Iraq’s government extended its security clampdown on Friday night, imposing new curfews as the United States military struggled to contain a spreading wave of militant attacks.
It came as US troops in the assault on Fallujah were locked in heavy fighting in the Joulan district, which they had previously declared under control. The US military said 22 Americans and five Iraqi soldiers had been killed in the Fallujah operation so far; hundreds of insurgents had also died.
On Friday night there were curfews in the predominantly Sunni towns of Fallujah, Ramadi, Samarra, Bayji, Hawija and Mosul, as well as in Baghdad and even the Shia holy city of Najaf as the insurgency spread.
There were heavy clashes in several districts of Baghdad. A US Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in Taji, north of the city, injuring three crew members, and a Lebanese American working for the Sky Link company at the international airport was kidnapped. A video shown on al-Jazeera showed the man, who it named as Dean Sadek.
Meanwhile, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant regarded as one of the most violent leaders of the Iraqi insurgency, issued an audio tape.
”I speak to you, my nation, as the blood of your sons is flowing in Iraq and especially in Fallujah after the onslaught of crusaders,” said the voice on the tape, posted on a website.
”We have no doubt that the signs of God’s victory will appear on the horizon.”
US commanders have spoken confidently about progress in Fallujah. As troops pushed through to the south of the city, marines in the northwest — the first area attacked when the assault was launched — found themselves caught up again in heavy fighting. At least four marine casualties were evacuated.
Commanders said they still believed most of the fighters had been forced into the south of the city, where their escape was blocked by desert troops.
Marines in Fallujah have also found a Syrian driver kidnapped with two French journalists — who are still missing — in August.
In Mosul, US and Kurdish troops went in to reinforce the Iraqi police, and US planes launched air strikes.
The Iraqi Red Crescent said it had delivered aid to the many thousands of families who had fled Fallujah and were now living in villages around the city; some were eating raw flour and relying on dirty drinking water. The US military had refused to allow the organisation’s convoy into the city.
An Iraqi doctor in Falluja, Ali Abbas, told al-Jazeera: ”We need help desperately.
”Bodies are scattered in the streets, families are in a miserable situation, doctors are besieged. Thousands of families are still inside Fallujah.
”We hear the loudspeakers of the Americans asking us to leave our houses and put up white flags. But at the same time we are hearing explosions and gunfire. We don’t know what to do. Should we leave?” – Guardian Unlimited Â