--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: "abunasr1967" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thu Aug 26, 2004 3:28 pm Subject: Iraqi Resistance Report: 23 - 25 August 2004.
Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Monday, 23 August 2004 through Wednesday, 25 August 2004. Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member editorial board The Free Arab Voice. http://www.freearabvoice.org Monday, 23 August 2004. Resistance mortar barrage targets US camp at ar-Ridwaniyah. Iraqi Resistance forces at noon on Monday attacked the US headquarters in ar-Ridwaniyah, west of Baghdad. The local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the US central Iraqi command came under a Resistance 120mm mortar barrage after noon, Monday. As usual the Americans remained silent about losses and damage as a result of the Resistance attack. The US headquarters building is in fact an Iraqi Presidential Palace named the at-Tallah Palace. US troops came under a heavy Resistance attack at the same location last Wednesday, losing more than 18 troops dead. US boosts forces, fights battles in western Iraq Sunday. Fighting took place on Sunday between Iraqi Resistance forces and the US aggressors north of al-Fallujah, around ar-Ramadi, and in the city of al-Qa'im on the border with Syria. Meanwhile, US troops reinforced their presence in al-Karmah where the local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam witnessed more than 15 personnel carriers entering the city with at least 25 men in each vehicle. US forces cut all communications from al-Anbar with the rest of the world, in what could be an indication of an impending US offensive. Resistance rockets Saddam International Airport Monday night. Iraqi Resistance forces fired what apparently were two powerful Grad rockets at the US base in Saddam International Airport north of Baghdad at 7:55pm Monday night. The local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported in a dispatch posted at 9:03 Mecca time that columns of smoke could still be seen over the US-occupied facility. As usual the Americans made no disclosures regarding losses or damage as a result of the Resistance barrage. Resistance fires Grad rockets at US at-Taji base. Iraqi Resistance forces at noon Monday carried out rocket attacks on a US military camp in the city of at-Taji north of Baghdad. According to the local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam, three powerful Grad rockets slammed into the US camp, which is actually a complex of facilities used jointly by US troops and their Iraqi puppet forces that serve the main US base in the area at occupied Saddam International Airport. Fighting Monday night in Madinat as-Sadr. Moderate fighting took place in the Madinat as-Sadr area of Baghdad on Monday night between Iraqi Resistance fighters and a US column, beginning at about 9:40pm Mecca time, according to the local correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam. Light arms, automatic weapons and explosives have been used in the battles. Resistance destroys Abrams tank, two Humvees at at-Tarimiyah. Iraqi Resistance forces battled US aggressor troops Monday morning in the city of at-Tarimiyah. According to a report filed by a correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam, the Resistance destroyed one massive US Abrams tank and two Humvees. Witnesses told the correspondent that at least three Americas were killed when the Humvees were destroyed. The number of US casualties in the tank is unknown, but apparently none of the troops inside survived since it was totally demolished. US employs poisoned gas against Jaysh al-Mahdi defenders of an-Najaf. Aws al-Khafaji, spokesman for Muqtada as-Sadr's office in an-Najaf said on Monday that US aggressor forces had shelled the tomb of the Imam `Ali with poisoned gas shells. In a statement to al-Hayat television (LBC) of Lebanon, al-Khafaji announced that he had contacted a number of fighters of the Jaysh al-Mahdi holed up in the tomb of the Imam `Ali and they informed him that poisoned gas was spewing out of shells fired by US forces at the ancient building. Al-Khafaji said that after a number of bodies of men killed in the latest US attack were examined, it was found that they had no shrapnel or bullet wounds, but some of the bodies appeared as if their skin had been torn off and blood was flowing copiously from them, indicating some form of germ or chemical warfare agent being used by the American criminal regime. Al-Khafaji indicated that he had no immediate information regarding the number of those killed in the treacherous gas attack, but that they had found so far four bodies in the condition described above. At noon on Monday, US invaders shelled the tomb in an-Najaf where the Jaysh al-Mahdi is defending the city against the aggressors. A column of black smoke rose over the tomb from a thunderous US explosion that took place around 2:00pm as US aircraft circled above. Another, less powerful explosion took place shortly thereafter in the same area. According to the local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam, new fighting in an-Najaf has left more than 50 US and Iraqi puppet troops dead. The battles grew particularly intense on Saturday night. As fighting rages in an-Najaf, US bombs its own troops killing 50 Americans and Iraqi stooges. US troops later dropped three massive anti-personnel container bombs on concentration points of Jaysh al-Mahdi militiamen. The Jaysh al- Mahdi command responded by ordering a quick retreat from those positions, which the US aggressors and their Iraqi stooges then rushed to occupy. But US aircraft then homed in on direction finders that had been planted in the Jaysh al-Mahdi position by American agents earlier and attacked the area, now occupied by US troops and their Iraqi puppets with more anti-personnel bombs, killing at least 50 according to eyewitnesses who described the scene as an American massacre of their