Iraqi Military Reports Arrest of 200 Insurgents in Tal Afar, Mostly Foreign Fighters

Associated Press ^ | 09/08/05 | JACOB SILBERBERG, Associated Press Writer

[JustaCowgirl]

TAL AFAR,Iraq -- U.S. and Iraqi forces have encircled the insurgent stronghold of Tal Afar, and Iraqi authorities on Thursday announced the arrest of 200 suspected insurgents there _ most of them foreign fighters.

The Iraqi military said 150 of those arrested Wednesday in this town near the Syrian border were Arabs from Syria, Sudan, Yemen and Jordan.

The joint forces have reported heavy battles on the outskirts of the city and several deadly bombings that have mainly killed civilians. Iraqi authorities reported most of the civilian population had fled the city, which is 260 miles north of Baghdad and about 35 miles from the Syrian border.

"Our forces arrested 150 non-Iraqi Arabs yesterday in addition to 50 Iraqi terrorists with fake documents as they were trying to flee the city with the (civilian) families," said Iraqi army Capt. Mohammed Ahmed.

"We ordered the families to evacuate the Sunni neighborhood of Sarai, which is believed to be the main stronghold of the insurgents," Ahmed said

Eight civilians were killed in the city Wednesday by a suicide car bomber at an Iraqi checkpoint, he said.

Tal Afar is 90 percent Turkmen, and 70 percent of them are Sunnis. After the ouster of Saddam Hussein, the United States installed a largely Shiite leadership in the city, including the mayor and much of the police force.

The Sunni majority has complained of oppression by the government and have turned to the insurgents _ who are mainly Sunnis _ for protection.

Early Thursday, a militant Web site carried a videotape showing the destruction of a U.S. Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Tal Afar. The video, emblazoned with the logo of al-Qaida in Iraq, claimed the armored vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb.

The military issued no immediate response to the claim. The militant video did not say if there were casualties, although the force of the blast would suggest there had been. There were several large explosions of ordnance in the tank after the initial blast.

Twenty miles south of Baghdad, police Thursday reported finding 14 unidentified bodies near the farming town of Mahmoudiya. "All the bodies are in civilian clothes and have no identification documents," said Lt. Adnan Abdullah of the Mahmoudiya police. They had been shot to death, he said.

Two more decomposing bodies, blindfolded and handcuffed, were found on the outskirts of Baghdad, near a sewage plant, police said.

On Wednesday, the U.S. military, acting on a tip, raided an isolated farmhouse outside Baghdad and rescued an American businessman held hostage for 10 months. The kidnappers, who had kept their captive bound and gagged.

Roy Hallums, 57, was "in good condition and is receiving medical care," a military statement said after U.S. forces freed him and an unidentified Iraqi from the farmhouse 15 miles south of Baghdad.

Lt. Col. Steven A. Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman, said the tipster whose information led to Hallums' release was captured just a few hours before the operation.

Hallums, formerly of Newport Beach, Calif., was kidnapped at gunpoint from his office in the Mansour district of Baghdad on Nov. 1, 2004. At the time, he was working for the Saudi Arabian Trading and Construction Co., supplying food to the Iraqi army. The kidnappers also seized a Filipino, a Nepalese and three Iraqis, but later freed them.

"Considering what he's been through, I understand he's in good condition," said Hallums' ex-wife, Susan Hallums, 53, of Corona, Calif.

The family Web site was topped with a headline: Roy IS FREE!!!!!! 9/7/05.

More than 200 foreigners have been abducted in Iraq since the war began in March 2003; more than 30 have been killed.

The rescue coincided with two deadly bombings detonated around the southern city of Basra. A roadside bomb killed four private American security agents working for the State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security. And an Interior Ministry official said 16 people were killed and 21 were injured in a car bombing at a restaurant in a central market.

The bombing was noteworthy because attacks against Americans around Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, are rare. The U.S. has only a minimal presence in the area. Also, Shiites, who are the dominant population in the south, have found themselves the political winners as new government structures take shape after the U.S.-led invasion.

In a statement posted on a Web site known as a clearing house of militant claims, al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack.

The car bombing later Wednesday at a takeout restaurant in a central Basra market killed 16 and wounded 21, said an Interior Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

The felafel restaurant is in the Hayaniyah district market, a Shiite section of the city, Basra police Lt. Col. Karim al-Zaidi said. Two police vehicles and several nearby shops were destroyed in the blast.

Despite a peaceful postwar history in the south, violence has spiked in the past two months with attacks on Britons.

Also Wednesday, an official of the court that will try Saddam Hussein discounted a claim by Iraq's president that the former leader had admitted wrongdoing in a confession to mass killings and other crimes during his rule.

In an Iraqi television interview aired Tuesday, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said Saddam had confessed he ordered the killing of more than 180,000 Kurds in the north of the country in the late 1980s.

