Coalition facing revolt all over Iraq: Three-day toll rises to 130
BAGHDAD, April 6: Occupation forces battled to contain attacks by both Sunni and Shia factions across Iraq on Tuesday as the situation appeared to be sliding inexorably out of their control.
A senior US defence official said on Monday that Washington was examining the possibility of deploying rapid-response forces to bolster troop levels in the country.
At least 130 Iraqis have been killed and hundreds wounded since Sunday as the US-led troops have been grappling with furious assaults by Shias loyal to Moqtada Sadr in several towns, including Baghdad. The occupation forces have lost 20 soldiers in those clashes and in actions against guerillas west of the capital.
US tanks and armoured vehicles started rolling into Fallujahh, west of Baghdad, and met heavy resistance as Operation Vigilant Resolve sought to track down the assailants behind the murder of four American contractors last week.
In the south, 15 Iraqis were killed and 12 Italian soldiers injured in gunbattles in Nasiriyah during an operation to seize control of bridges from demonstrators loyal to Moqtada Sadr.
A ceasefire lasting two hours was later observed by the Sadr militia to allow the Italian contingent to leave the area. Fighting resumed in the evening at the end of the ceasefire.
Two South Korean human rights workers were held hostage in Nasiriyah for a short period by the militia, which said they would not release them until Italian soldiers had left the city. They were later released, according to a South Korean official.
Italian President Silvio Berlusconi vowed Rome's troops would not run out of the city. "We will not cede to armed militias," Mr Berlusconi told Italy's state television network RAI. "These events do not change the purpose of our presence in Iraq."
Italian military spokesman Simone Schiavoni also insisted there was no planned pullout. "We have received no ultimatum and, in any case, we will not leave Nasiriyah," he was quoted by Ansa news agency as saying.
The fighting in Nasiriyah also claimed the life of a Bulgarian lorry driver who was killed when his convoy came under attack near the town, his company said. Three Polish soldiers and three Bulgarians were wounded when their patrol came under fire in Karbala, where US-led forces have been clashing with radical Shias.
The Ukrainian soldier died in fighting with Sadr's supporters in the city of Kut, south of Baghdad, the Ukrainian defence ministry said. Five others were wounded.
FALLUJAH OPERATION: In western Iraq, US troops, backed by AC130 gunships and Cobra helicopters, took six hours to secure control of Fallujahh, amid sporadic hit-and-run attacks by guerillas firing mortars and assault rifles from rooftops.
During the operation, a number of guerillas were killed, a US spokesman said. Five US marines have been killed and eight wounded in separate attacks in Al Anbar province, where Fallujahh is located, since the marines launched an offensive on Monday.
MORE TROOPS: The US military has begun considering possible reinforcements in Iraq, as the US-led coalition announced that radical Shia leader Moqtada Sadr, blamed for inciting violence last weekend, is wanted for murder.
In central Iraq, US Marines on Monday launched a long-awaited offensive against the Sunni Muslim insurgency in the town of Fallujah, a hotbed of support of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
One Marine was killed as his comrades kicked off Operation Vigilant Resolve to hunt down the insurgents that slaughtered four US contractors in Fallujah last week. Marines slapped an 11-hour night curfew on the city as patrols blared messages telling people not to leave their homes.
And yet another threat - Jordanian Mussab al-Zarqawi, the alleged leader of a network linked to Al Qaeda and believed responsible for several terror attacks in Iraq - threatened US-led forces in a recording broadcast Monday on a radical Islamist website.
In the United States, President George W. Bush vowed not to let the unrest undermine US efforts to establish democracy in Iraq, insisting that June 30 remains the target date for the transfer of sovereignty to an interim administration in Baghdad.
SHIFTS PLACE: In Najaf, Shia leader Moqtada Sadr, wanted by coalition forces in Iraq, said on Tuesday he ended his sit-in at a mosque in Kufa and travelled to the holy city of Najaf "to prevent more bloodshed".
"I have taken it upon myself to prevent more bloodshed," he said in a statement, expressing concern the "sacred site of the mosque not be violated ... by people who do not back down from anything" out of respect for holy places.
Sadr said his decision to "observe a peaceful sit-in" at the mosque was taken to protest against "the aggressions committed by the occupiers against civilians". -Agencies
