Marines begin raids on Fallujah

BAGHDAD — U.S. Marines launched air and ground attacks yesterday on the rebel bastion Fallujah after city representatives suspended peace talks with the government over Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s demand to hand over terror mastermind Abu Musab Zarqawi.

The raids began hours after terrorists struck deep inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified green zone, setting off bombs at a market and a popular cafe that killed at least 10 persons — including four Americans — and wounded 20 others in the compound housing foreign embassies and Iraqi government offices.

It was the deadliest attack inside the 4-square-mile compound since the U.S. occupation began in May 2003.

Zarqawi’s terror group, Tawhid and Jihad, claimed responsibility for the suicide attacks, according to a statement posted on an Islamist Web site.

Late yesterday, residents of Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, reported shuddering American bombardments using planes and armored vehicles in what they said was the most intensive shelling since U.S. forces began weeks of “precision strikes” aimed at Zarqawi’s network.

In Washington, however, a senior military official, speaking on operational matters on the condition of anonymity, described the latest fighting as strikes against specific targets and of the same scope as previous attacks in Fallujah.

Warplanes and artillery pounded the city as two U.S. Marine battalions attacked rebel positions to “restore security and stability,” 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, told CNN.

“It is going to be a long night,” he said.

Maj. Francis Piccoli, spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said two Marine battalions were engaged in the fight backed up by aircraft.

He would not indicate the attack was the start of a major campaign to recapture the city, saying he did not want to jeopardize any future operations.

Maj. Piccoli said the goal of the operation was to “disrupt the capabilities of the anti-Iraqi forces.”

U.S. officials believe Zarqawi’s terrorist group is based in Fallujah. The military said its targets were linked to the network, including a building being used to store weapons, two safe houses used to plan attacks, several illegal checkpoints and a weapons cache.

At least five persons were killed and 16 wounded in the raids, according to Fallujah General Hospital.

Residents said the Americans were attacking several areas with rockets, artillery and tanks. One resident said U.S. forces were using loudspeakers in the west of the city to urge Fallujah fighters to lay down their arms “because we are going to push into Fallujah.”

Mr. Allawi warned Wednesday that Fallujah must surrender Zarqawi and other foreign fighters or face military attack.

Abu Asaad, spokesman for the religious council of Fallujah, said that “handing over Zarqawi” was an “impossible condition” since even the Americans were unable to catch him.

“Since we exhausted all peaceful solutions, the city is now ready to bear arms and defend its religion and honor and it’s not afraid of Allawi’s statements,” Mr. Asaad said in an interview with Al Jazeera television.

The suicide bombings in Baghdad’s green zone took place about 12:40 p.m. on the eve of the Islamic holy month, Ramadan.

The U.S.-guarded enclave — home to about 10,000 Iraqis, government officials, foreign diplomats and military personnel — spreads along the banks of the Tigris River in the heart of the capital. The area’s trees and other greenery present a sharp contrast to the rest of dusty and arid Baghdad. The zone is centered on Saddam Hussein’s mammoth Republican Palace, and there are dozens of smaller palatial buildings.

A waiter and restaurant patrons saw two men enter the Green Zone Cafe clutching large bags. One appeared nervous while the other seemed to be trying to reassure him, they said.

The two men ordered tea and talked for about 20 minutes — a waiter thought they spoke with Jordanian accents. The more confident of the two then walked out and hailed a taxi, the witnesses said. Minutes later a loud explosion rocked the compound.

The blast left a gaping crater in the pavement where the canopied restaurant once stood. Splatters of blood and pieces of flesh were scattered among the twisted metal, shards of glass and upended plastic chairs littering the scene. Thick, black smoke billowed from the compound.

“People were screaming … stampeding, trying to get out,” said Mohammed al-Obeidi, the owner of a nearby restaurant who was wounded by flying glass from the blast.

Two Iraqis were killed at the cafe and several U.S. Embassy employees suffered minor injuries there, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington.

Four American employees of DynCorp security company were killed and two State Department employees were wounded in the blast in a vendor’s alley near the U.S. Embassy annex. The outdoor bazaar caters to Westerners, selling everything from mobile phone accessories to pornographic DVDs.

The DynCorp employees who were killed include John Pinsonneault, 39, of North Branch, Minn.; Steve Osborne, 40, of Kennesaw, Ga.; and Eric Miner, 44, of South Windham, Conn. Ferdinand Ibaboa, 36, of Mesa, Ariz., was missing and presumed dead.

The green zone is a regular target of terrorists. Mortar rounds are frequently fired at the compound, and there have also been a number of deadly car bombings at its gates. Last week, a bomb was found in front of the Green Zone Cafe but did not explode.

Mr. al-Obeidi said security in the zone has weakened since Iraqi police took a greater role with the June transfer of power.

“Before it was really safe. They [the Americans] passed it over to the Iraqis … the Iraqi Police. When they see someone they know, it’s just, ’Go on in.’ They don’t understand it’s for our safety,” he said.

Following yesterday’s attack, the U.S. military said intelligence reports indicated terrorists were planning more strikes to “gain media attention.”

Security measures in the capital and surrounding areas would be “significantly increased for an undetermined period,” a military statement said. They include more armed patrols, intensified security at Baghdad airport and elsewhere, and air patrols.

U.S. Embassy personnel were instructed to remain inside the embassy complex until further notice, Mr. Boucher said.

Across the Tigris River, two U.S. soldiers were killed yesterday in eastern Baghdad — one when his patrol came under small arms fire, the other in a roadside bombing — the U.S. command said. Two more American soldiers were killed when their Humvee was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade and caught fire during a raid in Ramadi, 70 miles west of the capital, the military said.