BAGHDAD, 12 September 2005 — A voice recording attributed to Al-Qaeda’s Iraq frontman Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and posted on the Internet yesterday accused the US military of using chemical weapons in its assault on rebels in the northern town of Tal Afar.
“O nation of Islam, your heroic children are writing with their own blood the most beautiful of epics ... in the towns of Al-Qaim and Tal Afar... where your Crusader enemies are using more destructive weapons including poison gas,” the voice said. It was the first voice recording attributed to the Al-Qaeda frontman since early July when he lashed out at Sunni insurgent groups that had been tempted into truce talks with US commanders.
Meanwhile, Iraq moved to seal off its border with Syria yesterday and US and Iraqi troops hunted down rebels and foreign fighters they say have infiltrated Tal Afar.
US Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch told a Baghdad news conferece the operation in Tal Afar would continue until all rebels and foreign fighters had been wiped out.
“We will continue to work away so we have covered every inch of Sarai, and then every inch of Tal Afar, until we’ve killed all the terrorists and foreign fighters there,” he said.
As part of the operation against the insurgents, Iraq closed its border with Syria yesterday and Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said he was imposing an overnight curfew in the northwestern region of Rabiah, on the main road from the border to the northern city of Mosul, near Tal Afar.
Journalists kept on the outskirts of Tal Afar saw and heard little fighting yesterday and Iraqi defense officials said troops were in control of most of the town. Many residents have fled in recent months; thousands, forced to leave in recent days by Iraqi and US forces, were camped out close to Tal Afar.
