Iraqi
Resistance Report for events of Wednesday, 16 July 2008. Translated
and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free
Arab Voice.
http://www.freearabvoice.org
Wednesday, 16 July 2008.
· Fighting rages in streets of al-Hadithah as rival US-backed police
forces battle each other for lucrative American bridge reconstruction
contract.
· US announces deaths of two more American soldiers Monday, Tuesday.
· Car bomb kills 15, wounds 94 in residential neighborhood in Tall
‘Afar Wednesday.
· Bombs target US patrols in al-Mawsil.
· Major US airbase said planned for Halabjah as US preparations for
attack on Iran continue.
Al-Anbar Province.
Al-Hadithah.
Fighting rages in streets of al-Hadithah as rival US-backed police
forces battle each other for lucrative American bridge reconstruction
contract.
In a dispatch posted at 9:50pm Baghdad time Wednesday night, the Yaqen
News Agency reported that several gun battles erupted in the streets of
al-Hadithah, 270km northwest of Baghdad, on Wednesday, as rival
US-backed forces fought each other to secure a lucrative rebuilding
contract from the American occupation forces.
Yaqen reported its correspondent in the city as saying that members of
the local tribal “Awakening” police, recruited exclusively from
tribesmen of the al-Jaghayifah, fought regular government police in what
was the largest clash between the rival pro-American contingents since
the “Awakening” tribal police were first established by the Americans a
year and a half ago.
The correspondent reported that the fighting had produced “numerous”
casualties, but had no specific casualty count as of the time of
reporting.
Local witnesses reported that the fighters on both sides used light and
medium weapons and that gun battles had broken out on seven separate
occasions on Wednesday alone. The sides were reported to be fighting
each other over a lucrative contract for repairing the main al-Hadithah
Bridge that was bombed by US forces more than a year and a half ago.
After that strike, another eight bridges over the Euphrates in western
Iraq were destroyed, as the US sought to isolate the various towns – at
that time hotbeds of the resistance struggle – one from another.
Witnesses told Yaqen that both the “Awakening” tribal police and the
regular police forces were fighting for control over the bridge repair
project, a project that is expected to bring considerable financial
reward to whoever receives the contract from the Americans. The
witnesses explained that the funds that the Americans were planning to
allot for the repair would far exceed the actual cost of the work done
locally, and therefore the recipient of the contract were expecting to
pocket huge sums of money under the agreement with the US. The local
residents believed that American officers involved in assigning the
contract also would receive money as a result of the final award.
Baghdad.
US announces deaths of two more American soldiers Monday, Tuesday.
In a dispatch posted at 10am Baghdad time Wednesday morning, the Yaqen
News Agency reported that the US military announced Wednesday that two
of its soldiers had been killed in two separate incidents in the
provinces of Diyala and al-Anbar over the last two days.
Yaqen reported a US statement as saying that one American soldier died
when a bomb, planted inside a house somewhere in Diyala Province,
exploded on Tuesday.
A second US statement announced that an American Marine had died of
wounds received during military operations somewhere in al-Anbar
Province on Monday.
Both Diyala and al-Anbar Provinces have experienced an upsurge in al-Qa‘idah
attacks in recent weeks.
Mortar shell kills two in Baghdad Tuesday.
In a dispatch posted on its Arabic website at 8:21am Wednesday morning
Beijing time (3:21am in Baghdad), the Xinhua News Agency reported that a
mortar shell landed near the top security area around the Republican
Palace in downtown Baghdad – the area dubbed the “Green Zone” by US
forces – on Tuesday.
Xinhua reported a source in the Iraqi police as saying that the
projectile killed one traffic warden and one civilian when it exploded
at the ash-Shawwaf intersection near the
”28 April Complex” in the city after noon Tuesday.
Another nine people, including another traffic warden, were wounded in
the blast. All were taken to hospitals for treatment. The shell also
damaged a number of private cars and commercial shops in the area.
Babil Province.
Al-Iskandariyah.
