alternative reader no. 128
Baghdad
Street Battle Smacks of Open Civil War
BY
OMAR AL-IBADI
Reuters
Posted by Bulatlat
BAGHDAD - Snipers held
rooftop positions as masked Sunni Arab insurgents said they were gearing
up for another open street battle with pro-government Shi'ite militiamen
in Baghdad's Adhamiya district on Tuesday.
The Arab Sunni stronghold is
still feeling ripples from overnight clashes on Monday that appeared to be
the closest yet to all-out sectarian fighting.
It's a reality that has
Washington scrambling to avert civil war as Iraqi politicians struggle to
form a government four months after parliamentary elections.
A US military spokesman said
50 insurgents attacked Iraqi forces in the middle of the night in a
seven-hour battle that killed five rebels and wounded an Iraqi soldier.
Fighting was so fierce that
US reinforcements were brought in to the northern district, home to some
of Iraq's most hardcore Sunni guerrillas and the Abu Hanifa mosque, near
where Saddam Hussein was last seen in public before going into hiding.
Sporadic fighting continued
on Tuesday.
"There are six people among
our dead and wounded. Just half an hour ago a sniper killed Ali," said
Mohammad, a 28-year-old Adhamiya resident, of his friend.
While the February bombing of
a Shi'ite shrine pushed Iraq to the edge of civil war and left hundreds of
bodies with bullet holes and torture marks on the streets, the scenario in
Adhamiya is more alarming, despite fewer casualties.
It appeared to be the first
example of a large-scale, open sectarian street battle in the capital, if
not all of Iraq.
The boldness of the attack
was a stark reminder of the security nightmare that will challenge the new
government, which will face a Sunni insurgency that has killed many
thousands of Shi'ite security forces and civilians.
"Today at noon
a group of army soldiers came near the Abu Hanifa mosque and a sniper went
on top of the roof. We managed to kill him with a grenade. I destroyed
three of their vehicles with roadside bombs," said another rebel.
Insurgents setting up
barricades said they saw Shi'ite fighters calling themselves The Army of
Haidar closing in on the Abu Hanifa mosque from three directions.
Death Squads
"We expect them to come back
again," said a man who only identified himself as Abu Bakr and said he was
a former army officer under Saddam.
His description of the events
of Monday night were even more dramatic than the US military account.
"We saw about 100 to 150 men
show up in cars. Some were wearing military uniforms and others were in
civilian clothes," he said, as five gunmen stood guard over one of the
main roads leading into Adhamiya.
Sunni leaders have accused
the Shi'ite-led government of sanctioning militia death squads, a charge
it denies.
"What happened in Adhamiya is
an evil act by an armed militia backed by security and government
operatives," Dhafer al-Ani, a member of the biggest Sunni Alliance, told a
news conference.
As Abu Bakr and his men
geared up for a new fight, the Sunni town of Ramadi, 110 km (68 miles)
west of Baghdad, was recovering from the latest rebel assault.
The US military said marines
repelled insurgent attacks at several locations in central Ramadi on
Monday, including the local government centre, which often comes under
fire.
The multiple suicide car
bombs, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns appeared
to be closely coordinated, said the military.
On Tuesday, residents said
they kept their children home because insurgents ordered schools closed.
Streets were mostly empty.
Washington hopes training
will improve the performance of Iraqi forces and enable US troops to start
heading home.
But as the confusing Adhamiya
fighting illustrated, it's hard to tell who is wearing Iraqi military
uniforms, complicating the task of stabilising the country. Posted by
Bulatlat
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