*IRAQ: latest news and developments

[Barking_Mad]

Fucking hell, truly disgraceful -

Najaf police chief faces chilling dilemma

Najaf, Iraq - Militants had just kidnapped and dragged his ailing 80-year-old father through the streets. They also beat his brothers until they collapsed. Forty of his men were killed and several were beheaded. It's tough being the police chief of Najaf, the Iraqi city that is sacred to millions of Shi'as around the world and a battleground between Shi'a militia, US marines and Iraqi police and National Guard. "They told me that I could go in the place of my father," said Ghalib al-Jezairy, a move that would have had dire consequences for a man high on the militant hit list. As the police chief spoke his father was still being held.

'Do Iraqi police behead people?' The stress and exhaustion shows on the face of the man who is trying to keep morale high in a police force facing thousands of supporters of firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

......."What they did to my father was inhuman. He is a dying old man. They beat my brothers until they fainted," he told reporters late on Monday night, as the sound of mortars being fired could be heard in a nearby cemetery turned battle zone.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Al-Sadr agrees to Vatican mediation in Najaf

The Vatican confirmed that Pope John Paul II is ready to mediate between Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr and US-led occupation forces. A spokesman for al-Sadr, whose forces are locked in an intense battle inside the city with US-led troops, has already welcomed the proposal.

But Vatican spokesman Ciro Benedettini told journalists on Tuesday the Pope was only willing to mediate if requested to do so by both sides in the conflict. "The Holy See, obviously, is always disposed to help the parties to talk to each other and have a dialogue, on condition there exists a real will to commit to a peaceful solution to the crisis." The mediation is expected to be directly handled by the Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, who is said to be closely following developments in Iraq.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Dutch Soldiers Come Under Fire In Southern Iraq

THE HAGUE, Aug 17 (AFP) - Dutch soldiers stationed in southern Iraq came under fire in Ar Rumaythah overnight but no one was hurt, a spokesman for the Dutch army said Tuesday. "There was a short exchange of fire after the patrol was fired upon with small calibre weapons," army spokesman Nico van der Zee told AFP. Several hours after the initial attack two mortars were fired on the Dutch camp near Ar Rumaythah but they missed the base.

The 160 soldiers stationed at the camp spent several hours in a bunker after the mortars were fired, Van der Zee said. "It is not the first time this sort of incident happens," the spokesman added. On Saturday a Dutch soldier was killed and five others were severely wounded after a patrol was fired upon outside Ar Rumaythah. In all the Dutch have some 1,300 troops stationed in the Muthanna province in southern Iraq which is under British command.

 

[Barking_Mad]

British forces clash in Basra

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - British forces have clashed with fighters loyal to radical Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Basra for a second day, trading gunfire in the streets for about 90 minutes, witnesses say.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from the clash, which began when four British armoured vehicles advanced towards Sadr's office in the southern port city, the witnesses said on Wednesday.

One British soldier was killed and others wounded on Tuesday during clashes with Sadr's followers, according to the Ministry of Defence. At least one militiamen was also killed.

Dutch military limits patrols in Iraq

AMSTERDAM — The commander of Dutch forces in Iraq has limited the number of patrols his soldiers carry out, it was announced Wednesday. The move comes after a Dutch military policeman was killed in an ambush at the weekend. Only essential movement of troops will be permitted until there was "clarity" about the security situation in light of events in recent days, a spokesman for the Dutch army said.

ONE TASK FORCE BAGHDAD SOLDIER KILLED TODAY

BAGHDAD - A Task Force Baghdad Soldier was killed today when a patrolling unit came under attack around 3 p.m. in eastern Baghdad. The Soldier suffered a gunshot wound and was evacuated to a military hospital. The Soldier was pronounced dead at the hospital. The name of the Soldier killed is being withheld pending the notification of next of kin. The incident is under investigation.

