150 truckloads of ammo moved

2003-05-05 18:48

Kuwait City - US Central Command announced Monday that it had removed more than 150 truckloads of ammunition to secure coalition military sites outside Baghdad in a bid to improve security in Iraq.

"US Army V Corps continues to remove stockpiled Iraqi ammunition from sites in Baghdad to prevent illegal use and black marketing," Centcom said in a statement dated Kuwait.

"Unserviceable ammunition is destroyed, while the rest is held in reserve for training of the future Iraqi military."

Among other developments, Centcom said that five out of 14 schools have reopened in the southern Iraqi town of Safwan, while 48 of Al-Zubayr's 60 schools have also restarted classes.

In the northern city of Kirkuk, the government building formally reopened on Sunday, while all five hospitals in Najaf are now operational and accepting patients, with each running their own ambulance service.

Centcom added that power has been restored to residents and businesses at pre-war levels or higher in nine of 27 key cities.

All 18 hydroelectric power plants in Iraq were producing power at levels 80% or better than pre-war levels, it said.

Water supply, meanwhile, was running at or above pre-war levels in 14 of the 27 key cities.

Nineteen of the 27 cities are now considered safe, it added.

"Police forces are operational in many cities, with joint Iraqi/coalition forces police patrols successfully maintaining civil order. Fire departments are again operational in many cities."

However, a soldier with the US Army's 3rd Infantry Division was shot in the back of the head by an Iraqi civilian at a Baghdad intersection on Sunday. He remained in stable condition.

Sunday also saw off-duty Iraqi policemen firing on US Marines in Al-Hillah when they were caught apparently trying to steal a civilian vehicle. The marines returned fire, killing one and wounding another.

Other incidents included run-ins with looters in Baghdad and Samarah.

Centcom also announced it had released 250 more Iraqi prisoners of war captured during Operation Iraqi Freedom, adding that it still held around 2 600 others.

"To date, 3 426 have been paroled. Additionally, 3 217 have been released after determining they were noncombatants."

- AFX