Friday October 1, 2004

At least 80 people were reported dead today after US and Iraqi forces launched a major assault to regain control of the rebel stronghold of Samarra.

Troops of the US 1st Infantry Division, the Iraqi National Guard and Iraqi army moved into the town, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, after midnight under cover of heavy air and artillery fire. By the early hours of today, the offensive had succeeded in securing government and police buildings, the US military command said.

Residents cowered in their homes as tanks and warplanes pounded the city overnight. The sound of loud shelling mixed with the crackle of automatic gunfire continued into the morning. At least three houses were flattened and dozens of cars burnt out, residents said.

"We are terrified by the violent approach used by the Americans to subdue the city," said Mahmoud Saleh, a 33-year-old civil servant. "My wife and children are scared to death and they have not being able to sleep since last night. I hope that the fighting ends as soon as possible."

At least 80 bodies and more than 100 wounded were brought to Samarra general hospital, said Dr Khalid Ahmed. The hospital was running out bandages, oxygen and other supplies, he said. There were no immediate reports of US casualties.

US troops ordered residents to stay off the streets as they moved in to and began carrying out house-to-house searches. A 7pm to 7am curfew was later announced through loud-hailers.

Today's assault came in response to "repeated and unprovoked attacks by anti-Iraqi forces" against Iraqi and coalition forces, a military statement said. Its aim was to "facilitate orderly government processes, kill or capture anti-Iraqi forces and set the conditions to proceed with infrastructure and quality-of-life improvements" in the city.

"Unimpeded access throughout the city for Iraqi security forces and multinational forces is non-negotiable," the statement said.

The military said insurgent attacks and acts of intimidation against the people of Samarra had undermined the security situation in the city, regarded as one of the top three rebel strongholds in Iraq, along with Falluja and the impoverished Baghdad district known as Sadr City.

An earlier report by CNN said 2,000 rebels were believed to be holed up in Samarra and that troops were taking the city "sector by sector."

Samarra has been under insurgent control and a virtual no-go area for US troops since May 30. The Americans returned briefly on September 9 under a peace deal brokered by tribal leaders. US forces agreed to provide millions of dollars in reconstruction aid in exchange for an end to attacks on American and Iraqi troops.

In recent weeks, however, the city witnessed sporadic clashes between US troops and insurgents. Masked gunmen carrying the flag of Iraq's most feared terror group, Tawhid and Jihad, surfaced in force in Samarra on Tuesday, staging a defiant drive through the streets. Members of the same group, led by Jordanian terror suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have been holding British engineer Ken Bigley hostage.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1317509,00.html