Seven wounded in mortar attack on Polish base in Iraq

WARSAW (AFP) - Seven people were slightly wounded during a mortar attack on the base of the Polish-led multinational force in southern Iraq (news - web sites), a Polish army spokesman said. "Nobody was killed. Seven people in all were slightly injured, according to the last tally. They were three Poles -- one civilian and two soldiers, one of whom was hit in the arm and the other in the leg -- as well as one American, one Indian and two Iraqis," he said. The commander of the Polish-led force in Iraq, Polish General Andrzej Ekiert, said the mortars were fired from a road two or three kilometres (miles) away.

 

[sihhi]

Fucking hell, truly disgraceful -

I'd agree with that.

 

[Barking_Mad]

'50 die in US raid'

BAGHDAD: The US military killed more than 50 militia loyal to Moqtada Al Sadr in a significant advance early this morning into a Baghdad suburb that is one of his powerbases. The radical Iraqi cleric leading a Shi'ite uprising earlier agreed to disarm his militia and leave one of the country's holiest Islamic shrines after the interim government threatened to storm the Imam Ali Mosque to teach his Mehdi Army militia "a lesson they will never forget".

Tensions, however, remained high after dark in the holy city where fighting has raged for two weeks and killed hundreds. Sadr, who only a few days ago had vowed to fight to the death, said his forces would disarm and leave only after Marines encircling the city had agreed to a truce.

Two Polish soldiers dead, five injured in Iraq

(Reuters) WARSAW - Two Polish soldiers were killed and five injured in a road accident in Hilla after their patrol was fired on near their Babylon base in southern Iraq, Polish news agency PAP said on Thursday, citing a military spokesman. Polish military spokesmen in Iraq and Warsaw were not immediately available to comment. Private all-news television channel TVN 24 reported from Camp Babylon that the five injured soldiers had not been wounded by gunfire, but did not give the cause of the two deaths.

Poland has been a staunch supporter of US policy in Iraq, where it has sent about 2,500 troops and commands a multinational division.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Little more on the US raid into Sadr city....

US pushes into Baghdad Shia area

US forces say they have made a major advance into a mainly Shia area in Baghdad that is a stronghold of the radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr.
Residents of Sadr City told the BBC there was fierce fighting overnight. In Najaf, where Mr Sadr is locked in a stand-off with US and Iraqi troops, gunfire reverberated on Thursday. The cleric has offered to end the uprising if there is a truce, but Iraq's government says he has "only hours" to leave the Imam Ali shrine.

The US military says the operation in Sadr City, which began on Wednesday, is "ongoing". The BBC's Matthew Price in Baghdad says the Americans appear to have moved right into the heart of the district, although it is difficult to get proper confirmation of this. US soldiers were said to be using loudspeakers to urge militia fighters to hand over their weapons. Some reports suggested up to 50 people were killed in the fighting as US troops in tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles advanced through Sadr City, but this is also impossible to confirm, our correspondent says.

An American soldier was killed in the fighting, a military statement reported by French news agency AFP said. Another US soldier was wounded and a US tank was reportedly badly damaged during the assault on the suburb, which is home to about two million people.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Seven dead in Najaf mortar attack

Thu 19 August, 2004 13:13

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - A mortar attack on a police station in the holy Iraqi city of Najaf has killed seven people and wounded 21 others. Police on Thursday said three mortar bombs hit the station in quick succession. It was unclear how many of the victims were police.

Fierce fighting reported around Najaf shrine

19/08/2004 - 13:24:39

Fierce fighting was reported around Najaf’s holy shrine today after a rebel cleric’s aide rejected a government ultimatum for Muqtada al-Sadr’s militia to disarm or risk a massive offensive. Sheik Aws al-Khafaji, the head of al-Sadr’s office in the southern city of Nasiriyah, said the ultimatum proved the government “wants only war.” Al-Khafaji appeared to be speaking on his own behalf and not in al-Sadr’s name. Other aides holed up with the cleric in the holy city of Najaf appealed to the government to negotiate and end to the violence there.

