Hundreds of US and Iraqi forces yesterday launched their biggest Baghdad raid in recent weeks, moving on foot through a central neighborhood and rounding up dozens of suspected insurgents, the military said.
About 500 members of Iraq's police and army swept through buildings in the Rashid neighborhood along with a "couple hundred" US soldiers, detaining 65 suspected militants, Lieutenant Colonel Clifford Kent of the US Army's 3rd Infantry Division said.
One Iraqi soldier suffered in-juries but no US casualties were reported in the largest joint US-Iraqi raid in Iraq's capital since the Fort Stewart, Georgia-based 3rd Infantry Division assumed responsibility for the city on Feb. 27, Kent said.
One suspected insurgent was also being treated for wounds, the military said in a statement.
In the western town of Qaim, witnesses said insurgents hit the main gates of a US military base with twin suicide car bombs early yesterday.
At least three civilians were injured, said Ammar Fuad, a doctor at the hospital where they were taken. US military officials had no immediate comment.
In Baqouba, 60km northeast of Baghdad, demonstrators chanted anti-US slogans, continuing three days of protests against US forces. Tens of thousands gathered on Saturday in Baghdad to call for US-led troops to leave, and more demonstrations were held on Sunday.
A Defense Ministry official said yesterday that Iraqi security forces have arrested a person claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of two French journalists abducted and later released in Iraq. Iraqi army soldiers detained Amer Hussein Sheikhan in the Mahmoudiya area on April 4, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity. No further details were available.
Journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot were released in December after four months in captivity.
A group claiming to have kidnapped a Pakistani diplomat in Iraq has demanded money for his release, a senior Pakistani government official said yesterday on condition of anonymity.
Malik Mohammed Javed, a deputy counselor at the Pakistani mission in Baghdad, went missing late Saturday after leaving home for prayers at a nearby mosque.
Pakistan, a key US ally in the war against terrorism, has refused to deploy peacekeepers and has urged its citizens to avoid coming here.
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US accused of seizing Iraqi women hostages
FRIDAY, SATURDAY: While Typhoon Champi might weaken, officials warned about large waves, while some transport services and tourist spots have been affected Typhoon Champi is forecast to have the greatest effect on Taiwan tomorrow and on Saturday, with a sea warning issued late last night and a land warning expected afternoon today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm’s projected track has shifted slightly westward and it could begin moving away from Taiwan toward Japan’s Kyushu island on Saturday, with the warnings potentially lifted as early as Saturday afternoon, CWA forecaster Chang Cheng-chuan (張承傳) said. As of yesterday afternoon, Champi was about 910km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, CWA data showed. Its maximum sustained winds had weakened slightly to
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday urged China not to exploit typhoons to assert jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait. The CGA issued the remarks after it found that China was shadowing eight Japan Coast Guard ships that sheltered in Taiwan proper’s western waters due to Typhoon Champi. Eight Japan Coast Guard (JCG) vessels sailed southward along the Taiwan Strait median line from 6am on Thursday, reaching waters southwest of Penghu County’s Cimei Island (七美島), outside Taiwan’s contiguous zone, which extends 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the territorial sea baseline, it said. As the Japanese ships prepared for the typhoon, they were followed by
STAY CAUTIOUS: Rain is expected to begin easing this afternoon, but a CWA forecaster said that if the storm stalls or loops on its approach, heavy winds are likely Typhoon Champi, which caused widespread damage and injuries, and prompted road closures and evacuations across Taiwan yesterday, is expected to continue to bring heavy rain this morning, with up to 900mm of rain forecast for mountainous areas of New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Yilan County, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. At one point a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, Champi was packing gusts of about 191kph near its center as of 8:30pm, the CWA said. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu city and county, Taichung; and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin
TOTAL COVERAGE: Champi’s outer band is expected to blanket the entire nation, with the center coming closest tonight or tomorrow before leaving tomorrow evening School and work across most of the nation has been canceled today, as Typhoon Champi is expected to skirt the northeast edge of Taiwan proper. As of 9pm, all municipalities except for Kinmen County had announced cancelations. Taitung County last night announced closures on Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), but did not announce for the rest of the county until 6am today. Stock market settlements scheduled for today would be postponed to the next business day, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said. The announcements came after the Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday expanded its land warning for Champi to 19 regions
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