Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Times
January 26, 2008
Pg. 6
By Steven R. Hurst, Associated Press
BAGHDAD — Shaken by two days of deadly bombings, the government said yesterday that it would dispatch several thousand more security forces to Mosul in a "decisive" bid to drive al Qaeda in Iraq from its last major stronghold.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki gave no details on troop strength or when the additional police and soldiers would arrive in Iraq's main northern city. But it added to growing signs that Mosul could represent a pivotal showdown with insurgents chased north by U.S.-led offensives.
"Today, our troops started moving toward Mosul ... and the fight there will be decisive," Mr. al-Maliki said during a speech in the Shi'ite holy city of Karbala.
The challenge, however, is whether the Iraqi forces have the firepower and training to lead an offensive into Iraq's third-largest city. The U.S. military is relatively thin across northern Iraq and has signaled no immediate plans to shift troops from key zones in and around Baghdad.
Mosul is now considered the main logistical hub for al Qaeda in Iraq because of its size and location, at a crossroads of Baghdad, Syria, Turkey and Iran. Many extremists fled north as U.S.-led forces began gaining ground in former insurgent strongholds last year, aided by Sunni tribes that rose up against al Qaeda and its backers.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said 3,000 police were being sent to the Mosul region to augment the understaffed force.
Nineveh province, whose capital is Mosul, has about 18,000 policemen, but only about 3,000 of those operate in the city of nearly 2 million, said police spokesman Saeed al-Jubouri.
Mr. al-Maliki announced reinforcements for Mosul two days after an abandoned apartment building, thought to be used as a bomb-making factory, was blown apart as the Iraqi army was investigating tips about a weapons cache.
At least 34 persons were killed and 224 wounded when the blast tore through surrounding houses in the Zanjili neighborhood, a poverty-ridden district on the west bank of the Tigris River. No soldiers were reported killed.
A suicide bomber then killed a police chief and two other officers Thursday as they toured the devastation. Residents taunted the chief and pelted him with rocks moments before he was killed.
South of Baghdad, meanwhile, Iraqi troops backed by U.S. helicopters raided a suspected al Qaeda in Iraq stronghold near Madain, a predominantly Sunni town.
Twelve militants, including two female fighters and four men trying to plant roadside bombs, were killed, police said.
Also yesterday, the U.S. military said American and Iraqi troops had cleared a bomb-infested route between Baqouba and Khan Bani Saad, a strategic village on the northern outskirts of Baghdad. The statement said the troops killed an estimated 41 al Qaeda in Iraq militant suspects.
January 26, 2008
Pg. 6
By Steven R. Hurst, Associated Press
BAGHDAD — Shaken by two days of deadly bombings, the government said yesterday that it would dispatch several thousand more security forces to Mosul in a "decisive" bid to drive al Qaeda in Iraq from its last major stronghold.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki gave no details on troop strength or when the additional police and soldiers would arrive in Iraq's main northern city. But it added to growing signs that Mosul could represent a pivotal showdown with insurgents chased north by U.S.-led offensives.
"Today, our troops started moving toward Mosul ... and the fight there will be decisive," Mr. al-Maliki said during a speech in the Shi'ite holy city of Karbala.
The challenge, however, is whether the Iraqi forces have the firepower and training to lead an offensive into Iraq's third-largest city. The U.S. military is relatively thin across northern Iraq and has signaled no immediate plans to shift troops from key zones in and around Baghdad.
Mosul is now considered the main logistical hub for al Qaeda in Iraq because of its size and location, at a crossroads of Baghdad, Syria, Turkey and Iran. Many extremists fled north as U.S.-led forces began gaining ground in former insurgent strongholds last year, aided by Sunni tribes that rose up against al Qaeda and its backers.
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said 3,000 police were being sent to the Mosul region to augment the understaffed force.
Nineveh province, whose capital is Mosul, has about 18,000 policemen, but only about 3,000 of those operate in the city of nearly 2 million, said police spokesman Saeed al-Jubouri.
Mr. al-Maliki announced reinforcements for Mosul two days after an abandoned apartment building, thought to be used as a bomb-making factory, was blown apart as the Iraqi army was investigating tips about a weapons cache.
At least 34 persons were killed and 224 wounded when the blast tore through surrounding houses in the Zanjili neighborhood, a poverty-ridden district on the west bank of the Tigris River. No soldiers were reported killed.
A suicide bomber then killed a police chief and two other officers Thursday as they toured the devastation. Residents taunted the chief and pelted him with rocks moments before he was killed.
South of Baghdad, meanwhile, Iraqi troops backed by U.S. helicopters raided a suspected al Qaeda in Iraq stronghold near Madain, a predominantly Sunni town.
Twelve militants, including two female fighters and four men trying to plant roadside bombs, were killed, police said.
Also yesterday, the U.S. military said American and Iraqi troops had cleared a bomb-infested route between Baqouba and Khan Bani Saad, a strategic village on the northern outskirts of Baghdad. The statement said the troops killed an estimated 41 al Qaeda in Iraq militant suspects.