Iraqi national guardsmen are ready to "cleanse" Najaf's holy Imam Ali shrine of Shiite Muslim militiamen "very soon" unless they leave of their own accord, the city's governor, Adnan al-Zorfi, said yesterday.
"We are going to cleanse the city and the shrine from the militia if they do not leave soon on their own. The Iraqi national guard will move them out of the area and the shrine," Zorfi told reporters.
Earlier yesterday, the 20th day of fighting in Najaf, heavy machine-gun and tank fire pummelled the Old City in the streets around the Imam Ali shrine, one of the holiest Shiite Muslim mosques in the world.
Humvees and tanks crawled through the bombed-out streets just 200m away, as dozens of Iraqi national guardsmen were deployed in the area for the first time.
"The Iraqi national guard are 300m outside the shrine. We are ready and waiting for the go-ahead from Baghdad," Zorfi said, refusing to say when the assault would happen, only that it will be "very soon."
"No American troops will be allowed to get in. It will be entirely an Iraqi forces operation," the governor said.
Defense Minister Hazem al-Shaalan is in Najaf, an aide at his office said.
"They're accelerating the rate of the attack," an interior ministry spokesman said earlier, when asked about the Iraqi deployment in Najaf.
Iraqi government officials have frequently warned that a "final" assault on al-Sadr's Mahdi Army was imminent, insisting that Iraqi troops, not US soldiers, will be used to evict militiamen from the shrine itself if necessary.
Meanwhile, the US military accused militiamen of firing a rocket from the northeast corner of the mosque that may have damaged the shrine.
"The rocket clipped the wall of the shrine and landed approximately 10m north of the wall. The shrine may have sustained damage due to the rocket," a statement said.
A hole 1m across was punched into the outer wall of the shrine compound late Sunday during fighting.
A group linked to al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said it had tried to kill Iraq's environment minister yesterday and warned it would not miss next time, according to an Internet statement.
"This morning, a valiant knight from our suicide brigades set off to strike a pillar of infidelity, Environment Minister Mishkat [Moumin]," said the statement from the Tawhid and Jihad group, which could not be authenticated.
The statement was dated Tuesday and posted on a Web site used by Islamists.
"We would like to tell her and her colleagues that even though she was spared today, we have a lot more arrows in our quiver and we will not miss next time," it added.
Insurgents tried to assassinate Moumin and Education Minister Sami al-Mudhaffar in separate bombings yesterday that killed five of their bodyguards and wounded over a dozen people.
Al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad has claimed responsibility for several suicide bombings that have killed Iraqi officials. It has also claimed to have beheaded several hostages, including a Bulgarian and a South Korean.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘NARWHAL’: The indigenous submarine completed its harbor acceptance test recently and is now under heavy guard as it undergoes tests in open waters, a source said The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, yesterday began sea trials, sailing out of the Port of Kaohsiung, a military source said. Also known as the “Narwhal,” the vessel departed from CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard at about 8am, where it had been docked. More than 10 technicians and military personnel were on deck, with several others standing atop the sail. After recently completing its harbor acceptance test, the vessel has started a series of sea-based trials, including tests of its propulsion and navigational systems, while partially surfaced, the source said. The Hai Kun underwent tests in the port from
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he