own forces. Jaysh al-Mahdi forces then sprung to take advantage of the US mistake, attacking their recently vacated positions and winning them back from the shattered Americans. The correspondent reported in a dispatch posted at 6:50pm Monday evening Mecca time that the Jaysh al-Mahdi still controlled most of the city and that fighting was raging only around the old city. The Jaysh al-Mahdi has control of the rest of the city, but US forces ring the city and control the area outside. US airplanes bomb an-Najaf Monday night. On Monday evening, starting at about 8:55pm Mecca time, US F-16 and F- 18 fighter bombers pounded the area of the cemetery and the old part of an-Najaf. In a dispatch posted at 9:55pm, the local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the US bombardment was still going on at that time. During the day new US raids were launched every hour and a half. Resistance destroys tankers in attack in Diyala Province. Iraqi Resistance forces used rocket-propelled grenades and attacked American aggressors in northern Diyala Province, destroying one Humvee and three fuel tankers at 7:00pm Monday evening. According to the local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam, eyewitnesses said that at least six US troops were killed and that fire was still burning in the tankers at 7:36pm Mecca time. Resistance fires Tariq missiles at US "green zone." Iraqi Resistance fighters attacked the US headquarters in Baghdad – the so-called "green zone" or occupied Republican Palace compund – with rockets on Monday morning. The local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported that three rockets – probably high-explosive Tariq missiles – blasted into the US headquarters. Heavy fighting around Samarra'. The local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported Monday that large-scale fighting erupted in the city of Samarra' during which the Resistance was able to inflict heavy damage. The correspondent reports that the fighting, to the north and west of the city, forced the US aggressors to shell the area with two massive anti-personnel container bombs early Monday morning and again at noon. In his dispatch posted at 7:46pm Mecca time Monday evening, the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported that the battles were still under way. During the morning on Monday the Resistance had unleashed five powerful Grad rockets at the US base in the area known as the Balad Base in the city. Eyewitnesses told the correspondent that plumes of black smoke rose over the compound. Turkish profiteer and two or three Iraqi collaborators killed in Resistance attack Monday. A US military spokesman said on Monday that one Turkish profiteer and two Iraqis were killed in an Iraqi Resistance ambush in the city of Tikrit early Monday. The American spokesman said that all three were working on a project to repair a bridge in Tikrit – an initiative designed to allow the US invaders to better exploit Iraq's natural resources and strategic assets. Resistance fighters opened fire on the profiteers as their car passed by on the way to work Monday morning. Lieutenant Colonel Hasan Nayif of the al-`Alam puppet police station in Tikrit said that three Iraqi collaborators, not two, were killed in the Resistance attack. Jaysh al-Mahdi battles British in al-Basrah Monday night. The al-`Ashshar area of the southern city of al-Basrah was the scene of fighting Monday night between British aggressor troops and the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia. According to the local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam, the battles had lasted an hour and a half when the writer filed his report, having started at about 10:00pm Mecca time. Two British Jeeps were destroyed in Jaysh al-Mahdi rocket-propelled grenade attacks, all those aboard the vehicles being killed. One Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent killed, another wounded in this week's combat journalism. Mafkarat al-Islam, one of the most active news gathering organizations operating in Iraq on Monday night announced the death of one of their senior reporters who went out on Friday to cover fighting in at-Taji but was wounded severely in the head and died Monday morning. The Mafkarat al-Islam reporter in an-Nasiriyah received several wounds in his body as he was covering fighting between the Jaysh al-Mahdi and the Italian aggressors on Wednesday last week. He is still recovering from his injuries. The writers for Mafkarat al-Islam are among the few who bring news from the actual line of battle and they are therefore among the main sources of the Iraqi Resistance report. The Iraqi Resistance Report expresses its condolences and best regards to our colleagues and brothers in the Mafkarat al-Islam. Sources: http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42045 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42041 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42032 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42030 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42027 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42020 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42019 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42018 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42017 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42016 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42015 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42013 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42012 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42007 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=41995 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=41978 Tuesday, 24 August 2004. US mounts ferocious bombing and bombardment of al-Fallujah as America seeks to prevent all news of the Resistance from reaching the outside world. The local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam in al-Fallujah reported that