·       Two US Marines killed in car bomb attack in al-Qa’im.

·       Four US troops reported killed in Resistance attack east of ar-Ramadi.

·       Saddam Husayn refuses to recognize illegal occupier show "trial" at opening session in occupied Baghdad Monday.

·       Resistance fighters carry out series of attacks on Shi'i sectarian militias in Ba'qubah Monday.

·       Resistance sharpshooter reportedly kills US soldier in western al-Mawsil.

Al-Anbar Province.

Al-Qa’im.

Two US Marines killed in car bomb attack in al-Qa’im.

In a dispatch posted at 6:20pm Makkah time Monday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance fida’i fighter drove an explosives-laden Caprice car into a joint patrol of US Marines and Iraqi puppet army troops in the city of al-Qa’im in western Iraq on the border with Syria.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the Iraqi puppet army had issued a statement saying that a Resistance fighter drove a car bomb into the joint patrol of US and Iraqi puppet troops and blew up. The blast killed two American Marines and five Iraqi puppet troops of the Third Battalion Fourth Squadron of the puppet army.  The statement said that three more puppet troops were wouded in the attack.

Hit.

Resistance bomb disables US Humvee in Hit.

In a dispatch posted at 12:35pm Makkah time Monday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US patrol in the city of Hit, about 170km northwest of Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the blast disabled a US military vehicle, wounding or killing the members of its crew.  Eyewitnesses who live in the al-Mu'allimin neighborhood of the city said that the bomb, which had been planted by the main road in the area near the Ibrahim al-Khalil Mosque.

The blast disabled a Humvee, killing or wounding the four soldiers aboard it.

After the explosion, US troops surrounded the entire neighborhood and launched an extensive campaign of raids and arrests of more than 20 local civilians. 

Ar-Ramadi.

Resistance rockets blast two US headquarters in ar-Ramadi Monday.

In a dispatch posted at 7:25pm Makkah time Monday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces carried out a rocket attack on the two headquarters of US forces in the city of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad Monday afternoon.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported local eyewitnesses as saying that five Khattab-1 blasted into the al-Anbar Provincial government building in the middle of ar-Ramadi inflicting heavy damage on the facility used by the Americans as one of their local headquarters.  Residents of the as-Sufiyah district atop their roofs could see the damage done by the rocket attack, but no information on the nature or extent of US casualties was available.

About 10 minutes after that attack, the Resistance fired three Katyusha rockets nto the US headquarters set up in the Agricultural College of al-Anbar University to the east of ar-Ramadi – another facility that the Americans have long since taken over and turned into their own command post.  That barrage sent pillars of white smoke rising into the sky as sirens wailed inside the facility.

Four US troops reported killed in Resistance attack east of ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 10am Makkah time Monday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters ambushed a US military column on the main road near the al-Madiq area east of ar-Ramadi.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses who live in the al-Madiq area as saying that the attack began when an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by the American column.  After that Resistance fighters armed with light and medium weapons and rocket launchers attacked the column.  One American armored vehicle was disabled and at least four US troops were killed and three more wounded.

Baghdad.

Saddam Husayn refuses to recognize illegal occupier show "trial" at opening session in occupied Baghdad Monday.

Iraqi President Saddam Husayn refused to enter a plea at the opening of the second American-run show "trial" to be staged in occupied Baghdad in which the leaders of independent Iraq are being put on "trial" by the American-run occupation and its local administrators.

The US occupation forces and the puppet regime in Baghdad launched a second show "trial" for Iraqi President Saddam Husayn and six other Iraqi leaders on Monday – 'Ali Hasan al-Majid; Sabir 'Abd al-'Aziz ad-Duri, head of Military Intelligence; Sultan Hashim Ahmad, Minister of Defense; Husayn Rashid at-Tikriti, the Iraqi Army Chief of Staff; Tahir Tawfiq al-'Ani, a leading member of the Arab Baath Socialist Party; Farhan Mutlak al-Jabburi, head of Military Intelligence for the Northern Region.

The BBC reported that President Saddam Husayn challenged the legitimacy of the "court," as he had done at his previous "trial."  He refused initially to give his name, answering US-installed "chief judge" 'Abdallah al-'Amiri’s request to identify himself with: "My name is known to Iraq and the world."

'This is the law of the occupation," the Iraqi President observed, before introducing himself as the "President of the Republic and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces."

Al-'Amiri told the Iraqi President that he was on "trial" for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and asked whether he was innocent or guilty.

"That would require volumes of books," Saddam Hussein replied.

The puppet regime’s prosecutors opened their "case" by claiming that "weapons of mass destruction and air strikes" were used in the al-Anfal campaign.

The so-called "al-Anfal Case" which is to be the subject of this trial is the story promoted by the western media that the Iraqi military used poisoned gas against the population of northern Iraq during campaigns against Iranian-backed Kurdish separatist rebels during the Iraq-Iran war, specifically during the period between February and August of 1988. 

Observers note that as is customary for the US occupation forces and their puppet regime, the "al-Anfal Case" is entirely for political show and not in any sense an attempt to investigate and adjudicate, in addition to the fact that any legal proceeding carried out by the occupying power and its puppets is illegal.

