US forces killed around 90 insurgents in Iraqi towns north and south of Baghdad yesterday, but talks in the holy city of Najaf between US and Iraqi forces and radical Shiite militiamen collapsed, Iraq's national security adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said yesterday.
"The talks have failed. All efforts to end this have not succeeded," he told reporters.
Militants loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have been battling US and Iraqi forces in Najaf for 10 days in fighting that has killed hundreds and sent thousands of protesters into the streets.
Fresh violence erupted elsewhere on the eve of a national conference for advancing the nation's progress towards democracy, already overshadowed by the Shiite Muslim uprising.
The US military said it had killed about 50 fighters near the northern town of Samarra, a mainly Sunni Muslim area where US troops have launched repeated raids to flush out guerrillas opposed to the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.
Planes dropped 227kg bombs, while insurgents responded with rifle fire and rocket-propelled grenades, a US military statement said, adding that there were no US casualties.
Iraqi police in Samarra said at least five people were killed and 50 wounded in fighting in the area, 100km north of Baghdad.
Fighting also raged between US troops and al-Sadr's followers in the southern Shiite town of Hilla overnight. Forty fighters and three police were killed, Iraq's interior ministry said.
The clashes followed a day of relative calm in Najaf, where US marines backed by tanks and warplanes launched an assault on Thursday aimed at crushing a rebellion by al-Sadr's fighters.
The truce seemed to be holding for a second day in Najaf yesterday, allowing some residents to venture out and inspect the damage of more than a week of fighting.
Militiamen remained in some streets around the Imam Ali Mosque and a nearby vast cemetery while US forces patrolled other parts of the city.
US DEATHS
Separately, the US military reported that one soldier and one Marine were killed on Friday in western Iraq.
The surge in fighting has proved the most serious challenge for Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi since his government assumed power from US occupiers on June 28, tasked with steering the country to elections next January.
The national conference, due to open in Baghdad today, aims to pick a 100-member council to oversee the government.
Allawi said last week that the political process is open to all, but al-Sadr -- buoyed by mass protests of supporters on Friday -- appeared in no mood to cut a deal as his aides said they were offered too little too late.
Encircled by US troops in Najaf's sacred Imam Ali Mosque, al-Sadr pledged to stay in the city until victory or death, dampening hopes that Allawi's government would be able to negotiate a speedy end to the confrontation.
"I will not leave this holy city," he told his fighters, who chanted "no, no to America" in response.
"We will remain here defending the holy shrines till victory or martyrdom," he said.
Al-Sadr appeared before his supporters wearing bandages late on Friday, apparently confirming reports by aides that he had been wounded in fighting earlier in the day.
But Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib denied al-Sadr had been wounded.
Iraqi Defense Minister Hazim al-Shalaan told the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that foreign fighters were among those captured.
HEART SURGERY
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric who has been a voice for moderation and whose health could be crucial for Iraq's future stability, has successfully undergone heart surgery in London, an aide said yesterday.
He said there was no indication when the 73-year-old Muslim cleric would be well enough to return to Iraq.
Also See Story:
Al-Sadr militia attracts disaffected youth, Iraqis say
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying