Alert In Baghdad Green Zone
U.S. authorities raised the security alert in the heavily guarded Green Zone after an improvised bomb was found in front of a restaurant there, officials said Thursday. Twenty Iraqis were arrested in the north in operations against those suspected of planting bombs against U.S. and Iraqi targets.
A loud explosion shook the Green Zone on Thursday afternoon and smoke was seen rising from inside the compound. The U.S. military had no immediate information on the incident. Insurgents regularly fire at the compound.
Elsewhere, one American soldier was killed and two others were wounded when a bomb exploded late Wednesday near their convoy outside the insurgent stronghold Fallujah. Four U.S. Marines and three Iraqi soldiers were reported injured in an operation to crush insurgents south of Baghdad.
Since the start of the war, at least 1,061 U.S. troops and three military contractors have died. More than 7,900 service members have been wounded.
In other developments:
The warning to Americans and Iraqi officials in the Green Zone followed the discovery Tuesday of an explosive device at the Green Zone Cafe, a popular hangout for Westerners living and working in the compound — which houses major U.S. and Iraqi government offices. A U.S. military ordnance detachment safely disarmed it, U.S. officials said.
Americans living and working in the zone were warned to avoid non-essential movements, travel in groups and avoid specific areas.
Although movements in and out of the Green Zone are restricted, about 10,000 Iraqis live inside the 4-square-mile district, located along the western side of the Tigris river.
In Mosul, the U.S. military said American and Iraqi forces detained 20 people in operations in northern Iraq and foiled a roadside bombing Wednesday in the city of Tal Afar, scene of intense fighting last month between U.S. soldiers and insurgents.
Homemade bombs, including those rigged in cars and trucks, have become an increasing threat to multinational and Iraqi forces because insurgents find them safer than other forms of attack that can draw devastating American return fire. In September, 29 Iraqi and multinational troops were killed by car bombs, according to the U.S. command, which did not break down the figure by nationality.
U.S. and Iraqi forces are trying to restore enough control so that national elections can be held in January. The election is considered a vital step toward building Iraqi democracy. President Bush and Prime Minister Ayad Allawi insist the balloting will take place throughout the country, despite warnings by some U.S. military officials that elections in some areas may not be possible.
As part of the new security push, more than 3,000 U.S. and Iraqi forces are trying to clear an insurgent stronghold in a string of towns and villages just south of Baghdad, notorious for kidnappings and ambushes.
A statement by the U.S. command Thursday said 17 suspected insurgents were captured the day before in two joint raids by U.S and Iraqi troops around Haswah and Iskandariyah, both about 30 miles south of Baghdad.
Since the operation began Tuesday, four U.S. Marine, three Iraqi National Guard members and three civilians have been injured, U.S. officials said. Raids since Tuesday have yielded 18 500-pound bombs, 197 rocket propelled grenades, dozens of mortar shells and military supplies, the command said.
The Iraqi government is also eager to pacify al Sadr's militia and end the major source of militancy among the majority Shiite community as the country struggles against the increasing Sunni Muslim insurgency.
Allawi told reporters Wednesday that a committee was being formed to discuss what he termed an "initiative" to end the conflict. Kareem al-Bakhatti, a pro-al-Sadr tribal elder, said the framework agreement calls for al-Sadr's militiamen to turn in their weapons in exchange for cash payments and immunity from prosecution for most of them.
Iraqi police would take over security responsibilities in Sadr City and American forces would enter the district only with the approval of Iraqi authorities, he said.
Some al-Sadr aides expressed reservations about some of the conditions, and the fiery cleric, whose Mahdi Army launched bloody uprisings in April and August, has frequently zigzagged in negotiations. A senior al-Sadr follower, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his side rejected the proposal because it did not include a halt to arrests, the release of prisoners or an end to house raids.