thedrifter
05-28-07, 08:36 AM
GIS' DARING RAID
By NEIL GRAVES
May 28, 2007 -- American forces yesterday pulled off a daring rescue of 42 Iraqis held captive by al Qaeda, U.S. military officials said.
The results of the raid, at an al Qaeda hideout northeast of Baghdad, revealed evidence of torture as several prisoners had sustained broken bones and other injuries, a senior military official said.
The freed Iraqis, some of whom had been hung from ceilings, had been held for as long as four months. They were taken to medical facilities.
Elsewhere in Diyala Province, a GI was killed when an bomb hit his vehicle and a second soldier was killed in an explosion in Baghdad, the military said.
The deaths brought the number of troops killed this month to at least 102, putting it on pace to become one of the deadliest months in Iraq for America since late 2004, when Marines engaged in brutal battles with insurgents in Fallujah.
The rescue raid, part of the so-called surge that is in its third month, was bolstered by the presence of 3,000 additional troops assigned to the highly violent Diyala.
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said the raid was a positive sign because local Iraqis told the American forces about the hideout.
"The people in Diyala are speaking up against al Qaeda," the general said.
"The more contact we have [with] the Iraqi citizens, the more confidence that they develop in us, and in the Iraqi police and the Iraqi army," said Army spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver. "That leads to greater cooperation from the Iraqi citizenry."
Caldwell said the 42 Iraqis are the largest number of captives found in a single al Qaeda prison.
Also, U.S. and Iraqi troops raided the Sadr City slum in Baghdad yesterday morning, arresting a suspect believed involved in smuggling armor-piercing bombs from Iran, the military said.
Meanwhile, Muqtada al-Sadr, the fiery anti-American cleric who emerged Friday after months of hiding, met with opposition leaders yesterday in Najaf.
They discussed Iraq's security and political situation, said Salah al-Obeidi, a senior aide to Sadr.
"The occupation forces bear responsibility for the suffering the country is facing and there is no solution but the withdrawal of the forces," said Obeidi, reiterating what Sadr had said in his Friday sermon.
The meeting came on the eve of today's high-level U.S.-Iranian talks that are to address internal Iraq issues. American and Iranian officials have not spoken directly since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
U.S. officials have blamed Iranian sources for training, financing and arming militants in Iraq. Iran denies the allegation and blames the presence of U.S. forces for the violence.
And in Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, 70 police officers resigned from an elite police unit and handed over their weapons, saying they were afraid of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. With Post Wire Services
neil.graves@nypost.com
Ellie
By NEIL GRAVES
May 28, 2007 -- American forces yesterday pulled off a daring rescue of 42 Iraqis held captive by al Qaeda, U.S. military officials said.
The results of the raid, at an al Qaeda hideout northeast of Baghdad, revealed evidence of torture as several prisoners had sustained broken bones and other injuries, a senior military official said.
The freed Iraqis, some of whom had been hung from ceilings, had been held for as long as four months. They were taken to medical facilities.
Elsewhere in Diyala Province, a GI was killed when an bomb hit his vehicle and a second soldier was killed in an explosion in Baghdad, the military said.
The deaths brought the number of troops killed this month to at least 102, putting it on pace to become one of the deadliest months in Iraq for America since late 2004, when Marines engaged in brutal battles with insurgents in Fallujah.
The rescue raid, part of the so-called surge that is in its third month, was bolstered by the presence of 3,000 additional troops assigned to the highly violent Diyala.
Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, said the raid was a positive sign because local Iraqis told the American forces about the hideout.
"The people in Diyala are speaking up against al Qaeda," the general said.
"The more contact we have [with] the Iraqi citizens, the more confidence that they develop in us, and in the Iraqi police and the Iraqi army," said Army spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver. "That leads to greater cooperation from the Iraqi citizenry."
Caldwell said the 42 Iraqis are the largest number of captives found in a single al Qaeda prison.
Also, U.S. and Iraqi troops raided the Sadr City slum in Baghdad yesterday morning, arresting a suspect believed involved in smuggling armor-piercing bombs from Iran, the military said.
Meanwhile, Muqtada al-Sadr, the fiery anti-American cleric who emerged Friday after months of hiding, met with opposition leaders yesterday in Najaf.
They discussed Iraq's security and political situation, said Salah al-Obeidi, a senior aide to Sadr.
"The occupation forces bear responsibility for the suffering the country is facing and there is no solution but the withdrawal of the forces," said Obeidi, reiterating what Sadr had said in his Friday sermon.
The meeting came on the eve of today's high-level U.S.-Iranian talks that are to address internal Iraq issues. American and Iranian officials have not spoken directly since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
U.S. officials have blamed Iranian sources for training, financing and arming militants in Iraq. Iran denies the allegation and blames the presence of U.S. forces for the violence.
And in Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, 70 police officers resigned from an elite police unit and handed over their weapons, saying they were afraid of Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. With Post Wire Services
neil.graves@nypost.com
Ellie