Iraqi
Resistance Report for events of Friday, 18 July 2008. Translated and/or
compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab
Voice.
http://www.freearabvoice.org
Friday, 18 July 2008.
· US announces death of American soldier in al-Mawsil on Tuesday.
· Prominent leader of Sadr Movement in Baghdad assassinated as
preparations for US attack on Iran continue.
· Iranian artillery blasts positions of Kurdish separatists backed by
US in northern Iraq.
· British forces taking part in joint operations together with Iraqi
regime troops against Jaysh al-Mahdi militia in al-Basrah as
preparations continue for US attack on Iran.
Baghdad.
Bomb targets US patrol in eastern Baghdad midday Friday.
In a dispatch posted on its Arabic website at 7:06pm Friday afternoon
Beijing time (2:06pm in Baghdad), the Xinhua News Agency reported that a
bomb exploded by a US patrol in eastern Baghdad’s al-Habibiyah district
at midday Friday.
Xinhua reported a source in the Iraqi government police as saying that
the attack took place in an area regarded as a stronghold of the
anti-occupation Jaysh al-Mahdi militia. The source asserted that four
Iraqi civilians who happened to be in the area were wounded in the
blast, but had no information regarding the nature or extent of American
casualties since the US forces closed the area immediately after the
attack.
Since March, the US-backed Iraqi regime has been actively engaged in an
offensive against the anti-occupation Sadr Movement and its armed wing,
the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia, in Iraq, in what is believed to be
preparation for an American attack on Iran.
US announces arrest of five militiamen in Baghdad who, it says, were
linked to Iran.
In a dispatch posted on its Arabic website at 5:21pm Friday afternoon
Beijing time (12:21pm in Baghdad), the Xinhua News Agency reported that
the American occupation authorities had announced that US troops had
arrested five members of a Shi‘i militia linked to Iran and referred to
by American sources as “Special Groups.” The US declared that the
arrest took place near the Madinat as-Sadr district of Baghdad early
Friday morning.
Xinhua reported an American communiqué as saying that the arrest was
targeted on the figure responsible for financing the Iranian-backed
“Special Groups” who was located 3km northwest of Baghdad’s Madinat as-Sadr
district. Three people were arrested at that location and another two
people were arrested elsewhere in the neighborhood.
Prominent leader of Sadr Movement in Baghdad assassinated as
preparations for US attack on Iran continue.
In a dispatch posted at 9:52am Baghdad time Friday morning, the Yaqen
News Agency reported that a high-ranking leader of the anti-occupation
Sadr Movement in Baghdad had been assassinated.
Yaqen reported Shaykh ‘Ala’ al-Baghdadi, spokesman for the Sadr Office
in an-Najaf, as saying that Safa’ al-Lami, a leader of the Sadr Movement
had been accosted and shot to death on Thursday. Al-Baghdadi said that
al-Lami had been a student of the late Shi‘i cleric as-Sayyid as-Sadr
II, and was close to the anti-occupation Shi‘i religious leader Muqtada
as-Sadr.
The assassination was the latest in a series of murders of prominent
leaders in the Sadr Movement that have been taking place as the US and
its Iraqi regime allies have been waging an open offensive against the
movement in apparent preparation for an eventual US attack on Iran. The
assassination of as-Sayyid Riyad an-Nuri, an in-law of Muqtada as-Sadr,
and his closest aide produced splits within and around the Sadr
Movement, with some accusing an “extremist wing” of the movement of
being behind the murder, while others pointed the finger at rival
political parties and militias.
Zuhayr al-Kufi, Commander of the Sadr Movement militia, the Jaysh al-Mahdi,
in al-Kufah accused political parties in the Iraqi regime of Nuri al-Maliki
of being behind the assassinations of Sadrists, denying that any
“extremist” dissenters had been responsible for the killings. Al-Kufi
declared: “although there are internal splits, the existence of which we
acknowledge, that does not impel the members of the Movement to take up
arms against one another.”
Since March, the US-backed Iraqi regime has been actively engaged in an
offensive against the anti-occupation Sadr Movement and its armed wing,
the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia, in Iraq, in what is believed to be
preparation for an American attack on Iran.
Salah ad-Din Province.
Samarra’.
Samarra’ regular police raid tribal “Awakening” police chief’s home,
free hostage.
In a dispatch posted at 9:35am Baghdad time Friday morning, the Yaqen
News Agency reported that a force made up of special units of the police
and a large detachment of fighters of the Samarra’ Operations Command
raided the home of Shaykh Khalid Falih, a chief of the al-Bu Baz tribes,
in the al-Mu‘tasim neighborhood of central Samarra’, 120km north of
Baghdad.
Yaqen reported a source in the government police as saying that the
force, under the command of Captain Muthanna Shakir, Commander of the
Rapid Intervention Force in Samarra’, raided the home, which is also the
headquarters of the tribal “Awakening” police. There, the raiders
released a Samarra’ police officer by the name of Basim whom the
“Awakening” tribesmen had arrested at his home in the city without legal
justification.
Witnesses told Yaqen that more than six police vehicles and a large
force of the Samarra’ Operations regiment surrounded the area and
launched a search for the kidnapped policeman.