American aggressors mounted intensive bombing raids on the industrial zone and the ash-Shuhada' and al-`Askari neighborhoods of the city on Tuesday morning. American F-16s and F-18 fighter bombers dropped deadly ordnance from the air as American mortars pounded the districts continuously, in barrages that had been continuing for hours when the correspondent filed his report at 1:25pm Mecca time early Tuesday afternoon. Communication from these districts has been cut off entirely and US troops advanced to the positions they formerly occupied when they laid siege to the defiant city of al-Fallujah in April this year. The correspondent reported that the indications are that the scenario that the Americans are now playing out is likely to be a repeat of what they did when they blockaded and attacked the city during the spring. On Monday US troops attacked the al-Karmah area from which the Resistance launched painful strikes against US rear supply lines when the Americans laid siege to al-Fallujah the first time. Apparently the US command seeks this time to restrict Resistance operations to the city of al-Fallujah alone, and to deny them any help from their brothers outside the blockade. For three days, Mafkarat al-Islam has encountered tremendous difficulty as it tried to report on al-Fallujah, since all communications with the city have been cut. Satellite telephones are dangerous to use, since American aggressor aircraft regularly home in on their signals and bomb the telephone user and all those in the area, as happened in an-Najaf when a group of persons who used satellite phones were targeted and killed by US bombs. The American aim behind the targeting of users of portable telephones is to force a complete blackout of news of the Iraqi Resistance as it battles the American invaders, leaving the field free for US propagandists to say and write whatever they please. Resistance bombing kills three US troops. The local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters detonated a bomb as a US patrol passed by near the former ar-Rashid military camp. Eyewitnesses reported that three American troops were killed and four others wounded. One Humvee was totally destroyed and another damaged. Resistance strikes "green zone" with powerful Grad rockets Tuesday morning. The local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported Tuesday that Resistance forces fired powerful Grad rockets at the US occupation headquarters in what the Americans call the "green zone" in Baghdad at 8:00am Tuesday. Clouds of black smoke could be seen rising over the compound. What the US refers to as the "green zone" is in reality the tightly-guarded compound of the Iraqi Republican Palace that the Americans have occupied and reserved for the giant embassies of their country and their British stooges, and for the offices of the US-appointed Iraqi puppet regime. Resistance attacks Japanese aggressor troops near as-Samawah. In their third major attack in just a few days on the Japanese aggressor forces in Iraq, Resistance fighters fired a rocket on Tuesday near the Japanese occupation troops' base in the southern city of as-Samawah, according to a government propaganda mouthpiece in Tokyo. The Pakistani newspaper Jang reported that Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda claimed that there were no casualties as a result of the Resistance attack, nor did it inflict any damage. Japan, a satellite of the United States, has stationed some 500 troops in as-Samawah as a part of their contingent of about 1,000 Japanese soldiers in occupied Iraq serving American interests. Violent fighting between Jaysh al-Mahdi and US troops in Baghdad Tuesday afternoon. Fierce fighting erupted in Baghdad on Tuesday between US aggressor troops, backed up by Iraqi puppet forces, and the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia in the al-Baladiyat area of Baghdad. The local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the Jaysh al-Mahdi was deployed in force throughout the area. No immediate information on casualties was available. In a report posted at 4:15pm Tuesday afternoon Mecca time, the correspondent reported that the area of as-Saddah at the end of the Madinat as-Sadr area was being heavily bombarded by American artillery and that gun battles were raging there at that moment. Resistance bombards "green zone" in Baghdad with Tariq rockets Tuesday night. In a dispatch posted at 11:40pm Mecca time Tuesday night, the local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces fired three rockets, believed to have been of the high- explosive Tariq type, at the so-called "green zone" headquarters of the US occupation in Baghdad at 10:00pm Tuesday night. The correspondent wrote that columns of smoke could be seen rising over the US-controlled compound after the Resistance barrage. US troops, Jaysh al-Mahdi still fighting in Madinat as-Sadr, al- Baladiyat areas of Baghdad Tuesday as midnight approached. Meanwhile, fighting continued to rage in the Madinat as-Sadr section of Baghdad on Tuesday between the Jaysh al-Mahdi and US invaders together with their puppet troops. The fighting that broke out in the al-Baladiyat area at noon were still continuing when the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent filed his report shortly before midnight. US admits: Resistance rocket attack kills one, wounds two other US troops. The US military officially admitted on Tuesday that one American was killed when Resistance fighters fired a rocket at his patrol in occupied Baghdad. Reuters reported that the US military added that two other American troops were wounded in the attack that took place Monday evening. Five killed as Resistance car bomb targets Iraqi puppet minister's motorcade in Baghdad. A bodyguard and eye witnesses reported that an Iraqi Resistance car bomb exploded in Baghdad early Tuesday morning in an attack targeting the puppet so-called "Iraqi minister of education." Reuters claimed that the explosion left