Guess who has become SaddamII!
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US army launches Operation Desert Scorpion in northern Iraq
Sun Jun 15, 4:42 AM ET
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Coalition troops unleashed a new operation codenamed Desert Scorpion overnight, against forces loyal to ousted president Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) in northern Iraq (news - web sites), a coalition spokesman told AFP.
"It started last night, it is still ongoing," said Sergeant 1st Class Brian Thomas from coalition Joint Task Force 7.
"We are targeting anyone who is striking against US soldiers. Some of them are Baath Party members and some of them are against our peace efforts. We have detained people, but we don't have any numbers.
"We have received no report of US casualties," he said, without revealing the scale of Desert Scorpion.
The operation, focused "mostly in north and north west" Iraq, came on the heels of Operation Peninsula Strike, a massive six-day US military assault in north-central Iraq to clamp down on pro-Saddam fighters, which was brought to a close Thursday.
"The 4th Infantry Division and supporting units from Task Force Ironhorse, concluded an extensive raid on June 12, 2003," US Central Command (Centcom) said Sunday.
Peninsula Strike involved land, air and sea strikes "to capture or destroy terrorist elements," it said, adding that it resulted "in the capture of approximately 400 detainees and the seizure of numerous weapon systems and ammunition."
"Approximately 60 of the detainees remain in custody," it said.
The massive army campaign left at least 113 people dead, including at least one foreigner, according to a tally from Iraqi witnesses and US officials.
American military officials said 31 fighters had been killed but reported no US deaths.
But a Muslim leader from a village near the border with Syria told AFP that US forces killed 82 combatants at a desert training camp in nearby Sahl.
Some of the fighters appeared to have been summarily executed, said Sheikh Gharbi Abdul Aziz, imam of the main mosque at Rawa, a few kilometres (miles) from Sahl.
Rawa villagers who went to the camp found the corpses of seven people who had been handcuffed and shot in the forehead, chest or in the back of the head, the imam said.
He said the villagers had found another 50 bodies all in a line at the camp, which appears to have been used as a training ground by Saddam loyalists.
He said he helped bury 82 bodies after fighting erupted Thursday at dawn at the suspected extremist training camp.
The US military had reported killing 27 Iraqis after clashes broke out late Thursday, when a US 4th Infantry Division armoured patrol came under rocket propelled grenade attack near Balad, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) northeast of Baghdad.
Four other Iraqis died in Dhuluiya during a hunt for "Chemical Ali," Hassan al-Majid, a cousin of Saddam, witnesses told AFP.
It was the largest military assault since President George W. Bush (news - web sites) declared on May 1 that major combat was over in Iraq after the ousting of Saddam's regime in a three-week campaign by US-led forces.
But a respected Iraqi elder statesman criticsed the crackdown and urged Washington to devolve more power to the Iraqis.
Adnan Pachachi, a former foreign minister who returned to Iraq last month after 30 years in exile, said the military assault should be suspended while an interim Iraqi government is formed, according to the New York Times.
The newspaper quoted Pachachi as saying that military sweeps through civilian areas with mass arrests, interrogations and gun battles were inflaming sentiments against the American and British occupation.
He predicted that if such sweeps continued, they would be "exploited by the Baathists," according to the report.
"These incidents will not help to pacify the country," Pachachi was quoted as saying. "For now, the quieter it is, the better."
Pachachi, who served as Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations (news - web sites), called on US civilian administrator Paul Bremer to allow Iraqis to form an interim government that will only consult with Bremer and the UN representative in Baghdad, The Times reported.
He said such a step would help meet the rising demands from Iraqis that they control their own political destiny during reconstruction.
Bremer, meanwhile launched the first of a series of meetings aimed at engaging moderate traditional leaders in the Iranian-influenced Shiite Muslim south.
Saturday's visit by Bremer to Hilla was his second to the region in just six days as he has sought out moderate clerics and tribal sheikhs to bring into the political process.
Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi warned Washington that it is making a mistake by refusing to give Iraqis more authority over their own country.
Chalabi told the Washington Post in an interview published Saturday that the decision to limit Iraqi influence could heighten opposition to the US-led occupation.
The perception of US occupation "needs to be rectified," Chalabi said, arguing that Washington should tap into the "enormous energy" of Iraqis by establishing a 25,000-member Iraqi security force, the Post reported. |
