Older News Stories (2)

35 children, many more killed by bombs

Three car bombs exploded near a US military convoy in the crowded streets of the al-Amel neighborhood in Baghdad in the early morning as crowds gathered to watch the opening of a water treatment plant.

At least 35 children were among the many dozens killed during the bombings. At least 100 more Iraqis were seriously injured during the attacks.

Hospitals in Baghdad struggled to cope with the mass influx of casualties from the bombings. Many of the injured - who included 10 US soldiers – suffered shrapnel wounds. Pools of blood formed on the hospital floors, while at the scene of the blasts, people picked through blood-stained wreckage to recover body parts, news agencies said.

Other bombings and airstikes around the country claimed many lives more on Thursday. posted 30 September 2004

Mortars hit police station, seven killed

A barrage of mortars hit the police station in Najaf, killing seven and wounding two dozen. The attack came after a day of negotiations for a ceasefires in the embattled city.

However, a breakthrough looks unlikely. A delegation from the new interim government entered the Imam Ali shrine yesterday to meet with cleri al-Sadr, only to return with empty hands. Al-Sadr. They entered with a message but had no powers to broker a deal. "This is not a negotiation. This is a friendly mission to convey the message of the national conference," said a spokesperson.

For his part, al-Sadr reportedly agreed in principle to a peaceful solution but rejected a list of tough conditions set out a few hours earlier by Minister of State Kasim. Effectively calling for a complete surrender, al-Sadr would be required to disband the al-Mahdi Army, handover the malitia's weapons, renounce violence, and the al-Mahdi Army.

The rejection of these demands raises the prospect of a major assault by US and Iraqi forces to retake the area surrounding the Mosque. posted 19 August 2004

Attacks in Basrah, Najaf peace delegation

Foreigners travelling in two British vehicles were attacked by militants in Basrah, the second largest city in Iraq. Intermittant fighting in Basrah has claimed the lives of two British servicemen during the past week.

In Najaf, a peace delegation composed of Iraqi political and religious leaders flew into the city to try to end the standoff there. An eight-member team, sent from the interim National Congress arrived in Najaf aboard U.S. military helicopters Tuesday afternoon. They carry a proposal that demands that al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia put down its weapons, leave holy shrines where they have taken refuge during the fighting and join Iraq's political process in exchange for amnesty. The Vatican has also offered to mediate.

Meanwhile, explosions and gunfire shake the streets of Najaf as clashes with al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia escalate. U.S. tanks have encircled the Old City, which the militia has made its stronghold, and US warplanes continue to bomb Najaf's vast cemetery where many of the rebels are hiding. posted 17 August 2004

Iraqi commander gunned down, jounalist taken hostage

Iraqi national guard commander Lietenant Colonel Ihsan al-Saji, responsible for Samarra, was gunned down with a senior aide in an operation claimed by an underground militant group. Saji had already seen one brother killed and another deprived of a leg in reprisal attacks by the insurgents, the official said.

In a flier distributed in Samarra, the Ahwaz branch of the Islamic Secret Army said it carried out the killings and threatened similar attacks against other Iraqi security force personnel.

In the southern city of Nasiryah, a US-French journalist, Micah Garen (shown in 2004 family photo), and his Iraqi translator, Amir Doushi, were kidnapped. Officials said the two went missing on Friday. The translator's family first reported their disappearance.

Militants in the southern city of Basra kidnapped then released a British journalist on Friday. They initially threatened to kill 23-year-old James Brandon unless US troops pulled out of the Shia holy city of Najaf, but he was freed after the intervention of aides to cleric Moqtada Sadr. posted 16 August 2004

United States, military. and US-appointed government credibility threatened

Despite overwhelming military force and full weight of the United States, the military and US-appointed government in Iraq have been unable to create conditions for peace and reconstruction in Iraq. Current strategies are resulting in absolute failure, particularly in the face of combined Shiite and Sunni uprisings.

This comes as the latest siege of Najaf resumed Sunday afternoon, a day after negotiations for a cease fire failed to end the insurgency by al-Sadr fighters.

In a further blow to US-appointed Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's leadership, more than 100 delegates threatened to walk out of a national conference that was to begin the democratic elections process. Enraged over the fresh violence in Najaf, the delegates left the meeting hall declaring that, "as long as there are airstrikes and shelling, we can't have a conference."

Even while US warships refuel for the "final showdown in Najaf", the situation deteriorated further for the Administration. Iraqi defense ministry officials told Knight Ridder that more than 100 Iraqi national guardsmen and a battalion of Iraqi soldiers chose to quit rather than attack fellow Iraqis. "We received a report that a whole battalion (in Najaf) threw down their rifles," said one high-ranking defense ministry official. "We expected this, and we expect it again and again."

"In Najaf, there are no Iraqi Army or police involved in the fighting. There were in the beginning, but later the American forces led the fighting," said Raad Kadhemi, a spokesman for al-Sadr. "Only the mercenaries and the bastards are supporting the Americans and helping them ... We salute our brothers who abandoned participating in the fight against the Mahdi Army". posted 15 August 2004

Truce talks collapse in Najaf

Talks to end the battle of Najaf appeared to collapse over disagreements about conditions, Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said Saturday.

Muqtada al-Sadr appeared ready to accept UN peacekeepers but refuses to negotiate with an "occupying force", a spokesman for the cleric told Agence France-Presse. The cleric is demanding a complete withdrawal of US troops in and around Najaf. Iraqi supporters of al-Sadr have continued to travel to Najaf to bolster his presence. Sunni leaders have called for solidarity with Najaf and its defense from, "foreign crusader forces that invaded Iraq". posted 14 August 2004

Thousands demonstrate in Baghdad

Iraqi Citizens throughout Baghdad took to the streets Friday in mass demonstrations to demand an end to the ongoing war and occupation. Many of the thousands are supporters of Shiite Muslim militia leader Moqtada Sadr, but Suni and Christian Iraqis could also be seen among demonstrators.

"What is going on in Najaf and the rest of the Iraqi cities is a violation of sanctities, an aggression on holy sites and shedding of innocent blood that could lead to a vicious civil war," said Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Taqi al-Modaresi in a statement. Al-Modaresi urged Iraqis to take to the streets in peaceful demonstrations against the violence, and extended the call to Muslims outside of Iraq to do the same. "I also call on the army, police, and all armed men not to take part in the internal fighting, so problems are solved through negotiations to stop bloodshed and preserve national unity," he said.

The marchers set out from Sadr City, in the northeast of the capital, towards the heavily fortified Green Zone. The demonstrators, none of them armed, denounced Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who has pressed Sadr's Mehdi Army to surrender after more than a week of fierce fighting against US troops and Iraqi forces in the holy city of Najaf. "We want to hold a peaceful demonstration outside the convention centre," inside the Green Zone, said one of the protestors who refused to give his name. posted 13 August 2004

War offensive in Najaf

Thousands of US and Iraqi soldiers launched a major offensive against Iraqi fighters loyal to a Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the holy city of Najaf on Thursday.

Explosions and gunfire echoed across the city as the US military and Iraqi forces launched a full-scale assault to crush the week-long uprising. Plumes of black smoke rose from the areas near the home of al-Sadr as the fighters from each sides traded heavy fire.

"Major operations to destroy the militia have begun," said US Marine Major David Holahan, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment.

At least 165 people were killed and more than 600 wounded in heavy fighting across Iraq, according to the Ministry of Health. From the center of Najaf, an exodus is under way - anyone who can leave is trying to get out.

This offensive is a high-stakes move. While Americans will see reassuring images of helicopters in the sky and read sanitized news releases put out by the Defense Department, viewers from the Middle East to Mexico are receiving the raw, emotive pictures of the slaughter of the rebels. posted 12 August 2004

Najaf battle day 6: "Leave or die"

US forces pounded militia positions throughout the city today as the Battle of Najaf continued for the sixth consecutive day.

US warplanes attacked militia positions and plumes of smoke rose from the cemetery, where Sadr’s Mehdi Army has dug in. Marines have thrown a tight cordon around the cemetery and the Imam Ali Mosque but have yet to make a full assault on fighters holed up in the sites, a move that would enrage Iraq’s majority Shiites.

