NICOSIA Ñ Iraq has launched training of a militia meant to wage
urban warfare against invading U.S. troops.
Iraqi officials said the exercises of the militia have taken place in
Babil and were meant to stop invading enemy troops with light and medium
weapons. They did not say how many militia members attended the
exercise.
The military's Al Qadissiya newspaper reported on Thursday that the
troops practiced fighting in both rural and urban areas. The newspaper
quoted an official of the ruling Baath Party, Fadel Mahmoud Ghareib, as
saying that the militia exercises were meant to "foil the schemes of America
and its evil allies and to respond to the aggressors and bury their base
schemes."
The military report came hours after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
appealed to Iraqis to sacrifice their lives to defend his regime. Saddam
warned against foreign attempts to influence public opinion against Baghdad.
The regime already bans the use of satellites to obtain foreign broadcasts.
On Thursday, U.S. officials said allied combat jets struck an Iraqi
military command and control communications facilities near Tallil, about
250 kilometers southeast of Baghdad. They said the strikes came as a result
of the flight by Iraqi military aircraft in southern no-fly zone.
