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Is the US military preparing another massacre in Tal Afar?
The largest US military offensive on an urban area since the attack on Fallujah last year has been underway since September 2 in the city of Tal Afar, an ancient metropolis with a predominantly Sunni Muslim, ethnic Turkish population of some 300,000.
Situated in the north of Iraq along the Euphrates River and just 40 kilometres from the Syrian border, Tal Afar has been largely outside the control of the occupation forces since the 2003 invasion. In September 2004, the US military carried out a major operation to impose its authority over Tal Afar, but was forced to withdraw by November in order to redeploy troops to the heavy fighting in Fallujah and Mosul. In the 10 months since, Tal Afar has become one of the centres for the anti-occupation guerilla struggle in the north.
A US officer told the Washington Post: “The September operation basically made people angry, which the insurgents were able to take advantage of. [It] had the opposite effect than was intended. We created a power vacuum and they filled it.”
The details of what is taking place in Tal Afar since last Friday are shrouded in secrecy. The few available reports indicate, however, that at least 5,000 US and Iraqi government troops have sealed off the old centre of the city—an area known as Sarai—and are preparing for an assault against an estimated 400 to 500 resistance fighters who are said to be entrenched in the narrow streets of the district.
The US push into the city was preceded by airstrikes and artillery shelling, and spearheaded by Abram battle tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. The Al Jazeerah website reported on Monday that at least four mosques have been bombed. F-16s destroyed alleged “insurgent safe-houses” with 500 and 1,000-pound bombs. The Iraqi newspaper Azzaman reported: “Eyewitnesses, refusing to be named, spoke of ‘scores of casualties’ due to indiscriminate bombing.”
The numbers of dead and wounded are unknown. Colonel H.R. McMaster, the commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment that is leading the operation, told the Washington Post on the weekend that as many as 200 “insurgents” had been killed in the first three days of fighting.
The events unfolding in Tal Afar have all the makings of another horrific crime against the Iraqi masses, paralleling the atrocities committed in Fallujah last year. In just nine days, thousands of Fallujans were killed and their bodies left to rot in the streets or to be consumed by dogs. US snipers murdered desperate civilians trying to get water for their families.
Read More
http://wsws.org/articles/2005/sep2005/iraq-s08.shtml
A US officer told the Washington Post: “The September operation basically made people angry, which the insurgents were able to take advantage of. [It] had the opposite effect than was intended. We created a power vacuum and they filled it.”
The details of what is taking place in Tal Afar since last Friday are shrouded in secrecy. The few available reports indicate, however, that at least 5,000 US and Iraqi government troops have sealed off the old centre of the city—an area known as Sarai—and are preparing for an assault against an estimated 400 to 500 resistance fighters who are said to be entrenched in the narrow streets of the district.
The US push into the city was preceded by airstrikes and artillery shelling, and spearheaded by Abram battle tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. The Al Jazeerah website reported on Monday that at least four mosques have been bombed. F-16s destroyed alleged “insurgent safe-houses” with 500 and 1,000-pound bombs. The Iraqi newspaper Azzaman reported: “Eyewitnesses, refusing to be named, spoke of ‘scores of casualties’ due to indiscriminate bombing.”
The numbers of dead and wounded are unknown. Colonel H.R. McMaster, the commander of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment that is leading the operation, told the Washington Post on the weekend that as many as 200 “insurgents” had been killed in the first three days of fighting.
The events unfolding in Tal Afar have all the makings of another horrific crime against the Iraqi masses, paralleling the atrocities committed in Fallujah last year. In just nine days, thousands of Fallujans were killed and their bodies left to rot in the streets or to be consumed by dogs. US snipers murdered desperate civilians trying to get water for their families.
Read More
http://wsws.org/articles/2005/sep2005/iraq-s08.shtml
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BAGHDAD, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The United States is considering an all-out military attack in the coming weeks against the town of Tal Afar in northern Iraq, which it sees as a stronghold of rebellion, a U.S. general said on Thursday.
U.S. and Iraqi troops have been battling insurgents in Tal Afar, west of the northern city of Mosul, for several days. A joint U.S.-Iraqi military statement said they killed seven insurgents on Wednesday.
Many families have evacuated the town in recent days as violence increased.
