Baqouba
Sealed Off As U.S.
Forces Lose Control of City
By Dahr Jamail
25 June, 2004
The New Standard
Baqouba,
Iraq , Jun 24 - Just six days before Iraqs interim government
is to gain partial sovereignty from the US, resistance fighters launched
a series of coordinated attacks against US forces and Iraqi government
targets in Baghdad, Mosul, Ramadi and Baqouba today. Fierce fighting
between the Iraqi resistance and US forces has killed at least 85 people
and wounded 320, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Health..
Here in Baqouba,
a small city 50 kilometers northeast of Baghdad, early morning attacks
by resistance fighters and bombing raids by the US military killed 13
civilians and wounded another 15 , according to the Health Ministry.
Sporadic fighting continued around Baqouba this afternoon after US forces
sealed off the city.
A sergeant with
the 1st Infantry Division, whose fatigue label said Johnson, said resistance
fighters ambushed a US patrol in the city at 5:30 this morning, killing
two soldiers and wounding seven others. This was later confirmed by
a Multi-National Corps Iraq Press Release. Sergeant Johnson said his
unit called in tanks for support after the initial attack.
Shortly after the
attack, insurgents appeared to have taken control of the Al-Mufraq district
in western Baqouba. Residents here said occupation forces had retreated
from the area after being ambushed.
"This morning
the mujahideen defeated the occupying forces in Al-Mufraq," said
Amer Alwhan, a 29 year-old engineer who lives near the area. He also
said that early this morning, resistance fighters, often referred to
by locals as mujahideen, distributed leaflets throughout the city. The
leaflets told residents to stay in their homes because US forces would
be attacked in the city.
Scenes on the outskirts
of Baqouba seemed transplanted from April's fighting in Fallujah. A
car riddled with bullets sat on the median of the main road leading
into and out of the town, while a pile of empty bullet casings lay 100
feet away near concrete mangled by tank treads. The lifeless body of
the cars driver lay beside the vehicle draped in a black mourning
flag.
In another offensive apparently coordinated with the ambush, at least
30 resistance fighters attacked the police station in central Baqouba
with small arms and rocket propelled grenades, according to the US military.
Residents claim that 21 Iraqi Police (IP) were killed during the attack,
and that Iraqi fighters subsequently took control of the station.
At the same time,
according to residents, resistance fighters also attacked the Blue Dome
government building in central Baqouba with mortars, rocket propelled
grenades and automatic weapons, then proceeded to occupy the building,.
"There was
so much fighting here this morning," said Abdel Humam who lives
in downtown Baqouba. "The freedom fighters took control of everything
here and kicked the Americans out of the city."
General Walid Khalid,
the police chief of Diyala Province, told Aljazeera TV that the situation
in Baqouba would soon be under control. Resistance fighters had reportedly
set Khalids home ablaze.*
"The resistance killed 21 [Iraqi police] here today," said
a local Sheikh who asked to remain anonymous, "because they are
collaborators with the occupation army."
Iyad Allawi, Iraqs
interim prime minister and former Baath Party strongman, blamed
the Baqouba attacks on remnants of Saddam Husseins Baathist
regime, whom he called "isolated."
But witnesses in
Baqouba said that some of the fighters who attacked the police station
and government building proclaimed loyalty to Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and
wore yellow headbands similar to those adorning Al-Zarqawis fighters,
Reuters reports.
Residents of Baqouba,
along with Major Neal E. O'Brien, a US 1st Infantry Division spokesman,
said that at 9 a.m., US warplanes dropped three 500 pound bombs in the
city near the soccer stadium. The strikes destroyed three buildings
that the military says were used by resistance fighters for launching
attacks.
Ken Backus, an assistant
liaison for the Coalition Provisional Authority at the Ministry of Health
in Baghdad, said the Administrator of the Baqouba General Hospital and
his assistant had been assassinated during the fighting. He declined
a longer interview at his office this morning. "We are in the midst
of a national emergency," he said.
Brigadier General
Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of operations for the US Army in Iraq,
told reporters that fighting in the affected cities in Iraq had subsided
by noon.
But at 12:15 p.m.,
two US Apache Helicopters were clearly visible, engaged in strafing
runs that swept over parts of the embattled city.
Seemingly no one
was off limits for US soldiers. American troops in a Bradley Fighting
Vehicle fired at our car on the outskirts of the city.
Inside the city,
several large bomb blasts were heard around 1 p.m., while the streets
remained mostly empty and all of the shops closed for fear of continued
fighting. However, no US military units were visible anywhere inside
the city itself.
Unpiloted surveillance
drones buzzed ominously overhead, their constant hum one of the only
active signs of a US presence in all of Baqouba.
Many people here
blame the occupation forces for instigating the resistance by conducting
periodic home raids and continuing patrols inside the city.
Haji Faisal, a member
of a very large family in the area, said: "The mujahideen are fighting
for their country against the Americans, who are the occupiers. We all
accept this resistance."
A local Iraqi engineer,
Qahtan Mhamoud shared criticism. "We do not like the occupiers,"
he said. "Nobody here likes the occupiers."
Baqouba today stood
eerily reminiscent of Fallujah in April. On April 4, US Marines sealed
the city of Fallujah after losing control of most neighborhoods. A month
long siege ensued before the military ceded their security authority
to the Iraqi Police, Civil Defense Corps and mujahideen.
Scenes on the outskirts
of Baqouba seemed transplanted from April's fighting in Fallujah. A
car riddled with bullets sat on the median of the main road leading
into and out of the town, while a pile of empty bullet casings lay 100
feet away near concrete mangled by tank treads.
The lifeless body
of the cars driver lay beside the vehicle draped in a black mourning
flag.
Sergeant Johnson
said that the car had rammed a tank, forcing soldiers to kill the driver.
He did not explain why the front of the car appeared to be perfectly
intact.
Earlier today, General
Kimmitt told reporters, "Coalition forces feel confident with the
situation."
Standing nervously
at a checkpoint set up to control access on the main road at 3 p.m.,
Sgt. Johnson said no US military were in the city, which he said was
full of resistance fighters.
Asked if he felt
the worst was over, Johnson said, "This is just getting warmed
up."
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* Correction: A
change has been made to the paragraph that now reads:
General Walid Khalid,
the police chief of Diyala Province, told Aljazeera TV that the situation
in Baqouba would soon be under control. Resistance fighters had reportedly
set Khalids home ablaze.
It originally indicated
that Khalid's house was burned down after he made the statement to Aljazeera
TV. We have since learned his house was torched early in the morning.
We regret any misunderstanding this oversight may have caused.
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© 2004 The NewStandard.