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11-11-2004 Scotsman Kidnap lairs found in Fallujah By Gethin Chamberlain Diplomatic Correspondent IRAQI troops sweeping through Fallujah yesterday said they had come across "hostage slaughter houses" where people captured during a wave of abductions and beheadings had been held and killed by their militant kidnappers. The black clothing favoured by the kidnappers, along with CDs and records of kidnap victims, were found inside the houses in the northern part of the city where US officials had expected to meet their toughest resistance. But there was no sign of the kidnappers; many of them, including the most notorious, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, are thought to have fled Fallujah in advance of the US-led attack. Major General Abdul Qader Mohan, commander of Iraqi forces in the battle, said it was not yet known whether the records offered clues about the whereabouts of the British aid worker Margaret Hassan or French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot. "We have found hostage slaughter houses in Fallujah that were used by these people and the black clothing that they used to wear to identify themselves, hundreds of CDs and whole records with names of hostages," he said. The chilling find came just hours before Iraqi rebels released a video of what they said were 20 Iraqi national guards they had captured in the rebel city. It showed masked rebels pointing rifles and grenade launchers at a group of men with their backs to the camera in national guard uniforms. It was not clear if the hostages were still being held in the city, which US forces claimed was being rapidly overrun. US and Iraqi forces were said to be in control of 70 per cent of the city yesterday. Lieutenant General John Sattler, the senior US marine commander, said US troops and their Iraqi allies had essentially paralysed the insurgent forces in Fallujah and cut off their escape routes from the city. "We are comfortable that they are not able to communicate, to work out any co- ordination," he said. "They are now in small pockets, blind, moving about the city. We will continue to hunt them down and destroy them." Thair al-Naqeeb, an Iraqi interim government spokesman, said many of the remaining fighters had asked to surrender. He added that Iraqi authorities would "extend amnesty" to those who have not committed major crimes. US troops are today expected to move into the narrow section of the city, flanking the main east-west road, where the insurgents remained in control. Fighting remained fierce yesterday, with intense gun battles and regular exchanges of mortar fire. One mortar exploded among a group of marines sitting chatting next to their vehicles during a lull. Five soldiers were wounded. "Get the medic, get the medic. It landed on their vehicles," a marine screamed as he rushed towards the wounded men. "Now you know why I'm always telling you to get your flakjackets on. Get back to what you were doing. This is Iraq," Master Sergeant Roy Meek told his men. Fifty Iraqi civilians who were brought to the position by Iraqi forces said they had been trapped in their homes with scarce food and water since the offensive began. "As soon as we set foot in front of our homes the snipers fire at us. We were finally able to get here when the foreign fighters were driven out of our neighbourhoods," an Iraqi man said, still holding a stick with a white flag. Several of the civilians said militants from Arab countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt had been intimidating Iraqis ahead of the offensive. Casualty figures for the insurgents remained difficult to obtain. The US military said at least 71 militants had been killed by the beginning of the third day of the assault, but the figure is thought to be much higher. There were no figures for civilian casualties. By last night 11 American and two Iraqi troops had been killed since the start of an assault, according to the US military, although one report from inside the city spoke of the bodies of eight US soldiers lying on one street. US and Iraqi forces seized Fallujah's mayoral compound before dawn after a gun battle with insurgents who hit US tanks with anti-armour rockets. Iraqi soldiers swept into a police station in the compound and raised a flag. Gunmen fired on troops from a minaret, sparking an exchange of fire. Marines said the insurgents waved a white flag at one stage but then opened fire, prompting the marines to call in air strikes. Tank gunners opened fire on insurgents in a five-storey apartment building and flames shot from windows. Residents reported heavy clashes and artillery shelling in the Jolan and Jumhuriya neighbourhood, along the central highway. Elsewhere, insurgent violence sharpened across central and northern Iraq, with at least 19 people killed. A car bomb targeting police exploded in eastern Baghdad, killing at least ten people, police said. Authorities clamped a curfew on the city of Mosul as US and Iraqi forces clashed with gunmen there. Fierce fighting also took place in Ramadi, a Sunni stronghold. Explosions shook the city as US troops and gunmen battled near the main government building.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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