- BAGHDAD (IslamOnline.net
& News Agencies) -- Few hours after U.S. President George Bush boasted
"progress" achieved in Iraq, Iraqi resistance fighters attacked
U.S. and British occupation forces across Iraq.
-
- In Baghdad, two American soldiers were wounded in a roadside
bomb attack on their armored Humvee vehicle, said Maj. Todd Mercer of the
82nd Airborne Division.
-
- Four other U.S. soldiers were lightly injured in a mortar
attack on a U.S. base in ousted president Saddam Hussein's main palace
in his hometown of Tikrit, a military officer said Saturday, August 9.
-
- "It was a 60 millimeter mortar fired at a low trajectory
into the base," said Colonel James Hickey, commander of the Fourth
Infantry Division's first brigade, based in Tikrit.
-
- The four soldiers returned to duty after their injuries
had been treated, Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted Hickey as saying.
-
- Tikrit has been ground zero in the hunt for Saddam, who
has a 25-million-dollar price on his head.
-
- Also, a U.S. military base came under fire on the outskirts
of Fallujah, a bastion of anti-U.S. sentiment 50 kilometers west of Baghdad,
witnesses told Agence France-Presse (AFP) Saturday, August 9.
-
- The base came under attack around 10:15 pm (1815 GMT)
Friday, when four blasts were heard and smoke was seen rising from the
grounds.
-
- The compound, on the outskirts of town, comes under regular
late-night mortar attack, as do other bases in the western province of
Al-Anbar, which, for many, has come to symbolize Iraqi resistance to the
U.S. occupation.
-
- Meanwhile, the U.S. troops arrested before dawn Saturday
a former Saddam Hussein-era security chief, General Shaban Mohammed Asmir,
his brother told AFP.
-
- "They sealed off the district at 5:30 am (0130 GMT)
with eight Humvees and two armored vehicles as well as two helicopters
flying over the sector," said former general Jamal Mohammed Asmir
Mohammed.
-
- The occupation soldiers searched the home and "my
brother was led out without any resistance," he added.
-
- The U.S. military had no immediate comment on either
event.
-
- Fallujah has been generally quiet since U.S. troops withdrew
from the center of the town in mid-July and handed over policing to Iraqis.
-
- However, three U.S. soldiers, three Iraqi police and
a child were wounded Tuesday in a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack
on a police station.
-
- Following that attack, some 200 people gathered near
the building to stage a protest, chanting: "With our blood and with
our soul, we will defend you, Saddam!"
-
- In another development, clashes broke out between British
troops and Iraqis Saturday after a grenade was thrown at a British military
truck in the southern port city of Basra, witnesses said.
-
- The British truck came under attack at 9:15 am (0515
GMT) in front of a gas station where a man hurled a grenade and the vehicle
was set on fire, said Ali Hussein, a taxi driver who had been filling up
his car with fuel at the time of the attack.
-
- Four British armored vehicles and three jeeps came to
seal off the area, while a crowd lobbed rocks at them.
-
- The soldiers fired shots in the air to ward them off
and then started to shoot off rubber bullets, wounding at least four Iraqis,
including a child, witnesses said.
-
- The crowd grew to more than 2,000 and shouted in anger
over the gasoline shortage in the city, they added.
-
- The British military said it was not aware of any grenade
attacks, but conceded there were protests around the city Saturday as tempers
rose over fuel shortages and lack of electricity in the sweltering port.
-
- Basra has until recently been free from anti-occupation
attacks seen to the north around Baghdad.
-
- But this month, British troops have come under increasing
attack.
-
- Four Iraqis were wounded Wednesday, August 6, in an explosives
attack targeting a British convoy near Basra.
-
- Progress
-
- However, Bush Friday lauded what he described as successes
in Iraq, despite the 56 U.S. troops who have died in the 100 days since
he declared the fighting all but over.
-
- "Iraq is more secure. The economy of Iraq is beginning
to improve," he told reporters at his Texas ranch.
-
- "We've made a lot of progress in 100 days. And we're
pleased with the progress, but we know we've got a lot more work to do."
-
- The president paid tribute to the U.S. soldiers who have
died in combat since May 1, adding "we suffer when we lose life."
-
- Bush again refused to give an indication as to how long
U.S. troops would be in the country.
-
- The American president appointed one of his major political
fundraisers, Thomas Foley, to run Iraqi state-owned businesses and to draw
up a sweeping privatization plan.
|
