BAGHDAD, 19 November 2003 — US forces used bombs, mortars and artillery to try to break guerrilla resistance in Iraq yesterday while US secretary of state sought help in Europe for the troubled campaign. The US Army’s 4th Infantry Division said F-15 and F-16 jets had dropped a dozen 500-pound bombs on targets in the heaviest night of air bombardment in its sector in north-central Iraq since the official end of major combat on May 1.
In Baghdad, a rapid series of deep booms shook the city after sunset as forces from the US 1st Armored Division used tanks and airplanes to hammer suspected resistance positions, a US military spokesman said.
The bombings were part of stepped-up operations this month by US forces in the country responding to an escalation in the resistance against them that has killed at least 177 US soldiers in over six months.
As the United States faced continuing guerrilla opposition in Iraq, US Secretary of State Colin Powell, in Brussels for a meeting with European Union foreign ministers, has appealed to Europe to forget past differences and help rebuild Iraq.
In Iraq, the US military said it had new information that Izzat Ibrahim, one of Saddam Hussein’s most feared lieutenants, was involved in some of the attacks on occupying troops. It said it was getting closer to seizing him every day.
Underlining the gravity of the security situation in Iraq, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was noncommittal on whether political staff would return to Baghdad soon. He said they might operate from outside the country.
But he did pledge to name a replacement soon for his special representative Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was among 22 people killed when their Iraq headquarters was bombed on Aug. 19.
In Baqubah, some 60 km (36 miles) north of Baghdad, two F-15 fighters flew from the Gulf state of Qatar to drop four bombs on farmhouses and other sites suspected to have been used by guerrillas.
Apache helicopters and artillery fired on other locations outside the town, followed by a dozen 155 mm howitzers and over two dozen 120 mm mortars, shaking the ground for miles around. There were no final details on casualties or damage.
Two US soldiers were killed in the Baqubah area on Monday, one by a rocket-propelled grenade and the other by a bomb.
In Tikrit, Saddam’s hometown, US troops fired mortar rounds from their base in a palace of the former leader on to what they said were suspected resistance positions.
The firepower reverberated throughout the base, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, and rattled windows as the intermittent barrage went on for about an hour around midnight on Monday.
US commanders say they believe most of their adversaries are former members of Saddam’s regime, although several hundred foreign militants may also be involved.
— Additional input from agencies
