Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Friday, 18 July 2008. Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice. 

Friday, 18 July 2008.

·        US announces death of American soldier in al-Mawsil on Tuesday.

·        Prominent leader of Sadr Movement in Baghdad assassinated as preparations for US attack on Iran continue.

·        Iranian artillery blasts positions of Kurdish separatists backed by US in northern Iraq.

·        British forces taking part in joint operations together with Iraqi regime troops against Jaysh al-Mahdi militia in al-Basrah as preparations continue for US attack on Iran.

Baghdad.

Bomb targets US patrol in eastern Baghdad midday Friday.

In a dispatch posted on its Arabic website at 7:06pm Friday afternoon Beijing time (2:06pm in Baghdad), the Xinhua News Agency reported that a bomb exploded by a US patrol in eastern Baghdad’s al-Habibiyah district at midday Friday.

Xinhua reported a source in the Iraqi government police as saying that the attack took place in an area regarded as a stronghold of the anti-occupation Jaysh al-Mahdi militia.  The source asserted that four Iraqi civilians who happened to be in the area were wounded in the blast, but had no information regarding the nature or extent of American casualties since the US forces closed the area immediately after the attack.

Since March, the US-backed Iraqi regime has been actively engaged in an offensive against the anti-occupation Sadr Movement and its armed wing, the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia, in Iraq, in what is believed to be preparation for an American attack on Iran.

US announces arrest of five militiamen in Baghdad who, it says, were linked to Iran.

In a dispatch posted on its Arabic website at 5:21pm Friday afternoon Beijing time (12:21pm in Baghdad), the Xinhua News Agency reported that the American occupation authorities had announced that US troops had arrested five members of a Shi‘i militia linked to Iran and referred to by American sources as “Special Groups.”  The US declared that the arrest took place near the Madinat as-Sadr district of Baghdad early Friday morning.

Xinhua reported an American communiqué as saying that the arrest was targeted on the figure responsible for financing the Iranian-backed “Special Groups” who was located 3km northwest of Baghdad’s Madinat as-Sadr district.  Three people were arrested at that location and another two people were arrested elsewhere in the neighborhood.

Prominent leader of Sadr Movement in Baghdad assassinated as preparations for US attack on Iran continue.

In a dispatch posted at 9:52am Baghdad time Friday morning, the Yaqen News Agency reported that a high-ranking leader of the anti-occupation Sadr Movement in Baghdad had been assassinated.

Yaqen reported Shaykh ‘Ala’ al-Baghdadi, spokesman for the Sadr Office in an-Najaf, as saying that Safa’ al-Lami, a leader of the Sadr Movement had been accosted and shot to death on Thursday.  Al-Baghdadi said that al-Lami had been a student of the late Shi‘i cleric as-Sayyid as-Sadr II, and was close to the anti-occupation Shi‘i religious leader Muqtada as-Sadr.

The assassination was the latest in a series of murders of prominent leaders in the Sadr Movement that have been taking place as the US and its Iraqi regime allies have been waging an open offensive against the movement in apparent preparation for an eventual US attack on Iran.  The assassination of as-Sayyid Riyad an-Nuri, an in-law of Muqtada as-Sadr, and his closest aide produced splits within and around the Sadr Movement, with some accusing an “extremist wing” of the movement of being behind the murder, while others pointed the finger at rival political parties and militias.

Zuhayr al-Kufi, Commander of the Sadr Movement militia, the Jaysh al-Mahdi, in al-Kufah accused political parties in the Iraqi regime of Nuri al-Maliki of being behind the assassinations of Sadrists, denying that any “extremist” dissenters had been responsible for the killings.  Al-Kufi declared: “although there are internal splits, the existence of which we acknowledge, that does not impel the members of the Movement to take up arms against one another.”

Since March, the US-backed Iraqi regime has been actively engaged in an offensive against the anti-occupation Sadr Movement and its armed wing, the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia, in Iraq, in what is believed to be preparation for an American attack on Iran.

Salah ad-Din Province.

Samarra’.

Samarra’ regular police raid tribal “Awakening” police chief’s home, free hostage.

In a dispatch posted at 9:35am Baghdad time Friday morning, the Yaqen News Agency reported that a force made up of special units of the police and a large detachment of fighters of the Samarra’ Operations Command raided the home of Shaykh Khalid Falih, a chief of the al-Bu Baz tribes, in the al-Mu‘tasim neighborhood of central Samarra’, 120km north of Baghdad.

Yaqen reported a source in the government police as saying that the force, under the command of Captain Muthanna Shakir, Commander of the Rapid Intervention Force in Samarra’, raided the home, which is also the headquarters of the tribal “Awakening” police.  There, the raiders released a Samarra’ police officer by the name of Basim whom the “Awakening” tribesmen had arrested at his home in the city without legal justification.

Witnesses told Yaqen that more than six police vehicles and a large force of the Samarra’ Operations regiment surrounded the area and launched a search for the kidnapped policeman.

