 |
|
US forces kill 109 rebels in Samarra
Kerry raps Bush over Iraq
in combative debate 33 dead,
70 injured in Pak blast
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
US forces kill 109 rebels in Samarra
Samarra, October 1 Doctors at Samarra’s hospital said 47 bodies were brought in and at least 21 of those were of civilians, including women and children. They said ambulances could not reach many wounded as fighting, which lasted throughout the night, was still going on. A spokesman for the US 1st Infantry Division said an estimated 109 insurgents were killed. Troops backed by tanks pushed slowly through the streets as guerrillas unleashed mortar attacks and fired rocket-propelled grenades and rifles from the rooftops. As the fighting continued past midday, residents found electricity and water cut off. The US military says it will retake control of guerrilla strongholds like Samarra, the western cities of Falluja and Ramadi and the Baghdad districts of Sadr City and Haifa Street by the end of the year so elections can go ahead in January. The Samarra assault began shortly after midnight with air strikes and artillery barrages pounding the mainly Sunni Muslim town, which had been a no-go zone for US forces for months. The US military said three US soldiers were wounded during the operation in the town, 100 km north of Baghdad. It said troops destroyed several mortar sites, rocket-propelled grenade teams and guerrilla vehicles. Guerrillas were seen unloading weapons and ammunition from two speedboats on the Tigris River in the town, the military said. Troops opened fire and destroyed the boats. Some of the fighting raged close to a mosque that attracts many Shi’ite Muslim pilgrims to the predominantly Sunni region. ‘’In response to repeated and unprovoked attacks by anti-Iraqi forces, Iraqi security forces and multi-national forces secured the government and police buildings in Samarra early in the morning of October 1,’’ the US military said. US officials use the phrase ‘’anti-Iraqi forces’’ to describe the various armed groups fighting Iraq’s US-backed government, including supporters of former leader Saddam Hussein and violent Islamists, some of whom have come from abroad. —
Reuters |
|
|
Kerry raps Bush over Iraq
in combative debate Washington, October 1 In the first of three presidential debates in Coral Gables, Florida, Mr Kerry asserted he could make America "safer than President Bush has made us." " I believe America is the safest and strongest when we are leading the world and we are leading strong alliances," he said. "This president has left them in shatters across the globe, and we're now having 90 percent of the casualties in Iraq and 90 percent of the costs. I think that's wrong, and I think we can do better." Mr Bush countered that his administration had "upheld the doctrine that said if you harbour a terrorist, you're equally guilty as the terrorist." "The Taliban are no longer in power... 10 million persons have registered to vote in Afghanistan in the upcoming presidential election… Saddam Hussein now sits in a prison cell," Mr Bush said. "America and the world are safer for it." He added, "We continue to pursue our policy of disrupting those who proliferate weapons of mass destruction. Libya has disarmed. The A.Q. Khan network has been brought to justice." The President, Mr Kerry said, had made "a colossal error of judgment." "And judgment is what we look for in the president of the United States of America… I would not take my eye off of the goal: Osama bin Laden," the Massachusetts Democratic Senator added. Mr Bush made the "misjudgement of saying to America that he was going to build a true alliance, that he would exhaust the remedies of the United Nations and go through the inspections," Mr Kerry said. "He also promised America that he would go to war as a last resort. Those words mean something to me, as somebody who has been in combat. 'Last resort.' You've got to be able to look in the eyes of families and say to those parents, 'I tried to do everything in my power to prevent the loss of your son and daughter.' I don't believe the United States did that." Mr Bush argued that Mr Kerry "wants you to forget … he voted to authorise the use of force and now says it's the wrong war at the wrong time at the wrong place." " I don't see how you can lead this country to succeed in Iraq if you say wrong war, wrong time, wrong place," the president added. Mr Kerry admitted he had "made a mistake in how I talk about the war, but the president made a mistake in invading Iraq. Which is worse?" Defending himself from Mr Bush's accusation that he "wilts" and "wavers," Mr Kerry said, "I have no intention of wilting… I've never wilted in my life. And I've never wavered in my life. I know exactly what we need to do in Iraq, and my position has been consistent." FactCheck.org, a political watchdog, noted Mr Kerry has never wavered from his support for giving Mr Bush authority to use force in Iraq, nor has he changed his position that he, as President, would not have gone to war without greater international support. But a Bush campaign advertisement released on September 27 takes many of Mr Kerry's words out of context to make him appear to be alternately praising the war and condemning it. Mr Bush said he was "hoping" diplomacy would work in the case of Iraq. "The biggest disaster that could happen is that we not succeed in Iraq," he said. "We will succeed. We've got a plan to do so." Iraq was not even close to the centre of the war on terror before the President invaded it, Mr Kerry pointed out. "And he rushed the war in Iraq without a plan to win the peace. Now, that is not the judgement that a President of the United States ought to make. You don't take America to war unless [you] have the plan to win the peace." Mr Kerry maintained that it was essential that the US "succeed" in Iraq. "But that doesn't mean it wasn't a mistake of judgement to go there and take the focus off of Osama bin Laden. It was," he added. |
|
33 dead,
70 injured in Pak blast Islamabad, october 1 The incident happened hours after President Pervez Musharraf returned home from his high-profile foreign trip. The explosion that ripped through the building occurred at 1.30 pm local time at the Mistri Abdullah Imambargah mosque in the eastern Sialkot city, 160 km north of Lahore, in Punjab province. Hundreds of fathfuls were listening to the sermons by the Imam when the blast occurred, reports reaching here said. A district police official told state-run PTV that an unidentified person with a briefcase had entered the mosque after which the blast took place. The police suspected that he was a suicide bomber and was carrying explosives in the briefcase. The blast, which created a one-and-a-half feet deep hole, took place five days after Pakistani security forces killed one of the most wanted Al-Qaida operatives Amjad Farooqi in a shootout. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid said the blast was an attempt by the extremist groups in the country to tarnish the positive impression being created by Mr Musharraf to bring in the foreign investment. —
PTI |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Washington, October 1
(