two persons dead and three others wounded. The correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam quoted eye witnesses as saying that the blast occurred in al-Qadisiyah near the complex of buildings housing the ministries and destroyed three cars that were escorting the puppet minister, in addition to killing five persons and wounding seven others. Puppet "minister of environment" survives Resistance assassination attempt in Baghdad. The US-appointed puppet so-called "Iraqi minister of the environment" Mishkat Mu'min announced on Tuesday that she had survived a "suicide" assassination attempt in which Resistance martyrdom fighters detonated a car bomb in Baghdad. The blast killed four of her personal bodyguards, according to Reuters. Seven aggressor troops killed in Resistance ambush of fuel convoy in al-Latifiyah Tuesday evening. Iraqi Resistance forces ambushed a US column at sunset on Tuesday in the town of al-Latifiyah, south of Baghdad. According to the correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam, the Resistance attack left two fuel tank trucks ablaze and destroyed two Humvees. One of the Humvees had been driving in front of the tankers and the second had been at the tail end of the column. The correspondent wrote that a source in the puppet security service confirmed that at least five troops who had been riding in the two Humvees were killed, and two more were killed and burned up in the tank trucks. An armed clash broke out immediately after the ambush but the Resistance succeeded in withdrawing from the area quickly when US reinforcements approached the area. Jaysh al-Mahdi proclaims curfew patrols streets in an-Nasiriyah. Aws al-Khafaji, the representative of Shi`i religious leader Muqtada as-Sadr in an-Nasiriyah, proclaimed a curfew in that city, beginning at 8:00pm Tuesday night. According to a report submitted by the local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam, the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia loyal to as-Sadr will patrol the city where the puppet Iraqi security forces have left the streets. The governor of an-Nasiriyah, who was appointed by the US occupation, appears to be cooperating with the Jaysh al-Mahdi, desiring to maintain peace and order in the city. US airforce prowls skies over an-Nasiriyah Tuesday night. US aircraft were intermittently criss crossing the skies above an- Nasiriyah when the local correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam posted his report at 11:00pm Mecca time Tuesday night. The US aircraft circled over the city at a rate of about once every hour US opens massive bombardment and bombing of an-Najaf's defenses, but Jaysh al-Mahdi holds. American aggressor forces besieging the defenders of the city of an- Najaf, on Tuesday unleashed a massive bombing and bombardment of the old city and the cemetery where the Jaysh al-Mahdi fighters are concentrated. The correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam in an-Najaf reported in a dispatch posted at 3:15pm Mecca time Tuesday afternoon that the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia was still holding up and largely on top of events, though from time to time they regroup and relocate in response to the variations in location and intensity of American fire. Mortar rounds exploded Tuesday morning in the center of an-Najaf and fierce fighting resumed between the Jaysh al-Mahdi an the US aggressors. American Marine invaders battled the militia in the environs of the Tomb of the Imam `Ali ibn Abi Talib in one of the most violent battles since the outbreak of fighting in the city. American warplanes and artillery kept up a fierce barrage on the positions on the Jaysh al-Mahdi fighters, in particular in the area of the Tomb of the Imam `Ali. At least 15 Americans killed in one engagement in an-Najaf at noon on Tuesday. At least 15 American troops were killed when three US tanks were destroyed in the fighting in an-Najaf Tuesday. The local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported that at noon the Jaysh al- Mahdi concentrated heavy fire on a US column advancing on the 1920 Revolution Street in the city destroying the three tanks and killing at least 15 American soldiers. US resumes bombing, shelling of Jaysh al-Mahdi positions Tuesday night after ground assault fails. In a report posted at 11:50pm Mecca time Tuesday night, the local correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam wrote that US forces were heavily shelling and fiercely bombing the area of the cemetery and the old city of an-Najaf at that hour, targeting the Jaysh al-Mahdi defenders there. The bombing and shelling resumed after US forces met stiff Jaysh al- Mahdi resistance and were unable to advance any further into the city. The correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam, who is on the scene, says that the reality on the ground contradicts the stories being broadcast internationally that claimed that the US troops had advanced to within 200 meters of the Imam `Ali Mosque and other shrines before sunset Tuesday. The correspondent wrote that as of a few minutes before midnight, the Jaysh al-Mahdi remained in control of the area, but that the US was attempting to wage propaganda warfare in the hopes of shaking the morale of the Jaysh al-Mahdi fighters. Hundreds of Jaysh al-Mahdi militiamen are entrenched around the Imam `Ali mosque and other Shi`i religious shrines and have rigged themselves with explosives so as to prevent at all costs any US advance. The Jaysh al-Mahdi has planted thousands of land mines around the religious shrines making a rapid US advance impossible. Jaysh al-Mahdi shoots down US Cobra helicopter over nearby al-Kufah. Iraqi Resistance forces shot down an American Cobra helicopter over the city of al-Kufah on Tuesday. Sources close to the Iraqi Resistance told the correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam that an anti- aircraft rocket brought down the American chopper as it