Al-Khafaji also said that al-Sadr did not have the authority to disband his Mahdi Army militia or to force his followers to give up their arms. He called on the government to force all other factions in the country to disarm.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Najaf residents yearn for peace

It does not sound like a truce. Hours after Moqtada Sadr had publicly agreed to disarm his militia and leave the Imam Ali shrine, fighting continued here in Najaf. The night sky was alive with the sound of mortar fire, flashes of heavy artillery, and the percussion of gunfire. The rebel cleric has now asked for a ceasefire before he will make good on his promises........

....It is too late for the family of Abdullah Thwani. They have packed up their modest house in the old city and are loading all their belongings onto a truck. The sewing machine is one of the last to be loaded. Mr Thwani says he will not bring his family of seven children back to Najaf until peace is restored and security returns. He says the last few nights have been the worst, with rockets and tanks firing all night. One of the rounds hit his front door.

It is better to run than to walk across the streets of Najaf's old city. US tanks now roll around this historic place and snipers sit menacingly on its rooftops. Shopkeeper Ahmed Rameh normally makes his living from the thousands of pilgrims who travel to the Imam Ali shrine in the old city each year. But for now his days are full of horror. The sacred mosque used to draw Shia pilgrims from across the country "It's so dangerous to be close to the shrine and we're suffering, my whole family. Financially it's very difficult. This morning I couldn't even provide bread for them," he said.

When asked for his views on what was happening to the shrine, he said: "The old city is being destroyed. We don't accept the situation. We want a return to safety. Even under Saddam this didn't happen." Ahmed's neighbours want to show us the shrapnel they have collected in the streets. They collect the fragments of the fighting and say: "Look! They come from America, the country which speaks of democracy and freedom."

 

[Barking_Mad]

Dead soldier's mother walks out on Prescott

The mother of a British soldier killed in Iraq has stormed out of a Downing Street meeting in a row over why Tony Blair failed to acknowledge her son's death for seven weeks. Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon, 19, died in a roadside bomb attack in Basra in June, met John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, after the Prime Minister's letter of condolence was delayed.

The invitation was issued shortly after she threatened to visit Number 10 because of the apparent refusal of the Prime Minister to acknowledge her son's death. But she and her 14-year-old daughter, Maxine, left the meeting in disgust after Mr Prescott failed to explain what had caused the delay.

Within minutes of what was described as a "forceful" chat, Mrs Gentle left Number 10 to speak to reporters outside."He apologised for the lateness of the letter and did not know why I had just received it," Mrs Gentle said.

She said she demanded a meeting with Mr Blair and said the Deputy Prime Minister promised to pass on her concerns. "I then walked out," she added. "He was just talking a lot of rubbish."

and from Reuters....

"I think that you should withdraw all of our soldiers from Iraq," wrote Maxine who told reporters she felt angry and upset.

"After all, it is not our war, it's America's... My big brother meant the world to me... to you he was just another number clown," said her letter to Blair.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Sadr Defiant Over Iraqi Government Threats Amid Sporadic Fighting

NAJAF, Iraq, Aug 19 (AFP) - Defiant Moqtada Sadr followers threatened to torch oil fields and die as martyrs Thursday, as fighting rocked Najaf after Iraq's government threatened an offensive in the city "within hours". Eight people were killed, at least five of them policemen, and 30 wounded when mortar bombs smashed into the provincial police headquarters in Najaf, police and a doctor said, while gunfire and explosions echoed through the city. US tanks have taken up position just 200 metres (yards) away from Najaf's Imam Ali shrine, effectively trapping Sadr's men in one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam.

More than two weeks of clashes between Sadr's Mehdi Army and US-led Iraqi government forces have reduced the historic Old City to rubble, with naked wires, spent mortar and rocket shells strewn across the deserted streets.

........

"We have been preparing for a military offensive for five days to put an end to this crisis," the minister said. But his warning was brushed aside by Sadr aide Ali Smeisim who told reporters Daoud was "not part of the negotiations".