The Human Rights Watch organization, while not objecting to an occupying power putting the leaders of the occupied country on "trial," did observe that the behavior of the "court" trying Iraqi leaders in the previous "case" in which it ruled on the punishment of participants in an assassination attempt in ad-Dujayl had "demonstrated their bias."  Human Rights Watch therefore expressed doubt that the new "trial" opening Monday was really prepared to examine the "case."

The organization noted "not one of the [US-appointed] Iraqi judges showed an understanding of international criminal law and the courtroom was run in a chaotic and inappropriate manner."  Human Rights Watch also cast doubt on the extensive reliance by the US-installed "courts" on the testimony of anonymous, hidden witnesses who could not be cross-examined.  "Testimony" frequently appeared to have been read from prepared texts by unknown persons hidden by screens.

In addition to conducting the "trial" itself in an utterly biased manner, three of the defense attorneys were also murdered in US-occupied Iraq.

Shi'i sectarian gangs backed by puppet "Iraqi National Guards" attack predominantly Sunni al-A'zamiyah district of Baghdad.

In a dispatch posted at 1:15pm Makkah time Monday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that gangs of Shi'i sectarians, including members of the Badr Brigades and Jaysh al-Mahdi militia, at that moment were attacking the predominantly Sunni district of al-A'zamiyah.  Local residents of al-A'zamiyah were battling the attacking gangs near the Ra’s al-Hawass Fuel Station opposite the courthouse and around the cathedral Mosque of Abu Hanifah an-Nu'man and its adjoining madrasah (religious school).

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the Shi'i sectarian gangs were being backed up by puppet "Iraqi National Guards."  At the time of reporting several residents of al-A'zamiyah had already been killed in the fighting, which the correspondent described as "violent."

Then in a dispatch posted at 6pm Makkah time Monday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that fighting between attacking Shi'i sectarians and the defenders of al-A'zamiyah went on for about four hours left four vehicles belonging to the sectarian gangs burnt up and a large number of the sectarians dead or wounded.  As a result of such losses, the Shi'i sectarians finally were forced to withdraw.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that two of the defenders of al-A 'zamiyah were killed in the fightin and nine more, one of them a woman, were wounded.  The historic cathedral mosque of Abu Hanifah an-Nu'man was damaged, as was Abu Hanifah an-Nu'man College, in Shi'i sectarian attacks using heavy mortars.

Eyewitnesses said that at first Iraqi puppet government forces stood on the sidelines observing and not intervening when the Shi'i sectarians seemed to have the upper hand.  But when the defenders fire began to set the attackers’ vehicles ablaze and kill and wound some of the sectarians, the puppet regime troops hurried to assist the sectarian militias.  Witnesses said that if it were not for the Iraqi puppet regime forces, the defenders of al-A'zamiyah would have annihilated all the sectarian attackers, for they had the attackers surrounded.

At the time of reporting late Monday afternoon, large numbers of American occupation troops were inside al-A'zamiyah, having sealed off the mosques and markets of the district.

Sunni Waqf councilor kidnapped by Shi'i sectarian militias.

In a dispatch posted at 9:05pm Makkah time Monday night, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier Shi'i sectarian militia gangs had kidnapped Shaykh Hawwash Khalaf Mut'ib, the legal councilor for Sunni Affairs in Iraq.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported a source in the Sunni Board for Pious Endowments (Awqaf) as saying that dozens of Shi'i sectarian militiamen attacked the home of Shaykh Hawwash in al-Karadah and abducted him.  His fate remained unknown at the time of reporting.

Tortured bodies of nine youths abducted by Shi'i sectarian gangs on Saturday found Monday afternoon.

In a dispatch posted at 6:35pm Makkah time Monday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the bodies of nine youths who had been kidnapped by Shi'i sectarians as reported here on Saturday, 19 August, were found on Monday.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the nine were abducted by Shi'i sectarians to the Buratha Mosque – known locally as the "Shi'i Abu Ghurayb" – under the direction of the Imam Jalal as-Saghir, a man of Iranian background who is a leader of the pro-American Badr Brigades and a reputed ringleader of torture and death squads in occupied Baghdad.

The correspondent reported that the nine bodies were dumped on the sidewalk opposite the al-Bayruti Coffee Houe in the Baghdad district of al-'Atifiyah late Monday afternoon.  The bodies bore clear signs of torture, including burning by fire and punctures caused by electrical prods.  All had been then shot to death in the head.  Among the dead was the college student 'Umar Muhammad, whose abduction along with the eight others, was mentioned in this report on Saturday.

See "Shi'i Buratha mosque reportedly resumes role as center for torture of abducted Sunnis," in Iraqi Resistance Report for Saturday, 19 August 2006.

Mafkarat al-Islam noted that the notorious Shi'i Buratha Mosque took precautions in preparation for a possible attack by Sunni Iraqis attempting to free the captive youths following the publication of the report of their abduction.  But the three-day curfew imposed on Sunni areas of Baghdad prevented Sunni community members from taking any concerted action against the torturer-abductors on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Resistance bomb targets puppet "Iraqi National Guards" on road to at-Taji.