was mapping the concentrations of the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia in the area. Jaysh al-Mahdi attacks puppet governor's mansion in al-`Amarah as US launches attack. Eyewitnesses reported that the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia on Tuesday fired rockets at the home of the US-appointed puppet governor of the southern Iraqi city of al-`Amarah, 365km southeast of Baghdad. Reuters reported that a US helicopter, for its part, attacked a target in the commercial section of the city. No information on casualties was immediately available. Jaysh al-Mahdi demonstrates in strength in al-Basrah calling for US to pull out of an-Najaf. Dozens of Jaysh al-Mahdi fighters took to the streets of the southern city of al-Basrah on Tuesday to demand that US aggressor troops leave an-Najaf. The protesters brandished their automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades and set up barricades of burning tires in the streets. Jaysh al-Mahdi in al-Basrah seizes British truck loaded with weapons for invader troops. Jaysh al-Mahdi fighters in al-Basrah managed to seize a truckload of weapons intended for British aggressor troops Tuesday morning according to the local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam. The Jaysh al-Mahdi reportedly attacked the British aggressors south of the southern Iraqi city. US sends 4,000 Marines to strengthen crumbling British hold on al- Basrah as fighting spreads throughout the second largest city in Iraq. As the second largest city in Iraq, al-Basrah, seemed to be slipping from the clutches of its British occupiers, the United States dispatched on Tuesday some 4,000 American Marines to shore up crumbling Anglo-American defenses on that front. The al-Basrah correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported Tuesday afternoon that the US Marines would bring with them all their equipment, including tanks, armored personnel carriers, and Humvees. In a dispatch posted at 3:05pm Tuesday afternoon Mecca time, the correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam in al-Basrah reported that fierce battles were underway at that time between British invader troops and the Jaysh al-Mahdi. Fighting was raging in several districts: in various parts of the al-Barradi`i neighborhood, in al-`Ashshar, al- Jumhuriyah, in the port area of Umm Qasr, and in az-Zubayr. No information on casualties was available at that time. Fighting between the British and the Jaysh al-Mahdi together with its Sunni al-Faruq Brigade allies left seven British soldiers dead at around 9:30am Tuesday morning, when an attack by the Resistance disabled four British military vehicles, according to a report filed by the al-Basrah correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam. Eyewitnesses said that the Jaysh al-Mahdi had lost three dead and seven others wounded in that engagement. The situation in the city has been shifting rapidly to the advantage of the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia and their Sunni Resistance allies, as US troops continue stumbling along in their bloody offensive on the Shi`i holy city of an-Najaf. The Jaysh al-Mahdi had earlier seized the Governorate offices of al-Basrah from the British, throwing the UK troops and their puppet police stooges out – an act that has happened repeatedly over recent months. US-appointed puppet regime wobbles as Washington reportedly threatens to replace Iraqi "prime minister" if costly failures in an-Najaf continue. Iraqi sources have informed al-`Arabiyah satellite TV that Washington is growing impatient with the prime minister it appointed for Iraq, Iyyad `Allawi, and is threatening to replace him with the current "minister of defense," Hazim Sha`lan, if `Allawi fails to solve the an-Najaf crisis soon. US forces have reportedly suffered heavy losses in an-Najaf, adversly affecting Washington's opinion of their puppet in Baghdad. For his part, `Allawi has already threatened to resign over the an-Najaf embroglio, and observers note that he has already had open differences with his "national security adviser" Muwaffaq ar-Rabi`i, who negotiated a cease-fire with Muqtada as-Sadr only to have "prime minister" `Allawi overturn it. The Kuwaiti newspaper al-Qabas quoted Iraqi sources as saying that `Allawi intended to push the role of national security adviser ar-Rabi`i to the sidelines, relying instead on "state minister" Qasim Dawud. Before he departed Baghdad at the end of June, US proconsul L. Paul Bremer appointed Muwaffaq ar-Rabi`i to the post of national security adviser for a term of five years making it impossible for `Allawi to replace him. Instead, therefore, the "prime minister" is seeking to limit his powers and expand the role of other officials more to his liking. America, however, is in the habit of simply getting rid of officials who fail to carry out the tasks assigned them by Washington, making `Allawi's future that much more uncertain. Sources: http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42129 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42128 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42127 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42124 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42110 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42095 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42093 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42091 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42090 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42089 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42088 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42087 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42085 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42078 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42077 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42076 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42075 