BAGHDAD, Nov. 10, 2007
Ambush Near Samarra Kills 18 Al Qaeda
Former Insurgent Groups Form Wary Alliance With U.S. Against Al Qaeda Fighters
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A man stands next to a private security company vehicle that was hit by a roadside bomb near Beiji, about 125 miles north of Baghdad, on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007. There were no immediate reports on casualties. (AP Photo/Bassem Daham)
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Relatives grieve over the body of 27-year-old Mohammed Abdul Amir at a morgue in Baqouba, the capital of Iraq's Diyala province, on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007. Abdul Amir was killed Saturday by unknown gunmen. (AP Photo)
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Play CBS Video Video Iraq's Refugees Suffer At Home The displaced or abandoned women and children in Iraq are facing another year of strife and dwindling resources. Allen Pizzey reports.
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Photo Essay Week In Iraq Photos A daily diary with scenes of the latest attacks and snapshots from the effort to rebuild a nation.
Most members of the Islamic Army, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group that includes former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, joined U.S. forces battling al Qaeda in Iraq earlier this year, though some of the group's leaders deny any contact with American troops.
A top Islamic Army leader, known as Abu Ibrahim, told The Associated Press that his fighters ambushed al Qaeda members near Samarra on Friday, killing 18 people and seizing 16 prisoners.
An Iraqi police officer in the area corroborated Abu Ibrahim's account, and said the hostages would not be transferred to Iraqi police. Instead, he said he believed the Islamic Army would offer a prisoner swap for some of its members held by al Qaeda. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because of the situation's sensitivity.
"We found out that al Qaeda intended to attack us, so we ambushed them at 3 p.m. on Friday," Abu Ibrahim said. "We have killed 18 people, including some Arab foreigners, and we have detained 16 others. We also seized weapons and eight vehicles," he said.
Abu Ibrahim would not say how many, if any, Islamic Army members were killed.
The clashes raged for nearly four hours Friday about 9 miles southeast of Samarra, the insurgent commander said. Police said they knew about the battle, but were unable to reach the site because it was too violent. It is an area known to have a heavy al Qaeda in Iraq presence.
Abu Ibrahim contacted Iraqi police in Samarra and told them his plans to attack al Qaeda, according to the officer and Abu Ibrahim himself. He asked that Iraqi authorities inform the American military about his plans, and requested that no U.S. troops interfere, they said. He worried that U.S. helicopters might mistakenly fire on his fighters, rather than on the al Qaeda members, since they had no uniforms and were indistinguishable from the militants, they said.
The U.S. military had no immediate comment on the matter.
In Other Developments:
- Roadside bombs killed at least seven Iraqis early Saturday, police said, and the American military issued a statement saying a U.S. soldier was killed in Diyala province.
The soldier, assigned to Multi-National Division-North, died from injuries suffered in an explosion on Friday, the statement said. Three more soldiers were wounded in the blast, and evacuated to a U.S. combat hospital, it said.
At least 3,861 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an AP count. The figure includes eight civilians working for the military. - Saturday's Iraqi death toll included four civilians who died on minibuses hit by roadside bombs on their way to work, police said.
The first explosion killed two people and wounded nine around 6:15 a.m. in Baghdad's Baladiyat area, which is predominantly Shiite.
The bomb was likely aimed at a passing police patrol, but missed its target - hitting the minibus behind it instead, an officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
Most of the victims were in the minibus, but some others had been riding in a pickup truck nearby, he added.
One of them was Qais Hassoun, who spoke to Associated Press Television News at a hospital in the Sadr City area, where the victims were taken.
"We are just construction workers, trying to get to our jobs. We were riding in the minibus when the explosion went off," Hassoun said, visibly shaken.
Footage of the blast site showed a blue minibus with its windows shattered and tires shredded. Blood was splashed across the vehicle's upholstered bench seats.
Other victims lay on gurneys in a crowded, grimy hospital corridor. One man laid on his back while medical workers wrapped white gauze up the length of his broken leg.
About three hours later, another roadside bomb exploded near a minibus in western Mosul, killing two passengers and wounding 15 other people in the area, police said. Mosul lies 225 miles northwest of Baghdad. - In Diyala province, bombs killed an Iraqi soldier and two policemen in separate attacks, authorities said.
The soldier died when the weight of his humvee triggered explosives buried under a road in northern Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of the Iraqi capital, the Iraqi Army said.
The policemen were killed in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad, when another bomb exploded on their patrol car, said the city's police chief, Brig. Faris al-Amairi. Five people were wounded in the attack, he said.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
Related:
WASHINGTON (AP) - A new poll shows that most Americans see the Iraq war as a failure.
Only 36% of 1,000 adults taking part in the Associated Press-Ipsos poll said the troop increase has helped stabilize Iraq, four percent more than a poll taken in February at the start of the troop surge in Iraq.
Fifty-nine percent said they believe history will judge the Iraq war as a failure, including 28% who felt it would be rated a complete failure.
So now we have Iraqi-puppet military commanders making ridiculous and unsubstantiated claims about the phoney and imaginary "al-Qaeda-in-Iraq" hoax.
This makes for a good excuse for the rubes to cheer as we slaughter and imprison more Iraq civilians, but I thought that U.S. commanders/war criminals, had already declared "victory" against the "al-Qaeda-in Iraq" fables- again.
Were they lying?
Posted by terrorislam5 at 10:52 AM : Nov 10, 2007
You sure are. A private security terrorist vehicle, and Saudi terrorists.
Ron Paul sets record for campain fund raising from the private sector.
The Ashkenazi media machine has more wrenches being tossed in it than the tool bin at Sears.
Last letter from doomed Al Qaida chief: "We are so desperate for your help"
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2007/ss_iraq_09_30.asp
Iraq insurgency: People rise against al-Qa''eda
Damien McElroy spent a week in the heart of the insurgency in Anbar province in Iraq. In the second of seven exclusive reports he describes how peace and prosperity have returned to a town formerly riven by sectarian killings.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/08/wanbar308.xml
Al Qaeda Dealt Devastating Blow in Iraq
The U.S. military says it has dealt devastating and potentially irreversible blows to Al Qaeda in Iraq in recent months, leading some generals to advocate a declaration of victory over the group, which the Bush administration has long described as the most lethal U.S. adversary in Iraq, the Washington Post reported Monday.
Al-Qaeda In Iraq Reported Crippled
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/14/AR2007101401245_pf.html
REHAB IS NOT JUST FOR HOLLYWOOD TERRORISTS NOW
U.S. Tries Rehab For Religious Extremists
Singapore Has Reduced Its Detainee Ranks With Islamic Reeducation; A Model For U.S.?
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/09/world/main3347089.shtml