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| Sunday, 23 November 2003 |
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Guerrillas fire rockets at fortified Baghdad sites BAGHDAD, Saturday (Reuters)- Guerrillas fired rockets from donkey carts at Iraq's Oil Ministry and two Baghdad hotels used by Westerners on Friday in audacious strikes on heavily fortified sites linked to the U.S.-led occupation. The buildings were targeted just a day after a top U.S. commander said a new offensive against insurgents in Baghdad was reaping results with attacks against American-led forces falling sharply since Operation Iron Hammer was launched. Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, a U.S. military spokesman, said on Friday Iraq's insurgents were becoming increasingly sophisticated. "This is an adaptive enemy...He's inventive, he's ingenious, but we'll continue to try to stay one step ahead." The commander of U.S. forces in the northern province of Kirkuk said he had no evidence foreign Muslim militants were fighting alongside loyalists of deposed leader Saddam Hussein He blamed for the anti-U.S. attacks. Iraqi police found a third cart loaded with 21 rockets near the Italian and Turkish embassies and close to the offices of one of Iraq's main Kurdish parties. A fourth cart was found near Baghdad's law faculty with the donkey wired with explosives. Flames and smoke belched from the Oil Ministry complex which controls Iraq's most important industry, crucial for funding reconstruction after decades of conflict and sanctions.Guests streamed out of the Sheraton and Palestine hotels, where many foreign contractors and journalists stay. Rockets punched holes in the walls and scattered concrete and broken glass across a wide area. A U.S. military spokesman said the rockets - identified as Russian-made Katyushas - were aimed at the Palestine hotel but one had missed and hit the Sheraton."We saw a big flash - there was just one big bang and then lots of crashing glass," said Dihyaa Salem, a manager at the Sheraton. "There was screaming as everyone left their rooms." Guerrillas have launched increasingly audacious attacks on occupying troops, foreign organisations and Iraqis working with them. Many foreign organisations have quit, following suicide car bomb attacks.Faced with a mounting death toll - guerrilla attacks have killed 181 U.S. soldiers since President George W. Bush declared major combat in Iraq over on May 1 - Washington has taken both political and military steps to quell the insurgency.U.S. officials announced plans for a faster transfer of power to Iraqis and the use of aerial bombing and satellite-guided missiles to target guerrillas. In New York, France, Germany and Russia told the United States and Britain to include the United Nations in every stage of the Iraqi self-rule process and organise a conference for Iraqi leaders and key countries in the region.. |
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