Bill
04-06-2008, 05:41 PM
Rocket attacks on the green zoners continue.
Trouble in the kurdish regions too. Some strange deal where insurgents kidnapped a bunch of college students, apparently thinking they were iraqi police.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23977964/
A rocket attack on the U.S.-protected Green Zone on Sunday killed three American soldiers and wounded at least 31 people, a military official said. The strike came after heavy fighting in a Baghdad neighborhood that left 20 dead and more than 50 wounded in the worst violence here since a cease-fire was declared a week ago.
At least two rockets struck the sprawling Green Zone in central Baghdad, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to release the information. A separate strike happened in southeastern Baghdad.
The Green Zone has faced frequent attacks amid fierce clashes between Shiite militia fighters and U.S.-Iraqi forces.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attacks, but the military has in the past blamed Iranian-backed rogue Shiite militia groups loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Overnight, Iraqi troops backed by U.S. forces battled those fighters in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood.
Officials at two local hospitals said 20 people were killed and 52 wounded. The sources did not say whether the casualties were civilians or fighters. U.S. and Iraqi forces released no information about the casualties.
A police officer said that a U.S. Stryker armored personnel carrier was damaged in the fighting, which continued with sporadic exchanges of fire through Sunday morning.
Two armored Humvee vehicles and two trucks belonging to the Iraqi army were also destroyed, said the officer, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The U.S. military said it had no information about a Stryker being damaged.
An Iraqi government offensive against the Mahdi army in the southern city of Basra ground to a halt last week amid fierce resistance. Al-Sadr issued a cease-fire order and the government agreed to halt raids against his followers.
Although scattered clashes continued between his fighters and Iraqi security forces, the Iraqi government relaxed security measures Saturday around the Mahdi Army strongholds of Sadr City and the Shula neighborhood.
In an effort to ease conditions for Sadr City’s 2.5 million residents, the government has allowed trucks carrying maintenance teams, food, oil products and ambulances into the area.
A vehicle ban remains in effect as part of a curfew imposed on Baghdad after fighting broke out between government forces and Shiite militants March 25. The curfew has been lifted in the rest of Baghdad.
Students kidnapped, released
In the north, Brig. Gen. Khalid Abdul-Sattar said 42 students were waylaid about 20 miles south of Mosul on the main highway to Baghdad. Three other students on a second bus were wounded when gunmen opened fire as the driver managed to speed away, he said.
The hijacked bus was then driven onto a farm road, where all the students were released after the gunmen made sure they were not members of the security forces, Abdul-Sattar said.
The two top American officials in Iraq — Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker — are to brief Congress on Tuesday on the situation in Iraq and prospects for further reductions in the U.S. troop presence.
Trouble in the kurdish regions too. Some strange deal where insurgents kidnapped a bunch of college students, apparently thinking they were iraqi police.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23977964/
A rocket attack on the U.S.-protected Green Zone on Sunday killed three American soldiers and wounded at least 31 people, a military official said. The strike came after heavy fighting in a Baghdad neighborhood that left 20 dead and more than 50 wounded in the worst violence here since a cease-fire was declared a week ago.
At least two rockets struck the sprawling Green Zone in central Baghdad, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to release the information. A separate strike happened in southeastern Baghdad.
The Green Zone has faced frequent attacks amid fierce clashes between Shiite militia fighters and U.S.-Iraqi forces.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attacks, but the military has in the past blamed Iranian-backed rogue Shiite militia groups loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Overnight, Iraqi troops backed by U.S. forces battled those fighters in Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood.
Officials at two local hospitals said 20 people were killed and 52 wounded. The sources did not say whether the casualties were civilians or fighters. U.S. and Iraqi forces released no information about the casualties.
A police officer said that a U.S. Stryker armored personnel carrier was damaged in the fighting, which continued with sporadic exchanges of fire through Sunday morning.
Two armored Humvee vehicles and two trucks belonging to the Iraqi army were also destroyed, said the officer, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The U.S. military said it had no information about a Stryker being damaged.
An Iraqi government offensive against the Mahdi army in the southern city of Basra ground to a halt last week amid fierce resistance. Al-Sadr issued a cease-fire order and the government agreed to halt raids against his followers.
Although scattered clashes continued between his fighters and Iraqi security forces, the Iraqi government relaxed security measures Saturday around the Mahdi Army strongholds of Sadr City and the Shula neighborhood.
In an effort to ease conditions for Sadr City’s 2.5 million residents, the government has allowed trucks carrying maintenance teams, food, oil products and ambulances into the area.
A vehicle ban remains in effect as part of a curfew imposed on Baghdad after fighting broke out between government forces and Shiite militants March 25. The curfew has been lifted in the rest of Baghdad.
Students kidnapped, released
In the north, Brig. Gen. Khalid Abdul-Sattar said 42 students were waylaid about 20 miles south of Mosul on the main highway to Baghdad. Three other students on a second bus were wounded when gunmen opened fire as the driver managed to speed away, he said.
The hijacked bus was then driven onto a farm road, where all the students were released after the gunmen made sure they were not members of the security forces, Abdul-Sattar said.
The two top American officials in Iraq — Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker — are to brief Congress on Tuesday on the situation in Iraq and prospects for further reductions in the U.S. troop presence.