"If there is a US conspiracy orchestrated by US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld and US agents respond to it, then we'll be happy to be martyrs of this nation," he said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraqi Truck Driver Killed In Kirkuk, Three Oil Guards Wounded

Anadolu Agency: 8/19/2004
KIRKUK, Iraq, Aug 19 (AFP) - An Iraqi truck driver supplying multinational troops was shot dead Thursday as he drove south from the main northern city of Kirkuk, police said. He was killed when his convoy of trucks came under attack by unknown gunmen early Thursday, said police Colonel Arkan Hamad al-Obeidi.

In a later ambush, west of Kirkuk, three guards responsible for oilfield security were wounded when their patrol car was attacked, said police officer Salam AbdelKader Zangana. Killings amd kidnappings of people working for the US-led foreign forces still in Iraq are frequent, as are acts of sabotage on the country's key oil infrastructure.

Security officer killed in Iraq

UNIDENTIFIED attackers killed an Iraqi security officer working for the state-run Northern Oil Co early today, police said. Two other security officers were injured it the assault 10 kilometres from the northern city of Kirkuk, police Colonel Sarhat Qadir said. Police said the assailants fled the scene. No other details were available. Meanwhile, a truck driver hauling concrete blast walls was killed on the main road running south from Kirkuk to Tikrit, Qadir said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraq's South Oil Co. Headquarters Torched

BASRA, Iraq - Shiite militants loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr broke into the headquarters of Iraq's South Oil Co. on Thursday and set the company's warehouses and offices on fire, witnesses said. The attack in the southern city of Basra came after the militants had threatened to sabotage Iraq's crucial oil infrastructure to protest the ongoing clashes pitting militants against U.S. and Iraqi forces in the holy city of Najaf. The insurgents broke into the oil company compound late Thursday and burned its warehouses, holding drilling equipment and other gear, to the ground. The fire then spread to the company's offices.

Mortar Hits U.S. Baghdad Embassy, 2 Employees Hurt

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A mortar bomb hit the roof of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Thursday, slightly wounding two American employees, a U.S. embassy spokesman said. The spokesman said the building was hit between 5 p.m.-5:30 p.m. The U.S. ambassador, John Negroponte, was not in Iraq at the time of the attack. "One of the injured was shaken. The other injured person required medical treatment but the injuries are not severe," the spokesman told Reuters, adding the roof was slightly damaged in the attack.

Tension in Karbala

The situation in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala remains tense following the latest tragic incidents with Polish soldiers, Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolay Svinarov said. Two Polish troops were killed and five injured when their patrol was attacked Thursday with gunfire near their Babylon base in the southern part of the country. Another seven Polish soldiers were injured Wednesday night in a similar attack against the Babylon base. Bulgaria has nearly 500 soldiers under Polish commandment within the multinational forces deployed in south-center part of Iraq.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Dutch forces shoot 2 dead in Samawah

SAMAWAH — Two people were shot dead by Dutch military personnel early Friday in the southern Iraq city of Samawah, local police said. The Dutch forces shot at a suspicious car near their camp, killing the two people in it. The incident happened after police and national security forces in Samawah elevated the terror alert to the highest level Thursday following renewed tension in the city of Najaf.

 

[Barking_Mad]

U.S. plane launches air strike in Iraqi city of Fallujah

FALLUJAH, Iraq (news - web sites) (AP) - U.S. forces launched an air strike Friday in the troubled Iraqi city of Fallujah, witnesses said. A U.S. plane fired at least one missile into an industrial area of the city, located 65 kilometres west of Baghdad, witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The military could not immediately be reached for comment. The air strike was the second on Fallujah on Friday. Earlier, a U.S. warplane fired missiles into the same part of the city.

Insurgents responded to the earlier attack by firing mortars toward a nearby U.S. base as calls of "God is Great" and Quranic verses, used to boost the morale of the fighters, blared from the loudspeakers of mosques.

U.S. forces have routinely bombed targets in the city it says are insurgent safehouses or strongholds.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraq rebels 'leave Najaf shrine'

Militants loyal to Moqtada Sadr have left their stronghold in the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf, reports from Iraq say. The followers of the radical cleric struck a deal to cede control of the shrine to Iraq's top Shia authority. Iraqi police are said to have entered the compound which had been used by rebels as a base against the US-led forces for the past two weeks. Earlier, US tanks reportedly encircled the shrine after an intense bombardment of rebel positions overnight.

