US and Iraqi forces are meeting little resistance as they sweep through Baghdad, a US officer said yesterday, a day after Iraq's president said Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr had ordered his leaders to leave the country.
The head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri, was wounded on Thursday when Iraqi forces intercepted a group of al-Qaeda militants heading to a town north of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
Two Interior Ministry sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to give details of Masri's whereabouts or say how security forces knew he had been wounded. They said an aide of Masri had been killed in the clash. The US military said it was unable to confirm the reports.
A Interior Ministry spokesman quoted in a report by Iraq's state TV Iraqiya and monitored by the BBC indicated that Masri had escaped the gunbattle.
In Baghdad, Iraqi and US troops were out in force yesterday, manning checkpoints and searching vehicles for weapons under a new crackdown.
US Major Steven Lamb, a spokesman for US forces stationed in Baghdad, said the offensive was going well.
Meanwhile, Sadr did not attend yesterday's prayers in his usual mosque, as some supporters had said he would, following disputed reports that he has left Iraq for Iran.
Iraqi and US officials say that the firebrand cleric, leader of the Mehdi Army Shiite militia and a powerful political movement, left for Tehran last month ahead of a renewed security operation.
Sadr's movement denied this, and some of his aides had promised that he would disprove the claims by publicly leading weekly prayers at his regular mosque in the Shiite town of Kufa, south of Baghdad.
President Jalal Talabani said on Thursday he believed Sadr had ordered heads of his Mehdi Army militia to leave Iraq.
In the US, Democrats are challenging President George W. Bush's power to wage war, contending they have found a way to block a troop increase in Iraq and prevent any pre-emptive invasion of Iran.
But first Congress will vote on a non-binding measure stating opposition to Bush's decision to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq.
The House of Representatives was expected to pass the measure yesterday, with the Senate planning to hold a test vote today.
also see story:
US legislatures pass their own antiwar clauses
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ACCOUNTABILITY: The incident, which occured at a Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taichung, was allegedly caused by a gas explosion on the 12th floor Shin Kong Group (新光集團) president Richard Wu (吳昕陽) yesterday said the company would take responsibility for an apparent gas explosion that resulted in four deaths and 26 injuries at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang Store in Taichung yesterday. The Taichung Fire Bureau at 11:33am yesterday received a report saying that people were injured after an explosion at the department store on Section 3 of Taiwan Boulevard in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯). It sent 56 ambulances and 136 paramedics to the site, with the people injured sent to Cheng Ching Hospital’s Chung Kang Branch, Wuri Lin Shin Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital or Chung
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
STAY WARM: Sixty-three nontraumatic incidents of OHCA were reported on Feb. 1, the most for a single day this year, the National Fire Agency said A total of 415 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurred this month as of Saturday, data from the National Fire Agency showed as doctors advised people to stay warm amid cold weather, particularly people with cardiovascular disease. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a low temperature warning nationwide except for Penghu County, anticipating sustained lows of 10°C or a dip to below 6°C in Nantou, Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as areas north of Yunlin County. The coldest temperature recorded in flat areas of Taiwan proper yesterday morning was 6.4°C in New Taipei City’s Shiding District (石碇). Sixty-three nontraumatic OHCA