|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 26 October 2003 |
 |
|
 |
World |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
US troops in Iraq get tough, but so do their enemies BAGHDAD, Saturday (AFP) US commanders in Iraq say they are getting more aggressive in seeking to flush out their foes, but their attackers too are becoming more radical and better organized. Troops operating on the frontlines of the battle against those the Americans call "terrorists" and "remnants of the old regime" are using new, tougher tactics. Over the past few weeks, they have adopted "a more offensive mindset to go in there and clean out safe havens" from which the enemy plots its attacks, says Lieutenant Colonel George Krivo, the chief military spokesman for the US-led coalition in Iraq. The troops are now "taking the fight to the enemy in the so-called Baathist triangle", he said, referring to Sunni Muslim heartland north and west of the capital that is considered a bastion of support for Saddam Hussein's ousted Baath party. The more aggressive US approach has led to an increase in the number of attacks on its troops, particularly those of the 4th Infantry Division in north-central Iraq and those of the 82nd Airborne Division who patrol the area around Fallujah, west of Baghdad. The latest official figures show that coalition troops have faced an average of more than 26 attacks a day in the period between October 8 and 22, including one day in which 35 were reported. Many of the strikes are lethal. On October 17, US losses in action since Washington declared major combat over on May 1 reached the 100 mark, and has continued to rise since. Coalition commanders admit that the enemy is getting better organized. "They are demonstrating local coordination and synchronization, and at a regional level we have also seen that coordination," said General Ricardo Sanchez, the top US commander in Iraq. Military officials believe al-Qaeda, the Islamic militant network run by Osama bin Laden, has a hand in the violence that still plagues the war-ravaged country almost six months after US President George W. Bush declared major hostilities over. While the coalition has arrested a number of people suspected of links with al-Qaeda, it says it has yet to find a confirmed operative of bin Laden's organization. The Americans are, however, holding members of Ansar al-Islam, an Iraqi Islamist group which the United States accuses of links with al-Qaeda. They are also holding men thought to be former members of Saddam's elite Republican Guard who took up the fight again in recent months, after abandoning their positions when US troops launched their blistering three-week invasion March 20. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