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42071 http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news? pid=10000101&sid=apVy2GBoC6s4&refer=japan http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42066 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42059 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42054 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42047 Wednesday, 25 August 2004. US launches most massive offensive on al-Fallujah since the occupation of Iraq. In a dispatch posted at 10:25am Mecca time Wednesday, the correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam in al-Fallujah reported that US forces had begun a new major offensive Wednesday morning against the city. He wrote that the largest attack ever undertaken since the occupation of Iraq had begun. The correspondent reported that US forces began their all-out offensive on the city from all directions making airborne landings as F-14, F-16, and F-18 fighter bombers crisscrossed the skies above. The US aircraft have been intensly bombing and bombardment of the neighborhoods of al-`Askari, ash-Shuhada', al-Jawlan, and the industrial zone of the city. The Americans have closed all the roads leading to and from al-Fallujah, including minor routes and byways, and have cut off all communications with the city. The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reports that there are large columns of American forces coming up to the city from Baghdad, in particular from the central command. These are made up of giant Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. Massive contingents of Marines are moving up driving Humvees. Limited information indicates that the Iraqi Resistance forces in al- Fallujah have destroyed five US armored vehicles and killed at least 28 US soldiers. The Mafkarat al-Islam website reports that it will continue to follow the situation in al-Fallujah as it unfolds, despite the severe difficulties involved due to a total US shut-down of communications with the besieged city. Individuals who manage to slip in and out of the city through the US blockade are able to provide information. Eye witnesses report that this latest US offensive differs from previous attacks in that it is far more ferocious and in that the Americans have brought much larger forces into the assault. Mafkarat al-Islam wrote that it appears that the Pentagon hopes to cover up its failure to crack the Resistance in an-Najaf by an attack on al-Fallujah. During the spring, the US similarly attempted to distract attention from its failure in al-Fallujah by opening a front in an-Najaf. Al-Jazeera satellite TV on Wednesday reported that three persons were killed and four others wounded in an American air bombardment on eastern parts of the city Wednesday morning. Clouds of black smoke rose over the scene. Al-Jazeera also reported earlier that several Americans had been wounded when a Resistance bomb exploded by their patrol in the al- Fallujah area. The US admitted that one of its soldiers had been killed in a "traffic accident" near al-Fallujah. US soldier killed near Tikrit. A source in the Iraqi puppet police in Tikrit reported Wednesday that one American was killed north of Baghdad in a "traffic accident." Captain Muhammad as-Samarra'i of the Tikrit puppet police, 175km north of Baghdad told Reuters that one American soldier was killed at 6:30am Wednesday in the al-`Awjah area near the city. Resistance fires two rounds at Polish embassy in Baghdad. The Polish foreign ministry in Warsaw admitted on Wednesday that Iraqi Resistance forces fired two mortar shells at the Polish embassy in Baghdad. A foreign ministry spokesman said that the Resistance attack occurred at about 11:00am GMT and that the mortar shells, or rocket-propelled grenades were fired from a moving vehicle. According to Reuters, the Polish official said that no one was injured in the attack. The Polish regime, a satellite of the United States since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Treaty Organization, has sent some 2,500 Polish troops to serve American interests in occupied Iraq. The Polish regime's action was taken in spite of the opposition of the Polish people. Spokesman for Muqtada as-Sadr calls for world's Muslims to intervene to save an-Najaf from US desecration. Agence France Presse (AFP) reported Wednesday that `Abd al-Hadi ad- Darraji, a spokesman for Shi`i religious leader Muqtada as-Sadr, has called on Muslims worldwide to intervene urgently to save the holy Iraqi city of an-Najaf and warned US soldiers against entering the sacred Imam `Ali shrine, al-`Arabiya satellite television reported. "All Muslims in the world should intervene urgently now" to save an- Najaf, ad-Darraji, who is also the imam of a mosque in Baghdad's Madinat as-Sadr, told the Dubai-based channel. "If American (forces) enter the mausoleum of the prince of believers (Imam `Ali), any building of Islam, any mosque will be violated by these iniquitous forces," said ad-Darraji. Muqtada as-Sadr calls for march on an-Najaf to break the US siege. Aide to Muqtada as-Sadr, Mahmud as-Sudani told al-`Arabiya satellite television the Jaysh al-Mahdi were prepared for talks to halt the fighting in an-Najaf, which has undermined the authority of the US- appointed so-called "prime minister" Iyyad `Allawi and rattled world oil markets, Reuters reported Wednesday. "We are ready to respond to any call from Sayyid `Ali as-Sistani or anyone else to stop the bloodshed," as-Sudani said. Meanwhile he said that Muqtada as-Sadr had called for his own followers to march on an-Najaf to break the blockade imposed by US aggressor forces. He said that the idea of a march had been intended even before Shi`i religious authority `Ali as-Sistani proposed his variant of the idea. He said that the call issued by the office of as-Sadr was separate from that issued by as-Sistani, who reportedly has returned to Iraq having undergone medical treatment in London. US aggressors and puppet police arrest five