|
18 Iraqi Guardsmen Kidnapped, Violence Drags On
 |
|
A TV grab shows masked Iraqi fighters standing over a number of Iraqi national guardsmen (AFP)
|
DOHA,
September 20 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - An Iraqi Shiite
group paraded 18 captive national guardsmen in video footage aired by
Al-Jazeera television Sunday, September 19, with a threat to execute
them in 48 hours if a Shiite leader is not released.
Calling
itself the Mohammad bin Abdullah Brigade, the group demanded the
immediate release of Hazem Al-Araji, representative of Shiite leader
Moqtada Sadr for the Baghdad district of Kadhimiya, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
The
hostage-takers “threatened to kill the captive national guardsmen if
Araji is not freed in 48 hours,” Al-Jazeera said.
The
video footage showed at least four masked gunmen standing over the
guardsmen who had their hands tied behind their backs. Some wore
helmets and camouflage uniforms, others wore T-shirts.
Sadr's
representative in the movement's main Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City
insisted it had no links to the kidnappers, but seized on the incident
to assail the performance of the Iraqi interim government.
“We
do not know the group who claimed this kidnapping and we don't have
any ties with them but we understand their reaction,” said Naim
Al-Qaabi.
A
prominent Shiite leader in the capital, Araji was detained by the
Iraqi national guard before dawn Sunday along with his brother in an
operation also involving US troops, relatives told AFP.
Unabated
Attacks
|
|
A US soldier guards a detained Iraqi during a night raid at Haifa Street (AFP) |
On
the ground, anti-US forces attacks continued unabated.
A
roadside bomb exploded in western Baghdad Monday, September 20, but
caused no casualties, witnesses said.
The
bomb exploded at around 9 am (0500 GMT) in Bab El-Muadam district on a
street where US military convoys often pass by but there were no
victims, witnesses told AFP.
At
least 400 people have been killed three weeks into September as a wave
of car bombings and assassinations have swept the country.
On
Sunday night, some 350 US troops, equipped with night vision goggles
and assault rifles sidle, stormed buildings in Haifa street in central
Baghdad, which has become a new frontline with the occupation forces.
The
troops have arrested at least 11 locals suspected of being resistance
fighters or “insurgents” as described by the US military.
“Most
of them are locals, but you also have Baathists and Wahhabists, or
former Baathists pretending to be Wahhabists to have access to
insurgency funding,” said Colonel Thomas MacDonald, who commands the
troops in charge of Haifa Street.
Residents
of the restive area in the heart of Baghdad have proudly dubbed it
“Little Fallujah”, in reference to the western city that put on
fierce resistance to the US occupation troops and has become a no-go
zone for them.
On
September 12, 13 Iraqis were
killed when US gunships opened fire on a crowd of residents in
the area celebrating an ambush that set ablaze a Bradley tank.
|