The official of the Iraq Special Tribunal, which will put Saddam on trial Oct. 19, said Saddam made a statement last month, but did not confess to criminal activity. The former dictator "boastfully" acknowledged a campaign against the Kurds in 1987-88.

"He said it was legal and justified," according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

Saddam has charged that Iraqi Kurds _ part of a disaffected ethnic minority that is spread across northern Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria _ were aiding the enemy in Iraq's eight-year war against Iran. Millions died in the conflict, which Saddam started.

___

[JustaCowgirl]

Good news.

[Jemian]

Ping

[highlymotivated]

The Iraqis should say just three easy words to the TERRORISTS.

1. READY!

2. AIM!

3. FIRE!

[wildcatf4f3]

Good news only if they shoot them

[Dog]

Lookie here.

[jveritas]

Great news.

[Cap Huff]

Thanks for the ping.

[JustaCowgirl]

The kidnappers, who had kept their captive bound and gagged.

I'm not sure what the end of this sentence was supposed to be, but I hope it was exceptionally violent.

[EQAndyBuzz]

"TAL AFAR,Iraq -- U.S. and Iraqi forces have encircled the insurgent stronghold of Tal Afar, and Iraqi authorities on Thursday announced the arrest of 200 suspected insurgents there _ most of them foreign fighters. "

Interrogate them, then shoot them. Wrap their bodies in pig entrails and hang them at both the Iranian and Syrian borders.

[thelastvirgil]

After having read innumerable accounts of terrorists ambushing Iraqi police and military trainees, and shooting them in the backs of their heads, it is beyond my comprehension to understand why this news story doesn't read "Iraqi Security Forces Execute Two Hundred Foreign Terrorists Immediately After Their Capture".

Fighting fire with fire is the long-term, effective solution that will reduce the number of sheetheads willing to cross into Iraq to meet Allah.

[Coop]

That is a whole lotta sleazeballs off the streets and potential sources of intel.

[Coop]

And a belated ping! :-)

[Dog]

Yeppers...one of these bozos could give us the big cheese.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Hang em high.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Looking good.....

See this:

Tal Afar: Calm Before the Storm in Sarai ~~ Iraq War continues with Offensive Action

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Earlier action:

Battle along the Northern Ratline

******************************************************

September 03, 2005

Battle along the Northern Ratline

By Bill Roggio

U.S. and Iraqi forces have launched the largest operation since Fallujah last November. Over 5,000 U.S. and Iraq troops strike at the town of Tal Afar, which is located west of Mosul, along the northern ratline from Syria. The insurgents have taken heavy casualties, and U.S. Army helicopter pilots are learning to spot IED deployments via air, and react accordingly.

During the course of the day, at least 30 insurgents were killed as U.S. troops conducted house-to-house searches in the baking sun. Apache attack helicopters that circled the city of 250,000 all day killed 27 people, including eight who were attempting to conceal roadside bombs in old tires, commanders said. No American or Iraqi army casualties were reported.

While the composition of the force is unclear, it appears at least two Iraqi Army battalions are in the fight. They were airlifted by Iraqi Air Force C-130 transports several days ago (see the one sentence blurb at the end of this AP report). The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment is also engaged in Tal Afar. There are likely five to six battalions participating (Iraqi battalions are about 600 to 800 men strong).

As the Washington Post points out, Tal Afar is a contested town, and has been the subject of repeated cordon and search operations. The effort to fully secure the town has not yet been made. While this is pure speculation, the size of the assault team and the inclusion of Iraqi Army units indicates a significant force ( a battalion or greater – about 1,000 men) may remain to secure the city. If true, this might indicate a transition from the harassing operations to clear and hold operations, a crucial step to securing the peace and defeating the insurgency.

Whether or not Coalition troops remain in force in Tal Afar, the Coalition still maintains the initiative in western and northern Iraq (see The Anbar Campaign for a list of successive operations). As the Anbar Campaign has shown, insurgent IEDs or suicide attacks cannot prevent the U.S. military from operating at the time and place of their choosing.

Iraqi Army units are now entering the fight with significant formations capable of independent operations. During the operations along the Euphrates, typically an Iraqi Army company was embedded within a Marine battalion. In Tal Afar, two Iraqi battalions have been deployed, using their own airlift. The times are changing, and al Qaeda and the insurgents' comfort zone is slowly shrinking.

Posted 12:15 AM | Permalink | Print Article

[SeaBiscuit]

Excellent!

[Calpernia]

>>>>Saudi Arabian Trading and Construction Co.

Do you remember seeing this company mentioned in regards to that Maine BioTech Co.?

Or am I thinking of another story?

[JustaCowgirl]

Great info! Thanks for posting that.

[Marine_Uncle]

Thanks for post. Tal Afar has been in the making for some time.