aides to Muqtada as-Sadr. A spokesman for the Iraqi puppet police in an-Najaf has reported that the puppet police "supported" by US invader troops had arrested five aides to Muqtada as-Sadr in the city of an-Najaf. Al-`Arabiyah satellite TV reported that the puppet official, who refused to give his name, said that `Ali Sumaysim one of the top confidants of as- Sadr was among those captured by the Americans and their stooges. It was Sumaysim who negotiated a cease fire earlier in August with a representative of the US-sponsored "national congress" – a cease fire later overturned by US-appointed "prime minister" Iyyad `Allawi. Al-`Arabiyah had no further details on the captures, other than to say that Sumaysim was arrested at his home in an-Najaf Wednesday morning. Jaysh al-Mahdi halts military operations in southern Iraq out of respect to as-Sistani on his return to the country. According to reports carried by al-Jazeera satellite TV, Aws al- Khafaji, spokesman for Muqtada as-Sadr, said on Wednesday that the Shi`i religious leader was ready to carry out the orders of Shi`i religious authority `Ali as-Sistani. He said that everything that as- Sistani is calling for would be met with agreement by the Jaysh al- Mahdi and Muqtada as-Sadr. Al-Khafaji also said that the Jaysh al-Mahdi had declared a suspension of military activities in southern Iraq out of respect to the return home of `Ali as-Sistani to al-Basrah and in all the provinces through which he will travel. US slowly advances on Jaysh al-Mahdi positions in an-Najaf as as- Sistani's call erodes morale of some militiamen. In a report filed at 7:35pm Mecca time Wednesday night, the correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam in an-Najaf reported that more than 35 Jaysh al-Mahdi militiamen had died after an afternoon of intensive activity by US snipers approaching the environs of the Shi`i religious shrines where the city's defenders are dug in. American snipers take up positions atop houses and tall buildings in the city, and have also cut holes in the walls of houses large enough for them to operate their weapons without being seen or targeted in return. Kurdish chauvinist Peshmergah militiamen fighting on behalf of the American invaders are taking part in the drive against the defenders of an-Najaf. The Peshmergah militias consist of followers of the Kurdish chauvinist leaders Mas`ud al-Barizani (head of the so-called Kurdistan Democratic Party), and Jalal Talibani (head of the so- called National Union of Kurdistan). Both men are members of the US- installed puppet regime and have long collaborated with the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). In addition, the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in an-Najaf reported that members of the Badr Brigades – a force that invaded Iraq in tandem with US aggressor troops in spring 2003 and who are loyal to the Shi`i collaborationist party that calls itself the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) headed by `Abd al- `Aziz al-Hakim, another member of the US appointed regime, are also engaged in fighting against the people of an-Najaf on behalf of the American aggressors. Also involved in on the American side are mercenary members of the newly formed "Iraqi intelligence service" a puppet secret police being set up by the United States, and members of the Shi`i sectarian and collaborationist "Da`wah [Religious propaganda] Party." In similar fashion, the American invaders made use of the Peshmergah and Badr Brigades when they besieged and battled the people of al- Fallujah in spring 2004. The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in the city reported that the balance in the fighting appears to have begun to tilt in favor of the US aggressors, as the call of Shi`i religious authority `Ali as- Sistani for a protest march on an-Najaf has influenced some of the Jaysh al-Mahdi fighters. It is believed that as-Sistani's call will serve as a means for extracting them from the shrine area of the city, exposing them to the US forces who densely encircle the city and its environs. Meanwhile, American aggressor troops are advancing slowly from the south to several parts of the cemetery and the old city where the Jaysh al-Mahdi is entrenched. In a report posted at 8:30pm Mecca time Wednesday night the an-Najaf correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam reported that after the afternoon US forces had been advancing on the area of the Shi`i religious shrines in an-Najaf. In the al-Ahdath area, the correspondent reports, US forces are now only 350 to 375 meters from the shrine area. Jaysh al-Mahdi defenders are crowded in the shrine area, known as as- Sahn al-Haydari and also in the old part of the city, large parts of which were overrun by US invaders Wednesday afternoon. That American advance allowed US snipers sufficient access to the area to greatly limit the freedom of movement of Jaysh al-Mahdi forces in the streets of the part of the city that they continue to control. The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in the city reports that the US forces are meeting with fierce resistance from the Jaysh al-Mahdi, however. The American aggressors have only made slow progress because they are compelled to advance on foot by stages. Most of the byways, streets, alleys, and passages in the old part of an-Najaf are too narrow for their wheeled vehicles. The streets rage from as wide as 3.5 meters down to 1.5 meters in places. The houses are all next to one another with each structure being 75 to 150 square meters in area, inhibiting the advance of any mechanized Army. Jaysh al-Mahdi ambushes US troops, puppet forces using tunnels. Jaysh al-Mahdi fighters killed 75 Iraqi puppet troops in addition to a number of US aggressor soldiers. Some estimates put the number of dead Americans at 14, all of them killed in Jaysh al-Mahdi ambushes in "lower" an-Najaf, according to the local correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam. The