''We've pretty much just been patrolling and flying helicopters all over the place, and when we see something bad, we blow it up,'' said U.S. Marine Maj. David Holahan, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment. The military is blunt, using loudspeakers to calling to residents and fighters alike, "leave or die."

Sadr's forces, known as the Mehdi Army, also attacked an Iraqi police checkpoint in Najaf, killing and wounding several uniformed men, a witness said. Overall casualty figures are not known in the 600,000-population city. posted 10 August 2004

Threats stop Basrah oil shipments

Just when oil shipments via the Basrah oil terminals were nearing capacity, things have come to a halt.

Iraq has stopped pumping oil from its key southern oil fields because of the violence plaguing the region during a renewed Shiite uprising, an official with the South Oil Company said. A company official said militants loyal to Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr had threatened to target oil installations in the city of Basra.

About 1.8 million barrels per day, or 90 per cent of Iraq's exports, move through Iraq's southern port of Basra, and any shutdown in the flow of Iraq's main money earner would badly hamper reconstruction efforts. Light sweet crude for delivery in September surged 1.02 dollars to 44.97 dollars a barrel early afternoon, thundering past the previous record, set Friday, of 44.77 dollars. posted 09 August 2004

Najaf battle continues

For the third straight day, the battle for Najaf continues with unknown numbers of dead and injured. "We estimate we've killed 300 anti-Iraqi forces in the past two days of fighting," said Capt. Carrie Batson, a Marine spokeswoman. According to Najaf General Hospital officials, the battles have resulted in at least 13 civilians and wounded 58 others over two days, according to Najaf General Hospital officials. The U.S. military reports that three Americans have been killed and 12 have been wounded in the fighting in Najaf.

On Friday, U.S. helicopters pounded Iraqi positions in Najaf including fighters hiding in a cemetery near the Imam Ali Shrine in the old city at Najaf's center, where smoke could be seen rising. The fighting began Thursday in Najaf and has since spread to other Shiite areas across the country, as the truce that marked an end to a similar rebellion two months ago appeared to have been shattered. The violence has spread to other cities, including Baghdad, where at least 20 people have been killed in the past week during fighting between U.S. troops and insurgents in the district of Sadr City.

Al-Sadr blamed the United States for the violence in Iraq. "From our side we did not want to escalate the situation, because the situation in Najaf affects that of other Shiite areas," Mahmoud al-Sudani, a spokesman of al-Sadr in Baghdad, told reporters. "But the actions of the American troops have enraged the sons of these cities." posted 07 August 2004

Intense fighting in Najaf, helicopter down

U.S. marines and Iraqi security forces fought fierce battles with supporters of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the holy city of Najaf on Thursday. During the fighting in Najaf, the heaviest in the city since a rebellion by al-Sadr's followers in the Spring, a U.S. helicopter was shot down.

Iraqis, opposed to the occupation, attacked a U.S. convoy near Najaf with a rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire, killing one American soldier and wounding five, the U.S. military said. The U.S. military said fighting began overnight when a police station was attacked by "a significant number of aggressors" believed to be members of the Mehdi Army militia. A military spokesman said the crew of the downed helicopter in Najaf were wounded and evacuated.

Sadr's aides said the cleric's Mehdi Army militia shot down the aircraft. Hundreds of Iraqis were killed in April and May during Sadr's uprising. As part of the truce agreed in June to end the fighting, U.S. troops said they would not enter parts of Najaf, home to the holiest shrines in Shi'ite Islam. The U.S. 1st Infantry Division, which had been in charge of security in Najaf, was recently replaced by U.S. marines. posted 05 August 2004

Baghdad Mayor: Tear down the barriers

Concrete walls and barriers have divided the city since the beginning of the occupation. The Mayor of Baghdad, Alaa al-Tamimi, wants them removed. "A lot of these barriers aren't necessary," Mr al-Tamimi said. "People are exaggerating" the security threat.

