U.S. Strikes Two Rebel Strongholds

[David]

AP


Iraqi forces backed by U.S. soldiers and Marines raided mosques Tuesday in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi and detained a prominent cleric following fierce clashes that hospital officials said killed at least four people.

U.S. aircraft also rocketed a mosque northwest of Ramadi on Monday after insurgents opened fire from there on U.S. Marines, the U.S. command said.

In insurgent-held Fallujah, U.S. warplanes struck twice early Tuesday, destroying a popular restaurant and a house which the U.S. command said were used by members of Iraq's most feared terrorist organization, led by Jordanian-born extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. At least five people were killed and two wounded, the city hospital said.

U.S. forces have also clashed with insurgents holed up in mosques in other areas.

On Monday, U.S. aircraft attacked a mosque in the nearby town of Hit and set it on fire after insurgents hiding in the shrine opened fire on American Marines, the U.S. military said.

In other developments:


In Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, insurgents opened fire from a mosque after a car bomb exploded in front of a U.S. convoy, the military said. One U.S. soldier was killed and nine were wounded, the military said. City hospitals reported at least two Iraqis killed and 18 wounded.


A bomb exploded Tuesday outside the complex of the British and American consulates in the southern city of Basra, police said. There were no casualties reported, said Police Capt. Mushtaq Taleb.


Three Bulgarian soldiers were injured in a mortar attack on their base in Iraq, the Ministry of Defense in Sofia said Tuesday. The incident occurred late Monday at the Bulgarian Camp Kilo in the central Iraqi city of Karbala, the ministry said.


The chairman of a Turkish construction company whose employees were released by kidnappers said Tuesday his firm will not withdraw from Iraq because it was unclear whether the abductions were politically motivated.


While U.S. inspectors now say Iraq lacked any nuclear weapons program before the war, the International Atomic Energy Agency is warning that Iraqi equipment that could have been used in a bomb program has gone missing.

The seven mosques targeted in Ramadi are suspected of supporting insurgents through a range of activities, including harboring terrorists, storing illegal weapons caches, promoting violence and encouraging insurgent recruitment, the command said.

Sheikh Abdul-Aleim Saadi, the provincial leader of the influential Association of Muslim Scholars, was detained at Mohammed Aref Mosque, his relatives and followers said.

Angry residents accused Americans of disrespecting the sanctity of city mosques.

"This cowboy behavior cannot be accepted," said cleric Abdullah Abu Omar of the Ramadi Mosque. "The Americans seem to have lost their senses and have gone out of control."

The 1st Marine Division said the raids followed a pattern of insurgent activity in and around Ramadi mosques in recent weeks.

"The 1st Marine Division respects the religious and cultural significance represented by mosques," it said in a statement. "However, when insurgents violate the sanctity of the mosque by using the structure for military purposes, the site loses its protective status."

The participation of American Marines and soldiers in the raids was limited to supporting Iraqi security forces, said Brig. Gen. Joseph Dunford, assistant division commander of the 1st Marine Division.

The raids followed two days of clashes in Ramadi, a Sunni militant stronghold 70 miles west of Baghdad. Insurgents fired two mortars at the city hall and neighboring police directorate Monday night, sparking gunfire and rocket-propelled grenade exchanges, residents said.

Three policemen and a civilian were killed, said Dr. Dhia Abdul-Karim, at the city hospital.

U.S. and Iraqi forces are trying to clamp down on rebel enclaves in time to hold nationwide elections in January.

Al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad terror network has claimed responsibility for numerous car bombings, kidnappings and beheadings of foreign hostages, including American businessman Nicholas Berg, South Korean translator Kim Sung-il, British civil engineer Kenneth Bigley and U.S. engineers Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley.

U.S. commanders say weeks of air and ground strikes in Fallujah have inflicted serious damage to al-Zarqawi's network. Tuesday's strikes were the first since Oct. 6. The Iraqi government has reported progress in negotiations to restore control over the city 40 miles west of Baghdad.

A 12:01 a.m. blast flattened the Haj Hussein restaurant as well as nearby shops, residents said. The restaurant was closed at the time, but two night guards were killed, said Dr. Ahmed Thaer of Fallujah General Hospital.

The U.S. military command in Baghdad made no mention of the restaurant but said the target was used as a meeting place for the Tawhid and Jihad network.

"Following the engagement, secondary explosions were reported, indicating the strong likelihood of weapons caches and explosive devices," the statement said. "Terrorists frequently planned operations from this location."

The second blast occurred at 4:02 a.m. and flattened a building in northeastern Fallujah that the military said was a known terrorist safehouse. Intelligence sources confirmed that al-Zarqawi associates were using the building at the time of the strike, a military statement said.

At least three people were killed and two wounded in that blast, Thaer said.

The latest violence came a day after Shiite fighters in Baghdad's Sadr City slum unloaded cars full of machine guns, mortars and land mines as a five-day, weapons-for-cash disarmament program got started.

A lasting peace in the sprawling slum would allow U.S. and Iraqi forces to focus on the mounting Sunni insurgency in Fallujah, Ramadi and elsewhere. Underscoring the threat, two American soldiers were killed in a rocket attack in another part of the capital Monday.

[Jerry D]

David I am glad to see that we are starting to go ahead with attacking terrorist where ever they hole up and not putting up anymore No play zones around Mosques. If the public in Iraq don't want us attacking their Mosque then don't allow scum to misuse the sanctity of the Mosque to avoid capture

[Bill Farnie]

What Jerry D said