[Shadow_Group] Fighting erupts in Sunni Muslim heartland As U.S. forces reportedly mop up the last remaining pockets of resistance in Fallujah - Iraq

[shadowgroup-l at lists.resist.ca]

Fighting erupts in Sunni Muslim heartland
CTV.ca News Staff

FROM:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1100519625068_21?hub=World<http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1100519625068_21?hub=World>
As U.S. forces reportedly mop up the last remaining
pockets of resistance in Fallujah, fierce battles are
being waged in Iraq's Sunni Muslim heartland.

The death toll is mounting as U.S. and Iraqi forces
face opposition in several Iraqi cities, including
Baqouba, Ramadi and Mosul.

In Fallujah, where the offensive is now in its second
week, warplanes are making between 20-30 bombing
sorties in the city.

The assault has left at least 38 U.S. troops and six
Iraqi soldiers dead. Another 275 American soldiers
have been wounded.

U.S. officials estimate that 1,200 insurgents have
been killed in the operation, launched in an attempt
to calm the rebel-held city ahead of January
elections.

For those living inside the besieged city, tood, water
and medical aid have been slow in arriving. A Red
Cross spokesman said that a relief convoy of
ambulances and supplies trying to enter Fallujah was
turned back on Monday.

In other news, two female relatives of interim Iraq
Prime Minister Ayad Allawi who were kidnapped last
week have been released, Allawi said Monday. There was
no word on Allawi's cousin, Ghazi Allawi, 75, who was
taken at the same time. 

On Sunday, marines found the body of a Western woman
wrapped in a blood-soaked blanket. The woman had been
disembowelled. The identity of the woman is not yet
known.

Two foreign women were taken hostage in Iraq last
month, including CARE international worker Margaret
Hassan, and Polish-born longtime Iraq resident Teresa
Borcz Khalifa.

Fighting in Sunni heartland

As the offensive continues in Fallujah, clashes were
reported in other parts of Iraq, including Baqouba,
Mosul, Ramadi and near Baghdad.

In Baqouba, insurgents opened fire on Iraqi police
from inside a mosque. The mosque was stormed by police
forces, and inside U.S. forces said they found a cache
of weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades and
mortars.

Nine Iraqis, including one attacker, a policeman and
seven civilians, were killed in the fighting. Another
11 Iraqis and four 1st Infantry Division soldiers were
wounded.

Heavy fighting was also reported in the
insurgent-heavy city of Ramadi, after Sunni clerics
called on residents to kick out bands of armed men who
had come inside the city.

In Mosul, militants raided two police stations,
killing at least six Iraqi National Guards, and
wounding three others. Iraqi security forces regained
control of both stations. One insurgent was killed and
three others were injured.

Insurgents also set fire to the governor's house, in
northern Mosul. It was completely destroyed, as was
his car.

Fighting south of Baghdad Monday, at Iraqi National
Guard headquarters in Suwayrah, killed seven Iraqi
police and national guardsmen. Five others were
injured.

Discoveries in Fallujah

During the offensive in Fallujah, U.S. forces claim to
have made several discoveries they say are hard
evidence of the city's role in the insurgent-led
campaign to push U.S. forces from Iraq.

On Sunday, marines discovered what they called a
bomb-making factory. They found wires, cell phones,
Motorola handheld radios and a Plastic foam box packed
with C4 plastic explosives.

U.S. forces have also found two hostages -- one Iraqi
and one Syrian. The Syrian was the driver for two
French journalists, who have been missing since
August.

The Iraqi man was found in a room with a black banner
bearing the name of one of Iraq's extremist groups. He
was shackled hand and foot, and had been beaten on the
back with steel cables. He said his tormentors were
Syrian.

The room that the hostage was found in also had AK-47
rifles, improvised bombs, fake identification cards
and shoulder-fired missiles that could bring down an
airliner.

On Sunday, the American commander who designed the
ground attack claims success. Maj.-Gen. Richard
Natonski, in an interview with The Associated Press on
Sunday, described the ground war as a "flawless
execution of the plan we drew up. We are actually
ahead of schedule.''

With files from The Associated Press




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