Yaqen noted that the US had launched “Awakening” police contingents by winning support of Bedouin tribes about a year and a half ago in order, severely undercutting Iraqi resistance activity in Sunni parts of Iraq.  Recently, however, the Iraqi regime of Nuri al-Maliki has recently been working with Tariq al-Hashimi, the head of the Sunni collaborationist Islamic Party, to curtail the sphere of activity of the “Awakening.”  As a result there has been a rise in anti-regime attacks, reported as resistance activity, in recent weeks.

Diyala Province.

Ba‘qubah.

Tribal collaborationist leader survives assassination attempt.

In a dispatch posted at 3:05pm Baghdad time Friday afternoon, the Yaqen News Agency reported that a commander in the “Awakening” tribal “Popular Committees” near Ba‘qubah, 65km northeast of Baghdad, has survived an assassination attempt.

Yaqen reported a government source as saying that the commander, known as Abu Bismillah, survived the explosion of a booby-trapped motorcycle that blew up near his home in ad-Dawasir.  The source, who asked not to be identified, said that the vehicle blew up after Abu Bismillah had gone into his house.  The blast wounded two people and caused material damaged.

Ninwa Province.

Al-Mawsil.

Car bomber blasts patrol, killing three Iraqi troops north of al-Mawsil, Friday afternoon.

In a dispatch posted on its Arabic website at 8:16pm Friday evening Beijing time (3:16pm in Baghdad), the Xinhua News Agency reported that a car bomber blasted into a patrol of Iraqi army troops in the junction for the village of Filfayl, 25km north of al-Mawsil (which is 420km northwest of Baghdad) after noon on Friday.

Xinhua reported a source in the al-Mawsil police as saying that three soldiers in the Iraqi patrol were killed and another seven wounded.  Two patrol vehicles were totally destroyed and more than 10 private cars that happened to be in the area were damaged in the attack.

Since 10 May, the US and its Iraqi regime allies have been waging an offensive against the al-Qa‘idah organization in al-Mawsil and surrounding Ninwa Province.

US announces death of American soldier in al-Mawsil on Tuesday.

In a dispatch posted at 2:45pm Baghdad time Friday afternoon, the Yaqen News Agency reported that the US Department of Defense had announced that one of its troops in Iraq had died from injuries received in a traffic accident on Tuesday in al-Mawsil, 420km northwest of Baghdad.

As-Sulaymaniyah Province.

As-Sulaymaniyah.

Iranian artillery blasts positions of Kurdish separatists backed by US in northern Iraq.

In a dispatch posted at 11:07am Baghdad time Friday morning, the Association of Muslim Scholars of Iraq (AMSI) reported that Iranian heavy artillery had pounded positions of the US-backed PJAK Kurdish separatist militia in the Bashdar area of as-Sulaymaniyah Province and the Sawran area of Irbil Province late on Thursday night.

The AMSI reported an official in the PJAK Party, who refused to be identified, as saying that the Iranian heavy artillery began its bombardment late on Thursday night, targeting the foothills of the Qandil Mountains in Bashdar, 160km northeast of as-Sulaymaniyah.  The bombardment was still underway as of the time of reporting, the source declared, adding that it had set fire to agricultural land in the vicinity of the villages of Shannawah, Sabiyah Kull, Wadi Kawk, Kawtaran, Razkah, and Mardu in the Zarawah area of Bashdar.

The source said that no reports of casualties as a result of the barrage had been received.  The areas in which the PJAK is based have come under periodic Iranian attack, and villagers have reportedly already fled the region.

For several days, in the first week of June, Iranian artillery carried on daily bombardments of fighters of he PJAK Kurdish separatist fighters near the Iranian
border in northern Iraq.  Iran reportedly blasted PJAK positions in the Bashdar area again on 9 July.

The PJAK Movement, a branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), reportedly receives arms, training, and targeting information from the US and “Israel” and
carries out repeated attacks on Iranian territory from US-occupied Iraq.  PJAK’s aim is the overthrow of the Iranian government and its replacement with a western-dominated regime.

Al-Basrah Province.

Al-Basrah.

British forces take part in joint operations together with Iraqi regime troops against Jaysh al-Mahdi militia in al-Basrah as preparations continue for US attack on Iran.

In a dispatch posted at 10:12am Baghdad time Friday morning, the Yaqen News Agency reported that Britain had stated that its forces were carrying out joint operations together with its allies in the Iraqi regime against the anti-occupation Jaysh al-Mahdi militia in the southern city of al-Basrah.

Yaqen reported a British spokesman in southern Iraq as saying that British forces began their joint operations with the Iraqi regime troops on Friday, targeting the area of al-Latif to the north of al-Basrah.  He said that the activity is to continue for a week and claimed that the aim of the operations was to prevent the Jaysh al-Mahdi from attacking civilians.  The Jaysh al-Mahdi has been blamed, however, for recent bombardments that targeted the British base at al-Basrah International Airport.

In addition, since March, the US-backed Iraqi regime has been actively engaged in an offensive against the anti-occupation Sadr Movement and its armed wing, the Jaysh al-Mahdi militia, in Iraq, in what is believed to be preparation for an American attack on Iran.

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