|
Anbar Offensive ominously approaches Syrian border and yields
many enemy deaths – A warning to Bashar
American troops backed by helicopters and war planes have launched a
major offensive against insurgents in a remote desert area near the
Syrian border, and about 100 militants were killed in the first 24
hours, the U.S. military said.
At the Pentagon, Marine Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, director of
operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Tuesday that
the assault (Operation Matador) in the northern Jazirah Desert had
run into well-equipped and trained fighters.
"There are reports that these people are in uniforms, in some cases
are wearing protective vests, and there's some suspicion that their
training exceeds what we have seen with other engagements further
east," he said.
All this points towards the Syrian Army's involvement in the
training. It is possible that Syrian irregulars have joined the
terrorists in the actual fighting. We can recall how the Pakistani
Army irregulars form their Northern Light Infantry (NLI) had joined
the Mujahideen to fight the Indian army in Kargil in 1999. The same
seems to be happening in Anbar. The implications would be very
serious indeed for Syria.
The Chicago Tribune reported that more than 1,000 U.S. troops
supported by fighter jets and helicopter gunships on Sunday raided
villages in and around Obeidi, about 185 miles west of Baghdad, in an
operation expected to last several days.
The report, by a journalist embedded with the U.S. forces, said the
offensive "was seeking to uproot a persistent insurgency in an area
that American intelligence indicated has become a haven for foreign
fighters flowing in from Syria."
Some U.S. forces were north of the Euphrates, but most were stuck
south of the waterway as engineers tried to build a pontoon bridge
there Sunday, the Tribune said.
The report quoted some Marines as saying residents of one riverside
town had turned off all their lights at night, apparently to warn
neighboring towns of the approaching U.S. troops.
Marines fought house-to-house Monday against dozens of well-armed insurgents firing at them from balconies, rooftops and
sandbagged bunkers in the border town of Obeidi and surrounding villages, the Los Angeles Times reported.
As many as 100 militants have been killed since Operation Matador, one of the largest American offensives in Iraq in six
months, began Saturday night in Qaim, 200 miles west of Baghdad, the military said.
At least three U.S. Marines have been killed in the offensive, which involves more than 1,000 Marines, sailors and soldiers
backed by helicopter gunships and fighter jets.
A Los Angeles Times reporter embedded with U.S. forces said 20 American troops were wounded, but the U.S. military could not
immediately confirm that.
Gunmen, meanwhile, kidnapped the governor of Iraq's western Anbar province Tuesday and told his family he would be released
when U.S. forces withdraw from Qaim, relatives said. Gov. Raja Nawaf Farhan al-Mahalawi was seized as he drove from Qaim to
the provincial capital of Ramadi, his brother, Hammad, told The Associated Press.
The offensive comes amid a surge of militant attacks across Iraq, often targeting security forces and civilians, since the
new government was announced April 28.
Al-Jaafari pledged Sunday to take "all necessary measures" to restore
security in Iraq and said the government could impose martial law, if
necessary, to fight the insurgents.
Violence continued Tuesday with at least three Iraqis killed in a
suicide car bombing at police checkpoint at a busy Baghdad
intersection, said police Maj. Mousa Abdul Karim. The dead included
two policemen and a civilian. Six other policemen and three civilians
were wounded, he said.
On Monday, the U.S. military accused insurgents of using patients as
human shields during the four-hour battle in Haditha, 140 miles
northwest of Baghdad, even after one of their bombs set fire to the
hospital.
An unspecified number of militants were killed in the fighting, the
military said.
Story credits: ABC and Yahoo News
|
