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U.S.-Iraq raid kills 85 in 'nerve center' of insurgency

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, March 24, 2005

BAGHDAD — In the first such operation, the U.S.-led coalition has found and destroyed a Sunni insurgency camp in Iraq.

Iraqi and U.S. officials said Iraqi intelligence located the insurgency camp about 170 kilometers northwest of Baghdad and 17 kilometers west of Tikrit. A U.S.-Iraqi commando unit, backed by aircraft, attacked the insurgency camp and killed 85 operatives under the command of elements loyal to Saddam Hussein as well as Al Qaida.

"It was our most successful operation yet," an Iraqi official said. "For the first time, we struck the nerve center of the Saddam insurgency."

The lakeside camp attacked on March 22 was located near Lake Tharthar in the Sunni Triangle, Middle East Newsline reported. The camp, termed Ein Hilwe, was discovered through Iraqi military intelligence and surveilled and struck by both Iraqi and U.S. units in a joint operation. During the operation, many insurgents escaped the camp by boat.

"The area is full of marshes and lakes," Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said. "They used to use boats to get to the camp. It's difficult to get there and to discover the location."

Officials said the joint Iraqi-U.S. force came under heavy insurgency fire at the start of the operation. The unit of about 250 Iraqi Interior Ministry commandos, selected to be the lead force, called for U.S. helicopter fire support in a battle that lasted about two hours.

The insurgency camp trained mostly foreign Arab nationals, officials said. They said most of the insurgents killed were Algerians, Moroccans, Saudis, Sudanese and Syrians who appeared to have been recruited in Lebanon and Syria.

"The terrorists had planned on attacking Samara by using a large number of VBIEDs [vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices] that were found at the facility," a government statement said.

Iraqi officials said 12 of their troops were killed. The United States did not report any casualties.

U.S. officials said the operation reflected the increased capability of Iraqi forces. They said the Interior Ministry commandos maintained their positions under withering insurgency RPG and light arms fire and quickly captured the training camp.


Copyright © 2005 East West Services, Inc.

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