In other developments in Iraq:

- Two US marines die in separate incidents in the restive Anbar province, west of Baghdad, the US military says

- US warplanes twice strike targets in Falluja, west of Baghdad, killing at least two people, according to hospital sources

- Suspected Sadr militants set fire to the headquarters of Iraq's South Oil Company in Basra

- The US embassy in Iraq is hit by mortar fire, slightly injuring two employees

- A new US army report on the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal will implicate at least two dozen more personnel, say US defence officials, and a report by a US academic says some medics collaborated with abusive guards.

The BBC's Alastair Leithead in Najaf says, apart from occasional mortar fire, the old city was quiet on Friday after a night of fierce fighting. US warplanes dropped bombs and tanks shelled rebel positions for five hours in the heaviest assault since fighting began two weeks ago.

The Iraqi health ministry said 77 people were killed and 70 others wounded in fighting in Najaf since Thursday.

On Friday before the apparent withdrawal from the Najaf mosque, a spokesman for Mr Sadr, Sheikh Ali Shaibani, said the cleric would not comply with the government's demand to disband his Mehdi army and vowed to fight on. But interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said the "olive branch is still extended" to Mr Sadr. Speaking to the BBC a day after issuing a "final call" for Mr Sadr's Mehdi Army to leave the shrine and disband, Mr Allawi said: "We have extended and still extend an open hand to Moqtada Sadr. "He can join the political process and he is welcome to." Mr Allawi said fighters sheltering in the shrine included "ex-criminals [who] have wired up the holy shrine to blow it up".

 

[Barking_Mad]

Two U.S. Marines killed in action

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) -- Two U.S. Marines were killed in action in Iraq's volatile Anbar province, the U.S. military said Friday. One Marine assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force died of wounds received in action Wednesday, the military said in a statement. The second Marine was killed in action Thursday while conducting "security and stability operations" in Anbar, the statement said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Poll: Many Still Link Iraq With WMD

WASHINGTON - More than half of Americans, 54 percent, continue to believe Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or a program to develop them before the United States invaded last year, according to a poll released Friday. Evidence of such weapons has not been found. Half believe Iraq was either closely linked with al-Qaida before the war (35 percent) or was directly involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on this country (15 percent). The poll by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland found the numbers on both questions have dropped in the face of evidence that both pre-war claims may have been false.

President Bush consistently equates the war on terrorism with the war in Iraq, though he has replaced his claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction with claims that Iraq had the "capability" of building such weapons. Both the Sept. 11 commission and the Senate Intelligence Committee have raised doubts about pre-war claims by the Bush administration before the Iraq war. Seven in 10 in the poll say they believe the United States went to war in Iraq based on false assumptions. A similar number say the war in Iraq has given the United States a worse image in the world.

A majority, 55 percent, say they don't think the war in Iraq will result in greater peace and stability in the Mideast. In various polls, people have been evenly split on whether the war in Iraq was the right or wrong thing to do - a sharp drop from last winter.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Two U.S. Soldiers Killed In Iraq Ambush

BAGHDAD, Aug 20 (AFP) - Two US soldiers were killed and another three wounded Friday when their patrol was attacked near the restive Sunni Muslim bastion of Samarra, north of Baghdad, a US military spokesman said. "The US patrol was attacked by an improvised explosive device at around 5:55 pm (13:55 GMT) near Samarra killing one soldier instantly, while the other succumbed to wounds later," the spokesman said. "The conditions of the other three wounded is stable."

 

[Barking_Mad]

Curfew in force in Iraq holy city of Karbala

KARBALA, Iraq - A nightime curfew is in force in the central Iraqi holy city of Karbala to prevent any spill over of unrest from nearby Najaf, police spokesman Rahman Mushawi said Friday. “There is an eight-hour curfew in the city since Thursday till Saturday between 10:00 pm (1800 GMT) and 6:00 am (0200 GMT),” Mushawi said. “It is a precautionary measure aimed at imposing security inside Karbala and preventing Mehdi Army militiamen from getting into the city, which until now is quiet despite what is happening in Najaf.” He said all entrances to the city were closed during curfew hours and no pilgrims were allowed to enter.

