A spokesperson for the United States army admitted on Thursday that US-led forces in Iraq are no longer in control of two cities, Kut and Najaf, while US forces are engaged in “moderate fighting” in the western city of Fallujah.
At a press conference in Baghdad, US Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez said: “We are in the process of conducting operations to secure the city of Kut … We will retake the city of Kut.”
Asked if there are any other towns and cities outside the control of coalition forces, he replied: “Najaf.”
The so-called Mahdi army of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has launched a well-coordinated ambush on Najaf. But, said Sanchez, Najaf is the “only place with that level of coordination”.
Sanchez said the Mahdi army, which engages in “ambush-type encounters”, has between 4Â 000 and 6Â 000 fighters across the country and their main weapons are rocket-propelled grenades, small arms and mortars.
“We will do whatever is necessary to defeat Moqtada al-Sadr’s forces wherever they are in the country,” said Sanchez.
In the Sunni area of Fallujah, he said, US forces are engaged in “moderate fighting” and are facing the insurgents with “powerful, precise, sustained combat power”.
However, he stressed that the US forces are not preventing humanitarian aid from entering the closed-off city, as some reports have said.
“We are making multiple initiatives to take humanitarian aid into Fallujah, where the tactical situation allows the introduction of that safely.”
He said there is “no plan to isolate the people from the basic needs of food”.
In Fallujah, Sanchez said he is “aware of some initiatives to conduct some sort of talks” but he said they are “not negotiating at this point”.
Sanchez could not confirm reports of downed helicopters in Fallujah.
“I don’t know of any [helicopters] we have lost catastrophically. I have not heard of any helicopters being shot down today.”
Meanwhile a report in Thursday’s New York Times newspaper quoted an official of the US-led occupation forces in Iraq saying months of effort to win over the Iraqi population have failed.
“Six months of work is completely gone,” the official said.
“There is nothing to show for it,” he said, adding that government buildings, police stations, civil defence garrisons and other installations built by the Americans have been overrun and destroyed. — Sapa-DPA
Insurgents threaten to burn hostages
Corpses litter Iraq rebel bastion
Battles rage from north to south