Fallujah rebels resume battle

2004-11-26 11:59

Baghdad - Insurgents in Fallujah claimed in a statement on Friday that they had reorganised after a massive United States-Iraqi onslaught against the rebel city and resumed their attacks.

"After reorganising, the Mujahedeen resumed their attacks on Wednesday with the aim of shattering the myth of the invincibility of the coalition forces, and the traitors and collaborators who are under the orders of Allawi and Naqib."

The statement issued by the Mujahedeen Council was referring to Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and Interior Minister Falah Naqib, both staunch supporters of the vast operation launched on November 8 to root out insurgents entrenched in Fallujah.

The largest military operation in Iraq since last year's 2003 US-led invasion was aimed at crushing the main hub of the insurgency in the country, which was seen as one of the main obstacles to holding viable polls in January 2005.

While the bulk of the operation is over, the US military has reported pockets of insurgents in some parts of Fallujah and is trying to prevent the rebels from regrouping inside and outside the city.

Iraq's national security adviser Qassem Daoud on Thursday claimed that more than 2 000 people had been killed in the assault and more than 1 600 captured.

Friday's Mujahedeen statement, posted on an Islamist website (www.al-moharer.net), claimed that clashes took place in northern Fallujah in recent days.

"The Mujahedeen will teach a memorable lesson to the collaborators who sold Iraq and prove to Arab regimes that only the language of guns and martyrs makes a difference," it said.

- AFP