Dozens Killed In Intense Iraqi Fighting
National Security Forces Stepping Up Fight With Insurgents
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Members of a Shiite family that was attacked by unknown gunmen arrive at hospital in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, Friday Oct. 27, 2006. (AP Photo)
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An unknown number of “anti-Iraqi forces” ambushed a police unit based in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad on Thursday morning the military said, using its standard term for Sunni insurgents.
Police fought back and U.S. troops nearby were diverted from another mission, assisted by air cover. One Iraqi civilian was also killed, eight insurgents wounded, and 27 others captured, the military said.
The attack marked some of the heaviest fighting in recent days between insurgents and Iraqi security forces, who U.S. commanders have been pressing to take over more responsibility for security, thereby allowing them to begin contemplating U.S. troop withdrawls.
With rising U.S. casualties adding to growing anti-war sentiment, U.S. leaders are eager to show that the Iraqi forces are rising to the challenge by controlling territory and inflicting casualties on their enemies.
Iraq's Interior Ministry, which commands the police, gave a slightly different versions of the clash and said those killed included Khan Bani Saad's police chief, Brig. Abbas Al-Ameri, and his brother.
A ministry spokesman, Brig. Abdel-Karim Khalaf, said forces moved into the area after learning of the presence of insurgents who were behind the ambush on Monday of a convoy of buses carrying police recruits in which at least 15 were killed 25 wounded.
“After we received information that these criminals had a presence... we mobilized our forces and attacked the area,” Khalf said. “We cannot tolerate this and that is the reason why we took action yesterday,” he said.
Khalf denied police had been surprised and put the death toll among officers at 12, with 19 insurgents killed and 28 captured. He described the enemy fighters as hardcore remnants of Saddam Hussein's former Baathist regime joined by “Takfiri elements” a term for Islamic radicals that include groups such as al Qaeda in Iraq.
The area around Baqouba has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks between armed Shiite and Sunni groups carrying out brutal revenge killings. A Shiite militia went on a rampage in the nearby city of Balad last week, killing scores of Sunnis and forcing others to flee their homes.
In other developments:
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