Cleric still controls Iraq shrine

Supporters of the Iraqi Shia cleric, Moqtada Sadr, remain in control of the shrine in the holy city of Najaf after 16 days of fighting with US-led forces.
Iraqi government officials had earlier said that police had entered the Imam Ali shrine unopposed and taken control. But the BBC's Alastair Leithead reports from inside the compound that about 1,000 unarmed Sadr followers are there. Heavily-armed fighters loyal to the cleric are in defensive positions on streets outside the shrine. They are surrounded by US tanks and armoured vehicles........

......Our correspondent says he was welcomed into the shrine by people from educated classes such as engineers and doctors who say they are human shields there to protect the holy shrine........

.....And in Baghdad on Saturday an American soldier was killed and two others wounded when their vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, the US military said.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Despite Superior Firepower, US Loses Ground to al-Sadr's Militia

BAGHDAD, Iraq - When U.S. forces pushed through southern Iraq in the war last year, Najaf was just another spot on the map to Baghdad. But during the past two weeks of fighting in Najaf, the dusty city proved to be a glaring example of the limits of American military might in post-sovereignty Iraq.

Few people doubt that U.S. military forces have the ability to overwhelm Iraqi rebels. But as was the case in Fallujah earlier this year, the need to balance force with politics has stripped away many of their advantages.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Poll finds growing opposition to Iraq war

WASHINGTON - Americans' opposition to the Iraq war continues to grow, with 69 percent of the pubic now saying that the Bush administration launched the war based on incorrect assumptions, according to a survey released Friday. In a finding that tracks other recent polling, half the public (49 percent) now says the decision to go to war was wrong, compared to 46 percent who say the administration was right, according to the survey for the Program on International Policy Attitudes.

A year ago, 63 percent said the decision to go to war was correct. The nationwide poll of 733 people was conducted Aug. 5-11 by Knowledge Networks of Menlo Park, Calif. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.7 percent.

Rice counsels patience during Iraq war

WASHINGTON - Defending President Bush's foreign policies, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice counseled Americans to be "less critical of every twist and turn" in Iraq. "We need to be more patient with people who are making those early steps" toward a working multiethnic democracy, Rice said Thursday as U.S. troops fought a bloody battle with insurgents in the slums of Baghdad and Iraqi forces searched for ways to subdue insurgent militias in Najaf.

Blast at police post in Nassiriya, casualties feared

NASSIRIYA, Iraq, Aug 20 (Reuters) A blast ripped through a police station in the town of Nassiriya in southern Iraq today, apparently causing casualties, witnesses said. They said the explosion was very loud and ambulances rushed to the scene. There were no further details. Nassiriya is controlled by Italian troops. Insurgents have attacked many police stations across Iraq, sometimes using suicide car bombs, killing hundreds.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Iraq: 12 Nepalese kidnap claim unconfirmed

An Iraqi militant group has claimed to have kidnapped 12 Nepalese workers subcontracted to a Jordanian company and working for the US military in Iraq, a statement posted on its website said. However, the group, Ansar al-Sunna Army, has been linked to unfounded claims of kidnappings in the past and there was no way to verify the authenticity of yesterday’s report. Jordanian and Nepalese officials contacted could not confirm the abduction of any Nepalese workers.

 

[Barking_Mad]

From the 1st August to the 17th August the number of US injured in Iraq was roughly 470.