The ubiquitous concrete walls, trash-strewn barbed wire and steel barricades have created eyesores, sealed off popular riverside promenades, cut key roads and made huge swathes of the city off-limits to its five million residents. Two weeks ago, Mr al-Tamimi took his own step in that direction. He tore down the concrete barriers outside his own city-centre office tower, which stands safely removed from a busy street.

Mr al-Tamimi's is also demanding the opening of the Green Zone, which houses the US Embassy and Iraqi government offices. The area covers about 40 sq miles in central Baghdad, a virtual fortress encircled and crisscrossed by milles of 10-20 foot-high barricades. One of Baghdad's main arteries now dead-ends straight into it: a four-lane cut off by a triple layered sprawl of concertina wire, impassable concrete blast walls and sandbagged guard towers. posted 04 August 2004

Bombing across Iraq, pipelines ablaze

Bombings across Iraq killed three national guardsmen, a police chief and four US soldiers, as saboteurs blasted a northern oil pipeline, which roared into flames, halting limited exports via Turkey.

The three Iraqi national guardsmen were killed when a suicide bomber blew up a car at a checkpoint on the northern road into the city of Baquba, wounding another six guardsmen, security and hospital sources said. Two marines died of wounds sustained in the volatile Al-Anbar province, while conducting what the military described as "security and stability operations". Another two soldiers were killed in Baghdad late Monday.

The latest of a string of sabotage attacks brought oil exports through Iraq's pipeline connecting the northern fields of Kirkuk with the Turkish port of Ceyhan grinding to halt. A bomb planted near a network of pipelines at Al-Fateha, west of Kirkuk, caused a massive explosion and huge fires and damaged the main pipeline to Ceyhan, stopping exports. posted 03 August 2004

US troops redeploy from Korea to Iraq

The United States is shifting a briage of 36,000 troops from from their base near South Korea's border with communist North Korea to Iraq. This redeployment is among the moves the Pentagon is making to replenish the 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

The 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division was based near the South Korean capital, Seoul. Division was a key combat component of the U.S. troop presence in South Korea under an alliance that dates back to the 1950-53 Korean War.

The commander of U.S. soldiers leaving here for Iraq, Army Maj. Gen. John C. Wood, says they are "ready to fight" insurgents and terrorists despite their initial training for a far different mission in a far different place. Pentagon officials have said they are crafting back-up plans to send a possible 25,000 more troops to the region.

Among others recently reassigned to Iraq are troops with the 1st Battalion of the 509th Parachute Infantry at Fort Polk, La., and the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment of Fort Irwin, Calif. posted 02

Churches targeted in Baghdad and Mosul

In the first cases of direct violence towards the Christian community in Iraq, 6 churches were the target of coordinated attacks including car bombs and rocket-propelled grenades, Sunday.

Two explosions, just minutes apart, shook separate Baghdad churches in a largely Christian neighborhood during Sunday evening services, followed shortly by two more explosions at churches in other areas of the capital. The first blast in Baghdad hit outside an Armenian church just 15 minutes into the evening service, witnesses said. The second blast hit the Assyrian Catholic church about 500 yards away. According to officials, as many as 10 persons were killed and dozens more injured in the Baghdad attacks. U.S. military officials in Baghdad's Karada neighborhood, where the first two churches were bombed, said they found a third bomb in front another church that had not exploded.

In the northern city of Mosul a car bomb and grenade attack hit a church at roughly the same time killing at least one person and wounding 11 others, according to medics. Earlier, a suicide car bomber blew up his vehicle outside a police station in Mosul, killing at least five and wounding 53 in the latest strike against Iraqi security forces. Christians have long been in Iraq and represent a significant part of the civic community there. posted 01 August 2004

Marines, insurgents clash in Fallujah

13 Iraqis were killed during fierce fighting between U.S. Marines backed by fighter aircraft and insurgents using small arms and mortars.

The military said that fighting began when insurgents attacked a joint patrol of Marines and Iraqi troops with gunfire, mortars and rocket propelled grenades. The troops responded with gunfire, tank fire and aircraft bombing raids. Twelve auto repair shops and two houses were destroyed in the clashes. U.S. Marines said they suffered no casualties.

