Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
February 19, 2008
Pg. 11
By Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Mudhafer al-Huseini
BAGHDAD — Five Iraqi civilians were killed when a barrage of rockets struck the large American military base near Baghdad International Airport and a nearby neighborhood late Monday afternoon, according to American and Iraqi officials.
Though mortar and rocket attacks are still common, the volley was unusually intense. At least 2 American soldiers and 14 Iraqi civilians, including 6 children, were wounded.
American and Iraqi forces arrested six suspects at the launching site, which an Interior Ministry official said was in the Amel section of western Baghdad, an area with a heavy presence of Mahdi Army militiamen loyal to the anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr.
The ministry official said at least 11 rockets had been fired, and the military said one unexploded rocket had been found. Some rockets struck Camp Victory, the American military’s sprawling complex on the outskirts of western Baghdad.
There were several reports that mortars or rockets also hit the heavily protected Green Zone compound in central Baghdad, but a senior American military official denied them.
Mr. Sadr imposed a cease-fire last summer, and American officials have placed blame for some recent attacks on Iranian-backed “special groups” that include Shiite fighters not abiding by the cease-fire or expelled by the Mahdi Army.
American officials say there is growing evidence that those groups are using large stockpiles of weapons to carry out attacks. Earlier on Monday, the American military reported that it had captured a leader of the special groups operating in western Baghdad.
Along with the emergence of American-financed militias that have taken up arms against extremist Sunni militants, the cease-fire has been a major factor in the sharp reduction of American deaths in Baghdad.
Also Monday, three Iraqi civilians were killed and four were wounded by an improvised bomb in the volatile northern city of Mosul. Another civilian was shot to death in the city by unknown gunmen, Iraqi authorities said.
An Iraqi employee of The New York Times contributed reporting from Mosul.
February 19, 2008
Pg. 11
By Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Mudhafer al-Huseini
BAGHDAD — Five Iraqi civilians were killed when a barrage of rockets struck the large American military base near Baghdad International Airport and a nearby neighborhood late Monday afternoon, according to American and Iraqi officials.
Though mortar and rocket attacks are still common, the volley was unusually intense. At least 2 American soldiers and 14 Iraqi civilians, including 6 children, were wounded.
American and Iraqi forces arrested six suspects at the launching site, which an Interior Ministry official said was in the Amel section of western Baghdad, an area with a heavy presence of Mahdi Army militiamen loyal to the anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr.
The ministry official said at least 11 rockets had been fired, and the military said one unexploded rocket had been found. Some rockets struck Camp Victory, the American military’s sprawling complex on the outskirts of western Baghdad.
There were several reports that mortars or rockets also hit the heavily protected Green Zone compound in central Baghdad, but a senior American military official denied them.
Mr. Sadr imposed a cease-fire last summer, and American officials have placed blame for some recent attacks on Iranian-backed “special groups” that include Shiite fighters not abiding by the cease-fire or expelled by the Mahdi Army.
American officials say there is growing evidence that those groups are using large stockpiles of weapons to carry out attacks. Earlier on Monday, the American military reported that it had captured a leader of the special groups operating in western Baghdad.
Along with the emergence of American-financed militias that have taken up arms against extremist Sunni militants, the cease-fire has been a major factor in the sharp reduction of American deaths in Baghdad.
Also Monday, three Iraqi civilians were killed and four were wounded by an improvised bomb in the volatile northern city of Mosul. Another civilian was shot to death in the city by unknown gunmen, Iraqi authorities said.
An Iraqi employee of The New York Times contributed reporting from Mosul.