BAGHDAD, 18 April 2005 — Iraqi security forces, backed by the US military, yesterday circled a town south of Baghdad where a government official said raids freed about 15 Shiite families held captive by Sunni militants in Iraq’s “Triangle of Death.” As the sectarian standoff continued with fears for the lives of other possible hostages in Madaen, a government official said Iraqi and US forces could launch an all-out assault by week’s end.
Legislators meeting in Baghdad urged a broad offensive to sweep the lawless region free of insurgents, many of them loyalists of the country’s most feared terror group, Al-Qaeda in Iraq. American soldiers in Humvees were seen in one area where Iraqi soldiers and police were operating yesterday outside Madaen, but the US military said it was not aware of any American role.
The crisis erupted as Prime Minister-designate Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, a Shiite leader, tried to bring members of Iraq’s Sunni minority into a new Cabinet aimed at uniting all national groups after Jan. 30 national elections.
Elsewhere, three American soldiers were killed and seven service members wounded overnight when insurgents fired mortar rounds at a US Marine base near Ramadi, 113 kilometers west of Baghdad.
The assault raised to 24 the number of people who died in Iraq Saturday, including an American civilian, an Iraqi and another foreigner who died in a car bomb attack in the capital.
The US Embassy identified the American as Marla Ruzicka, founder of the Washington-based Campaign for Innocent Victims In Conflict, but said it was still waiting for final confirmation from DNA tests.
CIVIC began a door-to-door survey of civilian casualties in Iraq soon after the war ended to keep track of the number of Iraqis killed or wounded. Czech officials said the second foreign victim was born in the Czech Republic but may have held French citizenship. French officials later confirmed the report.
Yesterday, insurgents killed eight Iraqis in scattered shootings around Iraq aimed at police and other employees of the US-backed interim government.
— With input from agencies
