[Shadow_Group] New rebel tactics emerge in Fallujah - Iraq

Thu Nov 11 23:02:08 PST 2004

New rebel tactics emerge in Fallujah
from the November 12, 2004 edition 

{IMAGE]
HOUSE TO HOUSE: Corp. Christiopher DeBlanc of
Spottsylvania, Va., tails up a staircase as marines of
the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance company search
residences in Fallujah for insurgents. Marines
prepared for a counterattack by rebels Thursday night.
SCOTT PETERSON/GETTY IMAGES

New rebel tactics emerge in Fallujah

Marines faced a tough fight Thursday as insurgents
began a counterattack timed with an Islamic holy
night.

By SCOTT PETERSON | Staff writer of The Christian
Science Monitor 

FROM:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1112/p01s02-woiq.html<http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1112/p01s02-woiq.html>
FALLUJAH, IRAQ - After three days of measurable
progress, American forces trying to take full control
of Fallujah are confronting an insurgent force that
has renewed energy. 
And as American and Iraqi forces spread their grip
across the city, the constant skirmishes of close
urban combat and burst-in searches door-to-door are
revealing more about insurgent tactics, including
sleeper cells.

Thursday night, forces braced for a significant
counteroffensive by Iraqi insurgents - an effort
coinciding with the "Night of Power," an annual
Islamic holy day marked by intense spiritual devotion,
which is said to cleanse sins and determine destiny.

Loudspeakers from at least one mosque began what US
Marine officers said was a "revving up" of militants
by chants that resembled the "martyr's last rites."

"We expect an increase of suicide attacks, by cars,
motorcycles, and people wearing explosive vests," said
Lt. Col. Michael Ramos, commander of the 1st Battalion
3rd Marines, from Dallas.

"It's going to get a lot worse tonight," Capt. Gil
Juarez, commander of the Light Armored Reconnaissance
(LAR) company told his platoon chiefs, as marines
loaded their vehicles at dusk with extra ammunition.

"I think there's going to be a big fight tonight, so
get your heads ready to get back in the game," said
Captain Juarez, from San Diego, Calif. "These
[insurgents] are pushing the offensive right now.
We've got to get ready."

Despite a day of steady US tank and artillery fire
that rumbled across Fallujah like a thunderstorm ready
to pour, insurgents began their work.

One armored unit was ambushed in the south center of
the city by militants who struck with rocket-propelled
grenades. Separately, another vehicle was hit with
gunfire, wounding a marine.

Those involved in the ambush said a trap had been
laid, and that the area was marked with earth berms in
defensive posture, and metal-box firing positions.
Shortly after the firefight, US-fired artillery rounds
crashed into the area.

"They have been working on it, an L-shaped ambush,"
said one corporal, whose face was blackened by smoke
from the attack. "It looks like something out of Mad
Maxx."

"We walked right into a hornet's nest today," said a
sergeant with the worn look of a survivor. Their names
and units involved could not be released, in line with
military rules that prevent such details until the
wounded's next of kin have been notified. "They were
probing us and fired six RPGs before we went for it.
They lassoed us right in."

As American and Iraqi forces have spread their grip
across Fallujah, the constant skirmishes of close
urban combat and burst-in, door-to-door searches are
revealing more and more about insurgent tactics.

In the course of locating seven weapons caches in a
single block around a mosque in northeast Fallujah, an
Iraqi platoon Wednesday found a suitcase full of vials
labeled "Sarin," a deadly nerve agent.

While further analysis determined that the find was
probably part of a Soviet test kit with samples, its
discovery in a room with mortar shells appeared to
indicate an intent to weaponize the material.

On the eve of the US-Iraqi assault on Fallujah,
insurgent leaders in the city promised a massive
counterattack.

Until late Thursday, resistance in Fallujah had been
piecemeal, with individual rocket, mortar, and rifle
teams making surprise attacks. US heavy artillery,
tank guns, and airstrikes have waged steady barrages,
paving the way for marine infantry advances.

US military leaders have deemed the effort in Fallujah
so far as a success. In three days of fighting,
coalition units have swept across more than half the
city, sustaining relatively few casualties.

But Thursday night, casualties appeared to mount.
Coalition forces have been targeted from mosques. They
have uncovered unarmed sleeper cells that they believe
have been seeded throughout the city and primed to
strike after the initial assault.

Insurgents continued a wave of violence elsewhere. A
car bomb ripped through a crowded Baghdad commercial
street, killing 17 people, police said. In the north,
guerrillas overwhelmed several police stations in
Mosul and battled US troops.

Mosques were used by militants when marines first
attempted to invade the city last April. They were
sometimes targeted by US forces, adding to the
international outcry that grew at the time about
civilian casualties.

This time, Iraqi nationalists and Islamic militants
loyal to the network of Al Qaeda affiliate Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi, may have been depending on mosques as
staging areas, US officers say.

"Almost every single mosque we've come through has
been used for weapons storage and insurgent military
training," says Lt. Col. Ramos.

Marines have shot at the speakers of minarets, which
are normally used for the Muslim call to prayer,
though in recent days they've served as a literal call
to arms.

Before the assault began, US intelligence officers
warned of unarmed Iraqis wearing dishdashas
(traditional long gowns worn by men) moving to US
lines and reporting back to guerrilla cells.

Instead, marines have found that small groups of
unarmed men, claiming to have stayed behind to prevent
looting of their house, may in fact be sleeper cells,
waiting for orders to link up with prepositioned
weapons and attack.

One example Wednesday was a group of four men, found
in their house by the LAR Raider Platoon during a
search. They said they had recently been caught by the
mujahideen, or holy warriors of the resistance, and
been tortured.

Later that day and several blocks away, Raider Scouts
searching other buildings found four more men. They
also said they stayed behind to guards their houses,
and that they had been tortured.

But further questioning found that there were no signs
of torture - militants in Fallujah typically kill
suspected traitors - and that the men's claimed
identities did not hold up to investigation.

"It was well rehearsed," said Lt. Michael Aubry from
Arlington Heights, Ill. "The first time didn't look
suspicious, but the second time ... it did."

"There are sleeper cells all over the place," says
Juarez. "They are either going to start coming out of
their holes and attack us, or [they] will leave."

 Material from wire service reports was used in this
article.

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