csua.org/u/d9l -> www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/05/AR2005090500313.html
Manage Your Newsletters Insurgents Assert Control Over Town Near Syrian Border Zarqawi's Forces Kill US-Allied Iraqis And Impose Strict Law, Witnesses Say By Ellen Knickmeyer and Jonathan Finer Washington Post Foreign Service Tuesday, September 6, 2005; Residents said the foreign-led fighters controlled by Zarqawi, a Jordania n, apparently had been exerting authority in the town, within two miles of the Syrian border, since at least the start of the weekend. A sign po sted at an entrance to the town declared, "Welcome to the Islamic Republ ic of Qaim."
More News In other developments Monday, the US Army warned noncombatants to leave a portion of the northeastern city of Tall Afar ahead of an expected as sault on an insurgent stronghold there. Car bombs and other political vi olence around Iraq killed at least 33 Iraqi civilians and security force members. A US soldier and two British troops also were killed, offici als said. The report from Qaim, about 200 miles west of Baghdad, marked one of insu rgents' boldest moves in their cat-and-mouse duels with US Marines alo ng the Euphrates River. US forces have described border towns in the a rea as a funnel for foreign fighters, arms and money into Iraq from Syri a Insurgents have occasionally made similar shows of force, such as the tak eover of a Baghdad neighborhood for a few hours late last month by dozen s of gunmen. They then slipped away, having made the point that they can muster men as well as plant bombs. The weekend takeover of Qaim extende d already heavy insurgent pressure on the people there and came after th e US military said it had inflicted heavy bombing losses on foreign-le d fighters. Marines conducted heavy airstrikes in the past week on suspected insurgen t safe houses in the area. Ground fighting has also been reported betwee n Zarqawi's group and Sunni Arab tribes more open to the Iraqi governmen t and US military. Jeffrey Pool, a Marine spokesman in Ramadi, capital of the western province that includes Qaim, said he had no word of unusual activity in Qaim. Marines are stationed just outside the town, and no Iraqi governme nt forces are posted inside, Pool said. Witnesses in Qaim said Zarqawi's fighters were killing officials and civi lians whom they consider to be allied with the Iraqi and US government s or anti-Islamic. On Sunday, the bullet-riddled body of a young woman d ressed in her nightclothes lay in a street of Qaim. A sign left on her c orpse declared, "A prostitute who was punished." Zarqawi's fighters have shot and killed nine men in public executions in the city center since the start of the weekend, accusing the men of bein g collaborators with US forces, said Sheik Nawaf Mahallawi, a leader o f the Albu Mahal, a Sunni Arab tribe that had clashed earlier with the f oreign fighters. Dozens of families were fleeing Qaim every day, Mahallawi said. For local fighters now, "it would be insane to attack Zarqawi's people, e ven to shoot one bullet at them," the tribal leader said. Many of the towns along the river have been subject to domination by fore ign-led fighters, despite repeated Marine offensives in the area since M ay. Residents and Marines have described insurgents escaping ahead of su ch drives, and returning when the offensives end.
|
http://csua.com/feed/