"In Tal Afar, coalition forces and members of the Iraqi security forces are preparing a possible military operation to rid that city of insurgents," Major General Rick Lynch told a news briefing in Baghdad.
"As we speak, operations are ongoing to evacuate civilians from neighbourhoods targeted by the insurgents."
The United States sees Tal Afar, near the Syrian border, as a conduit for foreign fighters and military equipment coming into Iraq to help insurgents fighting the occupying U.S. forces and the Shi'ite Muslim- and Kurdish- dominated Iraqi government.
The insurgents are mainly drawn from Iraq's third main community, Sunni Arabs, who account for some 20 percent of the population and have dominated Iraqi politics for decades, under ousted leader Saddam Hussein and before.
"You will see, over the next several weeks -- we're not specifying any time -- specific military operations to target the insurgency in Tal Afar," Lynch said.
FOREIGN FIGHTERS
He said U.S. forces were encouraging the evacuation so a possible military strike would avoid civilian deaths.
"If indeed decisive military operations are required, we want to ensure that the attacks take place to kill the insurgents without collateral damage in killing innocent civilians."
He said U.S. forces had "indications" that insurgents were living in Tal Afar, and intelligence reports suggested some 20 percent of them were "foreign fighters". He did not say where they came from.
Lynch added that U.S. and Iraqi forces had been trying to wipe out the insurgency in a series of operations since May, culminating in the operations of the last few days.
They have so far failed to put down rebellions, but Lynch said the growing number of U.S.-trained Iraqi government troops -- there are now 190,000 of them -- should mean the resources were in place to quell future insurgencies.
"We have now sufficient assets available between the coalition forces and Iraqi security forces ... to leave behind a robust security presence so the insurgents cannot return."
Lynch warned against seeing any attack on Tal Afar as a re-run of an attack in November on the city of Falluja.
U.S. troops surrounded that Sunni stronghold west of Baghdad and effectively cut it off, but encountered fierce resistance and bloodshed when they entered.
"Every situation is different. Don't try to equate Tal Afar with any previous operation," he said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08184136.htm
U.S. and Iraqi troops have been battling insurgents in Tal Afar, west of the northern city of Mosul, for several days. A joint U.S.-Iraqi military statement said they killed seven insurgents on Wednesday.
Many families have evacuated the town in recent days as violence increased.
"In Tal Afar, coalition forces and members of the Iraqi security forces are preparing a possible military operation to rid that city of insurgents," Major General Rick Lynch told a news briefing in Baghdad.
"As we speak, operations are ongoing to evacuate civilians from neighbourhoods targeted by the insurgents."
The United States sees Tal Afar, near the Syrian border, as a conduit for foreign fighters and military equipment coming into Iraq to help insurgents fighting the occupying U.S. forces and the Shi'ite Muslim- and Kurdish- dominated Iraqi government.
The insurgents are mainly drawn from Iraq's third main community, Sunni Arabs, who account for some 20 percent of the population and have dominated Iraqi politics for decades, under ousted leader Saddam Hussein and before.
"You will see, over the next several weeks -- we're not specifying any time -- specific military operations to target the insurgency in Tal Afar," Lynch said.
FOREIGN FIGHTERS
He said U.S. forces were encouraging the evacuation so a possible military strike would avoid civilian deaths.
"If indeed decisive military operations are required, we want to ensure that the attacks take place to kill the insurgents without collateral damage in killing innocent civilians."
He said U.S. forces had "indications" that insurgents were living in Tal Afar, and intelligence reports suggested some 20 percent of them were "foreign fighters". He did not say where they came from.
Lynch added that U.S. and Iraqi forces had been trying to wipe out the insurgency in a series of operations since May, culminating in the operations of the last few days.
They have so far failed to put down rebellions, but Lynch said the growing number of U.S.-trained Iraqi government troops -- there are now 190,000 of them -- should mean the resources were in place to quell future insurgencies.
"We have now sufficient assets available between the coalition forces and Iraqi security forces ... to leave behind a robust security presence so the insurgents cannot return."
Lynch warned against seeing any attack on Tal Afar as a re-run of an attack in November on the city of Falluja.
U.S. troops surrounded that Sunni stronghold west of Baghdad and effectively cut it off, but encountered fierce resistance and bloodshed when they entered.
"Every situation is different. Don't try to equate Tal Afar with any previous operation," he said.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L08184136.htm
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