Dr. Salim Ibrahim at Fallujah General Hospital said an estimated 13 Iraqis were killed and 14 others wounded in the fighting. Ibrahim said he could not give an exact count of the dead, because many of the bodies had been torn apart. posted 30 July 2004

68 killed in Baqouba blast

The City of Baqouba was rocked by a powerful suicide bomb that killed 68 people and wounded 56 others, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Health.

The blast occured outside the al-Najda police station, which was being used as a police recruiting center, in the turbulent city about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. The blast destroyed nearby shops and turned cars into mangled, burned out wrecks. Charred and dismembered bodies lay in a street amid pools of blood, building debris and shattered glass.

Elsewhere in Iraq, a U.S. soldier was killed and three others injured while on patrol in northern Iraq, the military said Wednesday. The soldiers, from the 1st Infantry Division, were traveling in an armored Humvee when the bomb detonated late Tuesday in the town of Balad-Ruz, about 40 miles northwest of Baghdad, according to army spokesman Master Sgt. Robert Powell. posted 28 July 2004

Mosul bomb kills 4, wounds 8

A suicide bomb attack outside the American base killed 4 Iraqis including a woman and her child, and wounded 8 others including 3 US soldiers.

Inside the truck used in the blast was cache of 122 mm rockets and 60 mm mortar rounds that failed to explode, minimising the damage from the blast. Earlier, a car bomb exploded in Baghdad and at least two mortar rounds were fired at the education and oil ministries, security sources and witnesses said.

In the main southern city of Basra, two women working at the British-operated airport were shot dead, the latest in a string of attacks on Iraqis working with the foreign troops still stationed across the country. "Two women were killed and two others wounded when their minibus was attacked in the Mishraq district," a medic at the Sadr teaching hospital said. posted 26 July 2004

Hostages' families wait and worry

Insurgents in Iraq have changed their tactics, and this week has been full of hostage-takings. Families, from India to Kenya, now worry about he fate of their loved ones.

Hundreds of villagers gathered at the houses of the three Indians taken hostage in Iraq on Wednesday to pray for their release. Antaryami, Tilak Raj and Sukhdev Singh were captured two days ago along with four other truck drivers

At the same time, more reports of hostages continue to come in: Mohamed Mamdouh Qutb, an Egyptian diplomat; Raad Adnan, director of a state-owned Iraqi construction company; Pakistanis, Bulgarians, Kenyans, and other foreign workers have gone missing and are believed to be captured as well. posted 24 July 2004

Marines kill 25 insurgents in Ramadi

Marines killed 25 insurgents and captured another 25 during fighting today in Ramadi, west of Baghdad. .

The fighting Wednesday in Ramadi wounded 14 U.S. servicemen, but none of the injuries were life-threatening. Ten of the wounded returned to duty, the Marines said.

In Baghdad, insurgents fought U.S. soldiers on Haifa Street. Interior Ministry official Sabah Khadum said Iraqi police and intelligence forces arrested 200 people, including several ''non-Iraqi Arabs,'' during the Haifa Street operation and discovered a huge cache of weapons. posted 22 July 2004

Army Asks Guards to Stay Longer

The Army is asking some National Guard troops serving in Iraq to volunteer to stay on active duty beyond a statutory two-year limit for such service, officials said on Wednesday, in a fresh sign of the strain on the U.S. military amid operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. About 40 percent of U.S. forces in Iraq are National Guard and Reserve troops summoned from civilian life into active duty.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said "we don't plan at the moment" to extend such reserve troops involuntarily beyond the two-year limit, but added "one should never say never." The issue is being confronted as about 400 soldiers from the Arkansas National Guard, serving with the 39th Brigade Combat Team in Iraq, approach the two-year limit, set by federal law and Pentagon policy, for reserve troops mobilized into active duty from civilian life.

But with the Pentagon relying heavily on reservists to maintain troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan, many other troops may soon be bumping up against the two-year limit. posted 21 July 2004

Basra Governor-candidate Assasinated

Hazim Tawfiq al-Ainachi the interim governor and candidate for permanent governorship of the Iraqi southern city of Basra was assasinated today, along with his two body guards, as he left his home.

