Top Iraqi Rebel Leaders Fighting The Occupation Forces Prove Elusive In Their Holy Land
By Sanjay Sharma, Section News
Posted on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 01:16:37 AM EST
Intensified military raids in Iraq over the past few months have significantly battered the ranks of mid-level insurgents but have scored few gains against the 30 or so most wanted rebels, according to senior U.S. military officers here.
- "Are we having success rolling up some of the top-tier leaders? Not at this time," said Brig. Gen. John DeFreitas, the highest-ranking Army intelligence officer in Iraq. "But we're successfully working the second- and third-tier leaders to put pressure on the top tier."
- The operations by the Occupation forces killed several thousand suspected insurgents, and swelled the number of detainees to more than 8,000, according to U.S. figures. This is the score of the "football" match.
As much as a third of this group is thought to move in and out of Iraq with some frequency, the officers said. Many have eluded U.S. and Iraqi forces by a combination of moving constantly, avoiding use of telephones and receiving protection from family or tribal connections.
Further, after a lull in the days after the Jan. 30 election, insurgents have resumed bombings, suicide attacks and assassinations, an increasing share of them directed against Iraqi civilians and security forces.
- There are now an average of about 60 attacks each day, close to the rate before the election, according to U.S. military tallies, and most remain concentrated in Sunni Muslim-populated provinces of central and northwestern Iraq.
From msnbc.com - February 14, 2005 - By Bradley Graham
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6970538/
