased its operations last month after the British-Iraqi woman running them was kidnapped. She is still being held by an unnamed group.
Iraqi's government and its U.S. backers are battling to capture rebel-held cities such as Falluja and Ramadi and pacify the country to prepare for elections due in January.
But they face a mounting insurgency and kidnappings aimed at driving out U.S.-led forces and foreign workers.
AIR STRIKES
There was no immediate word on casualties on the latest U.S. raids. Rebels responded with fierce mortar and rocket-propelled grenade attacks against U.S. positions on the edge of the city, witnesses said.
U.S. forces also launched air and tank attacks on Wednesday and into Thursday morning that witnesses said where the heaviest for several weeks. Hospital doctor Ahmed Mohammed said five people had been killed, including a woman and a child. All had been in a car hit in an air raid while trying to escape.
U.S. artillery was back in action during the day, said a Reuters reporter with marines near Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad.
Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, visiting Europe, has not publicly given the go-ahead to storm Falluja and the sister city of Ramadi, but the marines say they only need the order from him and newly re-elected President Bush (news - web sites).
Shi'ites in the slums of Baghdad's Sadr City, where anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has a strong following, said Bush must keep his pledges to reconstruct Iraq and hold polls.
"It is Bush who destroyed this country and our city and he is obliged to rebuild them," said resident Qassem al-Kaabi.
Sadr, whose militia staged two uprisings this year, has recently moved toward joining the political process, ordering his Mehdi Army fighters to hand in their weapons in Sadr City.
People in Falluja said the prospect of four more years of Bush depressed them.
"Choosing Bush creates a crisis for Iraqis and especially for Falluja because we believe he will continue his policy against our country and our city," said Mohammed Ali.
"His policy is based on violence and hatred against Muslims and Arabs," the 20-year-old student added.
A car bomb killed four Iraqis in al-Dujail, north of Baghdad, and another exploded in Iskandariya, 50 km (30 miles) south of the capital, but there was no word of casualties.
Militants in Iraq issued a videotape of three Jordanian truck drivers pleading with their government to warn its nationals against working with U.S.-led forces in the country.
"We will not have mercy on anyone. We will strike with an iron fist whoever deals with the occupation," one of three masked gunmen said on the videotape released to Reuters.
It showed the drivers sitting in front of the gunmen under a black banner that reads Army of Islam Counter-Attack Brigades. The tape showed close-ups of their passports. It was not clear if they were among four Jordanian drivers kidnapped on Tuesday.
Militants have seized scores of foreigners since April. Many have been freed. More than 35 have been killed, some beheaded.
There was no word on whether the captors of Care's Iraq chief, Margaret Hassan, had carried out a threat made on Tuesday to hand her to a group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi within 48 hours unless British troops quit Iraq.
Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for hostage beheadings and some of Iraq's bloodiest suicide attacks. (Additional reporting by Michael Georgy near Falluja, Waleed Ibrahim in Baghdad and Madeline Chambers in London)