In a dispatch posted at 10:40am Makkah time Monday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a puppet "National Guard" patrol on the road to the northern Baghdad suburb of at-Taji at about 7:30am local time Monday morning.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported a source in the puppet police as saying that the bomb disabled a Hino patrol vehicle, killing two puppet "National Guards" and wounding two more of them.

Resistance bomb in as-Sayyidiyah kills four puppet "Shock Troops."

In a dispatch posted at 10:20am Makkah time Monday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a patrol of puppet "Iraqi Interior Ministry Shock Troops (Maghawir)" in the as-Sayyidiyah neighborhood of southern Baghdad.

The Baghdad correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in as-Sayyidiyah as saying that a Resistance bomb that had been planted on the al-'Ulwah Road in as-Sayyidiyah went off by a "Shock Troop" patrol, destroying a Toyota Land Cruiser ("Monica") belonging to the puppet troops and killing four of the "Shock Troops" and wounding two more of them.

Salah ad-Din Province.

Ad-Dawr.

US fuel convoy hit by Resistance bomb south of Tikrit.

In a dispatch posted at12:24pm Makkah time midday Monday, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a convoy of tank trucks hauling fuel to US bases on the road to ad-Dawr, about 150km north of Baghdad and just south of Tikrit.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the al-'Awjah area of southern Tikrit as saying that the blast destroyed one of the trucks, seriously injuring the driver.

Diyala Province.

Ba'qubah.

Resistance fighters carry out series of attacks on Shi'i sectarian militias in Ba'qubah Monday.

In a dispatch posted at 7:15pm Makkah time Monday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters carried out a series of attacks on the pro-American Shi'i sectarian Badr Brigades and Shi'i sectarian Jaysh al-Mahdi militiamen on Monday.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that at 9am local time Iraqi Resistance fighters shot and killed Sa’ib Kazim ar-Rabi'i, in the at-Tahrir district.  They took his pistol and the hand grenade he carried in his belt.

Resistance fighters also shot and killed Kamil Zaydan and his brother Thamir Zaydan, both Badr Brigade members who worked in the "Anti-Terror" department for Diyala Province.

Then at 12 noon, local time Monday, the Resistance shot and killed 'Ala’ 'Abd al-Husayn, a commander in the Jaysh al-Mahdi sectarian militia and his brother who sells birds in the al-Miqdadiyah area, 25km northeast of Ba'qubah, and who also was a commander in the Jaysh al-Mahdi sectarian militia.

In a separate attack an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded under a Badr Brigade vehicle being driven by Salih Farhud, a Badr Brigade commander, along with a number of his companions.  The blast, which took place at 2pm local time Monday afternoon, killed them immediately.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US and Iraqi puppet troops took the bodies to al-Mawsil Hospital where members of the Shi'i sectarian militias took the bodies to prepare them to be transported to an-Najaf and Karbala’ where they originally came from.

Al-'Azim.

In a bulletin posted at 5:35pm Makkah time Monday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier, Iraqi Resistance fighters had captured a number of Iraqi puppet army vehicles along with their weapons after killing the puppet troops aboard them in an ambush near al-'Azim.

The Kirkuk correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported a source in the Iraqi Resistance as saying that their fighters had captured seven pickups and Humvees belonging to the puppet army in the course of an ambush that took place in the area of al-'Azim in neighboring Diyala Province.  The Resistance fighters wiped out the puppet troops and captured their weapons and vehicles.  The source said that none of the Resistance men were injured in the operation.

Babil Province.

Al-Latifiyah.

Resistance bomb targets puppet "National Guard" patrol north of al-Latifiyah.

In a dispatch posted at 10:10am Makkah time Monday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a patrol of puppet "Iraqi National Guard" troops in al-Latifiyah, about 30km south of Baghdad, disabling a military vehicle and killing or wounding the members of its crew.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in al-Latifiyah as saying that the bomb, which had been planted on the road to Baghdad north of town, blew up by the puppet "National Guard" patrol, disabling a Humvee and killing or wounding the five puppet troops aboard the vehicle.

Ninwa Province.

Al-Mawsil.

Resistance sharpshooter reportedly kills US soldier in western al-Mawsil.

In a dispatch posted at 12:07pm Makkah time midday Monday, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance marksman shot and killed a US soldier in the al-Intisar neighborhood of western al-Mawsil in northern Iraq.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in al-Intisar as saying that a US patrol was on the road between the neighborhoods of al-Intisar and al-Quds in the western part of the city when one of the US soldiers took a direct hit from an Iraqi Resistance sharpshooter’s bullet, killing him instantly.

Wasit Province.

Al-Kut.

Resistance bombards US headquarters in northwest of al-Kut.

In a dispatch posted at 10:36am Makkah time Monday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces fired four medium-range Katyusha rockets at the US occupation headquarters located north of al-Kut, about 150km southeast of Baghdad, at dawn on Monday morning.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in al-Kut as saying that the Resistance rocket barrage on the occupation headquarters in the northwest of the al-Kut area set off violent explosions and sent plumes of smoke rising into the air.  US helicopters flew in at low altitude and hovered over the headquarters and surrounding area after the attack.