Yaqen noted that the US had launched “Awakening” police contingents by
winning support of Bedouin tribes about a year and a half ago in order,
severely undercutting Iraqi resistance activity in Sunni parts of Iraq.
Recently, however, the Iraqi regime of Nuri al-Maliki has recently been
working with Tariq al-Hashimi, the head of the Sunni collaborationist
Islamic Party, to curtail the sphere of activity of the “Awakening.” As
a result there has been a rise in anti-regime attacks, reported as
resistance activity, in recent weeks.
Diyala Province.
Ba‘qubah.
Tribal collaborationist leader survives assassination attempt.
In a dispatch posted at 3:05pm Baghdad time Friday afternoon, the Yaqen
News Agency reported that a commander in the “Awakening” tribal “Popular
Committees” near Ba‘qubah, 65km northeast of Baghdad, has survived an
assassination attempt.
Yaqen reported a government source as saying that the commander, known
as Abu Bismillah, survived the explosion of a booby-trapped motorcycle
that blew up near his home in ad-Dawasir. The source, who asked not to
be identified, said that the vehicle blew up after Abu Bismillah had
gone into his house. The blast wounded two people and caused material
damaged.
Ninwa Province.
Al-Mawsil.
Car bomber blasts patrol, killing three Iraqi troops north of al-Mawsil,
Friday afternoon.
In a dispatch posted on its Arabic website at 8:16pm Friday evening
Beijing time (3:16pm in Baghdad), the Xinhua News Agency reported that a
car bomber blasted into a patrol of Iraqi army troops in the junction
for the village of Filfayl, 25km north of al-Mawsil (which is 420km
northwest of Baghdad) after noon on Friday.
Xinhua reported a source in the al-Mawsil police as saying that three
soldiers in the Iraqi patrol were killed and another seven wounded. Two
patrol vehicles were totally destroyed and more than 10 private cars
that happened to be in the area were damaged in the attack.
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.
US announces death of American soldier in al-Mawsil on Tuesday.
In a dispatch posted at 2:45pm Baghdad time Friday afternoon, the Yaqen
News Agency reported that the US Department of Defense had announced
that one of its troops in Iraq had died from injuries received in a
traffic accident on Tuesday in al-Mawsil, 420km northwest of Baghdad.
As-Sulaymaniyah Province.
As-Sulaymaniyah.
Iranian artillery blasts positions of Kurdish separatists backed by US
in northern Iraq.
In a dispatch posted at 11:07am Baghdad time Friday morning, the
Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq (AMSI) reported that Iranian
heavy artillery had pounded positions of the US-backed PJAK Kurdish
separatist militia in the Bashdar area of as-Sulaymaniyah Province and
the Sawran area of Irbil Province late on Thursday night.
The AMSI reported an official in the PJAK Party, who refused to be
identified, as saying that the Iranian heavy artillery began its
bombardment late on Thursday night, targeting the foothills of the
Qandil Mountains in Bashdar, 160km northeast of as-Sulaymaniyah. The
bombardment was still underway as of the time of reporting, the source
declared, adding that it had set fire to agricultural land in the
vicinity of the villages of Shannawah, Sabiyah Kull, Wadi Kawk, Kawtaran,
Razkah, and Mardu in the Zarawah area of Bashdar.
The source said that no reports of casualties as a result of the barrage
had been received. The areas in which the PJAK is based have come under
periodic Iranian attack, and villagers have reportedly already fled the
region.
For several days, in the first week of June, Iranian artillery carried
on daily bombardments of fighters of he PJAK Kurdish separatist fighters
near the Iranian
border in northern Iraq. Iran reportedly blasted PJAK positions in the
Bashdar area again on 9 July.
The PJAK Movement, a branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
reportedly receives arms, training, and targeting information from the
US and “Israel” and
carries out repeated attacks on Iranian territory from US-occupied
Iraq. PJAK’s aim is the overthrow of the Iranian government and its
replacement with a western-dominated regime.
Al-Basrah Province.
Al-Basrah.
British forces take part in joint operations together with Iraqi regime
troops against Jaysh al-Mahdi militia in al-Basrah as preparations
continue for US attack on Iran.
In a dispatch posted at 10:12am Baghdad time Friday morning, the Yaqen
News Agency reported that Britain had stated that its forces were
carrying out joint operations together with its allies in the Iraqi
regime against the anti-occupation Jaysh al-Mahdi militia in the
southern city of al-Basrah.
Yaqen reported a British spokesman in southern Iraq as saying that
British forces began their joint operations with the Iraqi regime troops
on Friday, targeting the area of al-Latif to the north of al-Basrah. He
said that the activity is to continue for a week and claimed that the
aim of the operations was to prevent the Jaysh al-Mahdi from attacking
civilians. The Jaysh al-Mahdi has been blamed, however, for recent
bombardments that targeted the British base at al-Basrah International
Airport.
In addition, since March, the US-backed Iraqi regime has been actively
engaged in an offensive against the anti-occupation Sadr Movement and
its armed wing, the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia, in Iraq, in what is believed
to be preparation for an American attack on Iran.
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