This was the latest in a series of killings of high-ranking officials in the new Iraqi administration, which took over from the US-led occupation at the end of June. High-profile killings and attacks against Iraq’s fledgling security services form a pattern of seemingly well organised rebellion against the interim government.

Basra is the second largest city in Iraq and its largest port. Located about 500 miles south of Baghdad it is occupied by British troops. posted 20 July 2004

9 killed by suicide bomb

A suicide bomber driving a fuel tanker detonated his bomb in front on a Baghdad police station, killing 9 and wounding more than 60. Police and civilians were trapped in a fiery inferno in a day marked by violence.

The morning blast outside the police station in the Seidiyeh neighborhood, the latest in a string of deadly attacks on police, came as officers gathered to receive their daily assignments. The explosion leveled car repair garages and other industrial workshops. Cars were crushed under concrete, while others turned into flaming wrecks. Corrugated metal roofs were twisted and chunks of buildings were scattered hundreds of yards away.

Earlier, Militants attacked and killed Essam al-Dijaili, the head of the military's supply department, in a drive-by shooting as he walked into his house in Baghdad. Four gunmen drove up as al-Dijaili was carrying dinner into his home Sunday night and opened fire, killing him and his bodyguard. posted 19 July 2004

Iraq: testground for new ways to kill

The war in Iraq has become the perfect environment for developing new and more effective ways to kill. In a game of technological one-upsmandship, the U.S. and counterinsurgents, are rapidly adapting their killing methods and devices. .

"It's this constant chess match," said Captain J. Philip Ludvigson of the Stryker Brigade, named for the nimble armored vehicle that made the sweeps. "They change their techniques around and find out new ways to kill us, and we figure out new ways to counter it." While most of the 778 attacks this year have involved simple "improvised explosive devices", or IEDs, their level of sophistication continues to grow.

At the onset of the war, the US military and contractors pointed to their technological prowness....only to be caught short by the reality on the ground. As the war has intensified, it has become evident that insurgents are being supplied technological knowledge and materials and adapting quickly.

Some think that bombings are being carried out by simple laborers and are not about ideology, only income. "In some cases I feel straight up that the guys are just making money," said Captain Robert Cope, an expert on destroying unexploded bombs in the 744th Ordnance Company. Many in the US use the same arguments to dismiss the exhorbitant fees that are paid to US defense contractors. posted 16 July 2004

even older news items >>

>> Americans imprison children in Iraq, too
Many of the children are being held in a special wing at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad......[more]
posted 04 August 2004

>> Mubarak: Gen. Tommy Franks lied about Iraq
Egypt has strongly denied that President Hosni Mubarak told a top US general before the US-led war against Iraq in March 2003 that Baghdad had weapons of mass destruction.......[more]
posted 03 August 2004

>> Powell vows to "battle on" in Iraq
US Secretary of State Colin Powell vowed that Washington would battle on in Iraq, bogged down in a worsening foreign hostage crisis and persistent clashes between US troops and insurgents ......[more]
posted 30 July 2004

>> Eygpt says kidnapped diplomat released
An Egyptian diplomat, Mohammed Mamdouh Helmi Qutb, held hostage by militants in Iraq for three days was released Monday and was in good condition, Egyptian diplomats said. ......[more]
posted 26 July 2004

>> Peace protestors picket Dems in Boston
A lot of people in the US are opposed to the war in Iraq, and they want to vote for a party that will bring the troops home. The Democratic Party has not promised to do that, which is why many protesters have gathered in Boston ......[more]
posted 22 July 2004

>> Army acknowledges more prison abuses
The U.S. military has found 94 cases of confirmed or alleged abuse of prisoners by U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan since the fall of 2001, the Army's inspector general said Thursday in a long-awaited report ......[more]
posted 22 July 2004

>> Powell argues for "peace through war"
Secretary of State Colin Powell says sometimes the way to extend peace is "by using war." Powell made this assertion during a speech at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington......[more]
posted 16 July 2004

>> Free speech silenced on July 4th
A Texas couple wearing anti-Bush t-shirts was handcuffed and removed from a Fourth of July Bush-Cheney campaign rally in Charleston, West Virginia.....[more]
posted 14 July 2004