Iraq Tal Afar Offensive Stepped Up

09/09/2005| IslamWeb

Iraqi and US forces have stepped up their offensive against Iragi resistance fighters in the northern town of Tal Afar, while tightening security on the nearby Syrian border, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari has said.

Al-Jaafari also said that the government had decided to ramp up security controls along the border with Syria.

Around 215 Iraqis have been killed or captured in Tal Afar by US-led forces during the past eight days, according to US military statements.

Meanwhile 12 Iraqis, including seven policemen, were killed and 15 others wounded in separate attacks on Friday, including a roadside bomb that targeted a US convoy in Baghdad.

Two policemen, including an officer, were killed as they came under fire in the Jamiaa neighbourhood of west Baghdad, an interior ministry official said, adding that four others were wounded in the attack.

In Baquba, 60km northeast of Baghdad, two other policemen were killed when they came under fire in the centre of the town, local police said.

An Iraqi soldier was also wounded by gunshots in a market in Baquba, police added.

Two Iraqis, including a woman, were killed and a man was wounded as a car bomb exploded on a highway in the restive southern Baghdad district of Dura, police said.

The car bomb had targeted a US army convoy, police added.

Also in Dura, a Shiite mosque in the mainly Sunni neighbourhood was partially destroyed in an overnight explosion, an interior ministry official said.

"Unknown gunmen planted explosives around the mosque, which resulted in destroying a large part of the building, while all contents went up in flames," the official said.

Four others, including three police commandos, died as a

roadside bomb hit their patrol in Al-Alam neighbourhood of central Baghdad, the interior ministry official said.

Nine other people were wounded, the same official added.

In Baiji, 200km north of Baghdad, a colonel in the disbanded Iraqi army was shot dead as he drove along the main northern road, local police said.

Also, a man was killed and his son wounded when a roadside bomb hit their car as they travelled north of Baghdad, police said.

Police also found six unidentified bodies dumped in a water purification plant south of Baghdad, the same official said, adding that they had all been handcuffed, blindfolded and shot from close range.

PHOTO CAPTION

Iraqi youths gather in front of British troops at the scene of a roadside bomb near Basra. (AFP)