Chief of tribal “Awakening” police killed by bomb planted in his car
near al-Iskandariyah.
In a dispatch posted at 10:30am Baghdad time Wednesday morning, the
Yaqen News Agency reported that a Salim ‘Abd al-Kazim, chief of the
tribal al-Khidr “Awakening”police was killed when a bomb exploded in his
car west of al-Iskandariyah (which is 40km south of Baghdad).
Yaqen reported witnesses as saying that ‘Abd al-Kazim had headed the
“Awakening” tribal police – recruited to serve the US occupation regime
– in the al-Khidr area near al-Musayyib, 70km south of Baghdad. He died
when a bomb exploded in his car as he was driving through the area west
of al-Iskandariyah on his way home.
The witnesses said that they thought someone had planted an adhesive
bomb in the care when ‘Abd al-Kazim left it in a car park at the
Electric power station when he attended a meeting with US troops at
their base 15km south of al-Iskandariyah.
The chief of police in al-Iskandariyah denied reports that had claimed
that ‘Abd al-Kazim had survived the blast but that it was his son who
had perished.
Ninwa Province.
Tall ‘Afar.
Car bomb kills 15, wounds 94 in residential neighborhood in Tall ‘Afar
Wednesday.
In a dispatch posted at 8:35pm Baghdad time Wednesday evening, the Yaqen
News Agency reported that a car bomb exploded in the residential
neighborhood at-Tali‘ah in Tall ‘Afar, 60km west of al-Mawsil in
northern Iraq on Wednesday.
In a dispatch posted at 10:10pm Wednesday night, Yaqen reported that
Brigadier General Najm ‘Abdallah al-Jabburi, the governor of the
district, had reported that 15 people had died and another 94 had been
injured in the massive car bombing.
Since 10 May, the US and its Iraqi regime allies have been waging an
offensive against the al-Qa‘idah organization in al-Mawsil and
surrounding Ninwa Province.
Al-Mawsil.
Car bomber targets US patrol in southeastern al-Mawsil after noon
Wednesday.
In a dispatch posted on its Arabic website at 8:56pm Wednesday evening
Beijing time (3:56pm in Baghdad), the Xinhua News Agency reported that a
man drove an explosives-packed car into a patrol of US troops at the al-Ma‘arid
intersection in southeastern al-Mawsil, 420km northwest of Baghdad, on
Wednesday afternoon.
Xinhua reported a source in the Iraqi government police as saying that
the car bomb explosion wounded six civilians, all of whom were taken to
a hospital for treatment. Since the US troops closed off the area
immediately after the attack, no information on the nature or extent of
American casualties, if any, was available.
Since 10 May, the US and its Iraqi regime allies have been waging an
offensive against the al-Qa‘idah organization in al-Mawsil and
surrounding Ninwa Province.
Bomb targets US patrol in northern al-Mawsil Wednesday morning.
In a dispatch posted on its Arabic website at 8:56pm Wednesday evening
Beijing time (3:56pm in Baghdad), the Xinhua News Agency reported that a
bomb exploded by a passing American patrol in the al-Muthanna
intersection in northern al-Mawsil, 420km northwest of Baghdad, on
Wednesday morning.
Xinhua reported a source in the Iraqi government police as saying that
the blast wounded two Iraqi civilians. No information on the nature or
extent of American casualties, if any, was available.
Since 10 May, the US and its Iraqi regime allies have been waging an
offensive against the al-Qa‘idah organization in al-Mawsil and
surrounding Ninwa Province.
As-Sulaymaniyah Province.
Halabjah.
Major US airbase said planned for Halabjah as US preparations for attack
on Iran continue.
In a dispatch posted at 7:15pm Baghdad time Wednesday evening, the Yaqen
News Agency reported that the mayor of the town of Halabjah, 364km
northeast of Baghdad, has announced that the municipality has set aside
a plot of land to the east of the city for an International Airport, the
construction of which is to be funded by the United States.
Yaqen reported an official source as saying that the project was an
official “cover” for the construction of an American airbase in the
Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq.
