U.S. troops build wall of sand around Iraqi town By Ghazwan al-Jibouri
2 hours, 20 minutes ago
U.S. soldiers fed up with almost daily bomb attacks on their patrols near Iraq's main oil refinery are taking drastic measures to fight their shadowy enemy -- they're walling in an entire town.
Army bulldozers have begun building giant sand embankments around Siniya, a town of 50,000 close to the northern oil refining city of Baiji. When finished it will be 10 km (6 miles) long and more than 2 meters (nearly 8 feet) high.
The U.S. army says it is to keep insurgents out and that it is being built with the agreement of local police, town council members and religious leaders, who complain that Siniya is being used as a safe haven by insurgents.
But some angry residents, including the head of the city council, complain it appears designed to keep residents in.
"We oppose the building of this wall because it makes the city looks like a detention center," said Nima al-Kawaz, the head of the city council.
The U.S. military hopes to repeat the success of a similar berm or sand wall that was built in August around Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, to stop insurgents from entering the city. It says violence there has since dropped off sharply.
Similar barriers have been built elsewhere in Iraq.
"I think this wall is good because it will prevent the terrorists from entering the city (Siniya). This is being done with the agreement of the sheikhs of the tribes, city council and police," U.S. Captain Christopher Judge, who is overseeing construction of the wall, told Reuters.
Siniya is about 15 km (10 miles) west of Baiji, home to Iraq's main refinery. Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division patrol the area.
CHANGE IN TACTICS
U.S. and Iraqi forces are subjected to almost daily roadside bomb attacks around Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad.
One of the counter-insurgency tactics which the U.S. military has employed is to use reconnaissance drones, which hover in the air hunting for insurgents digging holes in the road to plant improvised explosive devices.
On several occasions U.S. troops have called in air strikes, but these have angered Sunni Arab leaders who say innocent civilians have been killed in the attacks.
Last week, an air strike on a Baiji house killed seven members of an Iraqi family. The U.S. military said aircraft bombed the building when three men were spotted going into it after digging a hole that troops suspected was for a bomb.
Iraqi and U.S. soldiers began building the berm around Siniya on January 5 and it is expected to be completed in days. Iraqi security forces will man the access points into the village as well as guard towers along the wall.
The U.S. army said in a statement that the wall would prevent insurgents using the village as a base.
"As Siniya's community leaders have long insisted, those responsible for the violence were outsiders, not residents of the village," the statement said.
But Rafid Abbas, 25, who drives a fuel truck, said the barrier and checkpoints would strangle the town: "The wall hinders vehicle movement greatly," he told Reuters.
His comments echoed those of residents in Samarra, some of whom have complained that the berm around their city has devastated business and driven out thousands of people.
One Siniya resident was pessimistic that the wall would help flush out insurgents as the U.S. military hopes: "I think the U.S forces will conduct a strike after finding out that the wall is not useful," said Saleh Hussein, 44. |
