US troops, locked in the most intense combat operations since US President George W. Bush declared victory in Iraq, on Friday admitted killing at least 97 Iraqis in two days.
The deaths follow a warning from US generals that locally organized resistance fighters are launching increasingly sophisticated attacks. The warning comes two months after Bush declared that major combat operations were over.
US forces launched two military operations north of Baghdad designed to clean out an area that provided many of Saddam Hussein's strongest supporters. Six US soldiers were injured.
At least 70 people were killed on Thursday in an area described by the US as a "terrorist training camp," about 130km northwest of Baghdad. The operation was intended to "eradicate Baath party loyalists, paramilitary groups and other subversive elements," the US military said.
The raid began with an air strike shortly after midnight, designed to destroy the camp. Paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division, as well as special forces soldiers, then poured in to clear out the remaining fighters. "It is a large operation. It is ongoing," a US military spokesman said.
Pentagon officials in Washington have suggested there were "foreign fighters" using the camp, although it was unclear who precisely was killed. Troops found around 80 surface-to-air missiles, 78 rocket-propelled grenades and 20 Kalashnikov assault rifles.
"It was a tough fight. They were well-trained or well-equipped, and clearly well prepared for this," General Richard Myers said in Washington.
Later, officials said troops had also arrested 74 suspects described only as al-Qaeda sympathizers near the northern city of Kirkuk.
In a separate incident yesterday US troops killed 27 Iraqis after a tank patrol was attacked near Balad, 55km north of Baghdad.
More than 4,000 troops were sent to the area this week as part of Operation Peninsula Strike after generals were given "actionable intelligence" that resistance forces were grouped in the area. Around 400 suspects were arrested.
Yesterday several tanks from the 4th Infantry Division were ambushed on a main highway heading north by fighters using rocket-propelled grenades. Soldiers shot back and killed four Iraqis. Then Apache helicopters were called in to chase down the rest of the group and another 23 people were killed, US Central Command said.
It was the first time such a large group has mounted an attack on a US position since the end of the war. At least 40 US soldiers have died in attacks and accidents since the end of the war. Around 150 were killed during the combat stages of the war.
Lieutenant General David McKiernan, the commander of ground forces in Iraq, admitted on Thursday that the attacks were growing in sophistication. An Apache helicopter was shot down on Thursday.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
RSS