Khadar Karim Muhammad, Mayor of Halabjah, said that a 1,500-dunum plot
of land had been set aside for the airport construction project in
compliance with a request received from the US-backed Kurdistan enclave
government. Muhammad said that the city of Halabjah had carried out
what was requested of it and turned over a map of the plan site to the
Kurdistan enclave regime.
Halabjah, located 83km southeast of the provincial capital of as-Sulaymaniyah,
was the scene of a notorious poison gas attack that claimed the lives of
between 3,200 and 5,000 Kurdish townspeople, most of them civilian,
during the war between Iran and Iraq in March 1988.
Meanwhile, an official with the as-Sulaymaniyah provincial
administration, who asked that his official status not be disclosed,
expressed suspicions about the nature of the US-backed project. The
source said that the project was “bigger than a simple civil airport,”
and suggested that it was in reality a plan for the construction of a
major American-funded military base.
The source pointed out that the news of the project surfaced “at a time
when tensions between the United States and Iran are escalating,” and
expressed the view that the project was in fact “a step towards
construction of a military airfield near the Iranian border.”
Numerous US-backed officials of the Kurdish enclave government have said
on more than one occasion that they have no objection to the
construction of an American military base in northern Iraq. Yaqen noted
that Kurdish separatist leader and US-installed President of the
Kurdistan enclave, Mas‘ud Barzani, had told the French newspaper Le
Monde in early 2007 that he welcomed the idea of the construction of an
American base in the region.
Sources:
http://www.iraq-amsi.org/news.php?action=view&id=26415&d9f1d36879c22ecd8eb447032ebb7a4a
http://www.iraq-amsi.org/news.php?action=view&id=26413&5eae32810b5b159e04ed9b3599aad900
http://www.iraq-amsi.org/news.php?action=view&id=26411&991152fac58aac4c95a0a0e7deb13b93
http://www.iraq-amsi.org/news.php?action=view&id=26410&170c659028b66c0cd96a355b3b13347e
http://www.iraq-amsi.org/news.php?action=view&id=26407&ab5443f1c0a019fcc3123b1542008d1f
http://www.iraq-amsi.org/news.php?action=view&id=26406&b339b7ca22d36f25fc05cbd23fb02557
http://www.iraq-amsi.org/news.php?action=view&id=26405&c74cd5ea7e18463989bb7651de161b66
http://www.iraq-amsi.org/news.php?action=view&id=26404&904e9ff0592cb9a011513803ca0d09ea
http://www.iraq-amsi.org/news.php?action=view&id=26401&2ab8ae156d2db06acd6cd411a1676fbe
http://www.iraq-amsi.org/news.php?action=view&id=26399&d9d42ddef558d7ec0abcd6abdf3264fb
http://www.iraq-amsi.org/news.php?action=view&id=26398&ff43c0bf13d42f8795b6ecad6071c516
http://www.arabic.xinhuanet.com/arabic/2008-07/16/content_671493.htm
http://www.arabic.xinhuanet.com/arabic/2008-07/16/content_671061.htm
http://www.arabic.xinhuanet.com/arabic/2008-07/16/content_670868.htm
http://www.arabic.xinhuanet.com/arabic/2008-07/16/content_670752.htm
http://www.arabic.xinhuanet.com/arabic/2008-07/16/content_670746.htm
http://www.islammemo.cc/akhbar/arab/2008/07/16/66907.html
http://www.islammemo.cc/akhbar/arab/2008/07/16/66906.html
http://www.islammemo.cc/akhbar/arab/2008/07/16/66903.html
http://www.islammemo.cc/akhbar/American/2008/07/16/66896.html
http://www.islammemo.cc/akhbar/arab/2008/07/16/66894.html
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9655
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9654
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9653
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9650
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9648
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9647
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9646
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9644
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9642
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9640
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9638
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9637
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9636
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9635
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9634
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9633
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9631
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9630
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9629
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9628
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9627
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9626
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9625
http://www.yaqen.net/?p=9624