old city of an-Najaf, he writes, is made up of two sections – the upper an-Najaf which is above ground, and lower an-Najaf which is below ground. The underground part of the city was reportedly excavated by dissident Shi`i religious leaders in the time of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in order to maintain their anti-government activities. The old city of an-Najaf thus became a city of buildings above ground and tunnels beneath. On Wednesday morning, those tunnels were used by Jaysh al-Mahdi fighters to launch ambushes of US troops and their puppets. US forces launch savage assault on an-Najaf with napalm and thousands of cluster bombs. Late in the afternoon of Wednesday, US aggressor forces shelled areas in which the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia is entrenched in an-Najaf in the old part of the city, according to a report posted by the Mafkarat al- Islam correspondent in the city at 9:00pm Mecca time Wednesday night. US troops used weapons that are banned by international law as they desperately sought to advance against fierce Jaysh al-Mahdi resistance. The US forces have dropped napalm and cluster bombs on Jaysh al-Mahdi positions. For two straight hours, American aggressor troops rained eight container bombs – each made up of hundreds of cluster bombs – on the positions of the city's defenders. The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported that the bombing has been extremely heavy and intense, preventing all movement in the streets of the area. Anyone trying to move, even if he survived the cluster bombs and napalm, would be cut down by American snipers who had taken up positions on rooftops. It appears that the US forces are hoping to end the critical situation in an-Najaf before the arrival of the pro-American Shi`i religious authority `Ali as-Sistani who is returning to the country from Britain. He is expected to return to his home in an-Najaf on Thursday after landing in al-Basrah on Wednesday. In a dispatch posted at 9:50pm Mecca time Wednesday night, the correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam in an-Najaf reported that US aggressor forces have surrounded between 6,000 and 10,000 Jaysh al- Mahdi fighters in parts of the old city and shrine area known as as- Sahn al-Haydari. The Americans are expected to pound these defenders heavily, particularly since these large concentrations of forces present relatively easy targets for America's high-tech weaponry. The US troops have been advancing on Jaysh al-Mahdi positions very slowly, however, because the defenders have been putting up fierce resistance. Jaysh al-Mahdi forces kill two British soldiers near al-Basrah, Wednesday morning. In the southern city of al-Basrah, Jaysh al-Mahdi militiamen ambushed British forces in an area five miles from the city on Wednesday morning. The local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam in the city reported that the attack killed two British soldiers, wounded four others, and left three armored vehicles ablaze. To counter the rise in Resistance activity, US forces for the first time landed in the city, encircling a town called al-Habbaniyah east of al-Basrah. In response to a call issued by the American-inclined Shi`i religious authority `Ali as-Sistani to mount peaceful marches to call for the end of the US blockade on an-Najaf, the local correspondent of Mafkarat al-Islam in an-Nasiriyah reported late Wednesday night that 18 buses, each with a capacity of 44 persons, had left that city heading for al-Basrah for demonstrations scheduled for Thursday. The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in al-Basrah reported seeing 25 buses with capacities ranging from 30 to 50 riders also on their way into al-Basrah in response to the Shi`i cleric's diversionary call. Earlier in the day, the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in an-Najaf itself described how the as-Sistani's call for peaceful marches to break the siege of an-Najaf had adversely impacted the morale of the Jaysh al-Mahdi fighters who for weeks have defended their city against US aggressor forces. They felt that the call would inevitably lead to their being "peacefully" exposed to the mercies of the US invaders, as outrage among Muslims in general and Shi`i Muslims in particular over American desecration of the shrines in an- Najaf is diluted by the "pacifistic" utterances of as-Sistani, eager to find a modus vivendi with the occupation. Sources: http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42209 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42207 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42199 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42194 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42190 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42188 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42187 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42184 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42184 http://www.aljazeera.net/news/arabic/2004/8/8-25-11.htm http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42170 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42169 http://news.yahoo.com/news? tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040825/wl_nm/iraq_dc_423 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news? tmpl=story&cid=1514&e=8&u=/afp/20040825/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_unrest_na j af_sadr_muslim_040825105807 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDNews=42157 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42148 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42141 http://www.islammemo.cc/news/one_news.asp?IDnews=42138 --- End forwarded message --- ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi.4t.com *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Posting: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 7. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