Total US injured stands at 6497. US dead stands at 958. Info here

 

[Barking_Mad]

?Fighting breaks out in a Baghdad suburb

‏BAGHDAD, Aug 21 (KUNA) -- Fighting broke out on Saturday between armed followers of the radical Muslim cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr and a combined force of ‏US forces and Iraqi regulars in the capital's suburban region of Sadr City, ‏witnesses said.‏ The witnesses said an armed patrol of US troops and Iraqi regulars was ambushed on a street in the suburban region and targetted with rocket ‏propelled grenades (RPGs). ‏Al-Sadr militiamen blocked several streets with burning tires as plumes of black smoke billowed into the skies over the region, populated by some two ‏million people, where sporadic blasts were echoeing.‏

 

[Barking_Mad]

New U.S.-built power plant coming online in Basra

PENTAGON — While violence continues in some parts of Iraq, Wednesday is a banner day for people in Basra. Iraq's first new electric generating plant since 1976 is beginning operation there. The Army Corps of Engineers supervised construction of the 40-megawatt facility, which should provide enough electricity to serve 120,000 homes. Dependable power, or the lack of it, has been a huge issue for average Iraqis ever since the fall of Saddam and the arrival of U.S. forces. The Corps of Engineers is working with Iraqi technicians to get additional generating facilities on line within the month.

 

[Gumbert]

From the 1st August to the 17th August the number of US injured in Iraq was roughly 470.

Total US injured stands at 6497. US dead stands at 958. Info here

Barking... You know the British wounded and dead?

 

[Barking_Mad]

Funny you should mention that - The only report anywhere on the web where I can find a number (which was posted on here) is from April this year where The Scotsman quotes 2,200 injured. It could well be that the number is now over 3,000.

The only report Ive seen on tv about UK troops and the dangers they face was on ITN 24hr news the other night where they said many British troops were confined to barracks as it was too dangerous to make regular patrols on many areas. I suppose this is what they mean by UK troops keepong "a low profile". I have e-mailed the BBC asking why there isnt a single article on their web site about the numbers of UK injured.

From April this year.

2,200 casualties: the true cost of UK's war in Iraq

THE true scale of British casualties in Iraq is revealed today after the Ministry of Defence confirmed that more than 2,200 injured British military personnel have been flown home from the Gulf since the start of the campaign.

With the security situation in Iraq deteriorating, The Scotsman has learned that British forces are suffering about 50 combat injuries every month, and attacks on troops are taking place daily. Soldiers serving in Iraq say they have been told they cannot all expect to return home alive.

edit: UK dead is currently 65. The total non UK/US dead is 66.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Sporadic fighting around Shiite shrine - Militants vow to quit Najaf mosque

NAJAF, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. forces and fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr traded sporadic gunfire Saturday outside the Imam Ali mosque, as the cleric's representatives vowed to vacate the holy shrine as soon as possible after handing it over to Shiite leaders.

Inside the mosque, no weapons were visible as several hundred men, along with some women and at least one child, slept or rested during Iraq's fierce afternoon heat, CNN producer Kianne Sadeq reported Saturday from inside the mosque.

From the above link

Three Polish soldiers were killed Saturday in separate incidents near the central city of al-Hilla. One soldier was killed when attackers ambushed a convoy using improvised explosive devices and small arms fire. Two soldiers were killed when their vehicle exploded. The cause of the blast was unclear, but Iraqi police said there was no evidence of a roadside bomb.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Airman suicide suspected

The U.S. Air Force is investigating the suspected suicide death of a New Hampshire Air National Guard member who returned from Iraq on Tuesday and died a day later at his home in Merrimack. The Nashua Telegraph reported the death of Tech. Sgt. David G. Guindon, 48, as a suicide. According to information from the state medical examiner’s office, Guindon died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on Wednesday, the Telegraph’s Web site reported on Friday. Guindon was a member of the 157th Air Refueling Wing’s Logistics Readiness Squadron at Pease Air National Guard Base in Newington.

Pipelines Attacked

August 20 - attack apparently perpetuated by al-Sadr loyalists sparked fire on pipeline through which oil flows from the Bezergan oil field in the south to a refinery in Amarah, 180 miles (290 km) southeast of Baghdad.

August 20 - explosion at 8:30am on domestic pipeline through which oil flows from Kirkuk to Baiji refinery at point 19 miles (30 km) west of Kirkuk.