Anti-US fighters take control of Mosul
Saturday 13 November 2004, 23:19 Makka Time, 20:19 GMT
Mosul's main street is said to be littered with roadside bombs
Journalists based in Mosul have told Aljazeera that local anti-US
fighters have taken control of the northern Iraqi city, contradicting
US military statements that they are in charge.
Various reports on Friday suggested that Iraqi police and national
guardsmen had disappeared from view and masked armed men were
wandering freely around Iraq's second largest city.
A main road to the local governorate and police station was littered
with roadside bombs, making movement in the heart of the city
hazardous.
Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Hastings, the US military spokesman in Mosul,
however, said the "governor is actively involved in restoring police
presence and is in control of the security situation in the city".
"Mosul is not out of control nor is the city in the control of the
insurgents," he added.
Control the streets
Witnesses in Mosul told Aljazeera.net that major sections of the city
had been seized by anti-US fighters who were patrolling the streets.
US forces have come under
fierce mortar and RPG attacks
"They control the streets, no one is going out for fear of more US air
strikes," Abd Allah Ghafar, a freelance journalist in the city, told
Aljazeera.net by telephone.
"The situation is very bad, there is no security, only armed
resistance groups on the streets and it seems there is no government
in Mosul," he said.
Another Mosul-based journalist told Aljazeera that US armoured
vehicles were forced to retreat from two main bridges they had blocked
off after coming under a fierce mortar barrage and rocket-propelled
grenade (RPG) fire.
"US forces have separated the two sides of Mosul city by deploying
armoured vehicles on the bridges linking them," Muhammad Dhu al-Nun
said.
Fierce attacks
"However, these armoured vehicles have come under fierce attacks by
mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades, forcing them to withdraw
and return to their bases."
Armed local fighters now control
Mosul's streets, say journalists
"The city is now calm," he added.
But US military spokesman Captain Angela Bowman explained that retreat
was carried out at the request of the governorate to allow civilians
to attend weekly prayers at the mosques.
Bowman admitted there were "pockets of resistance".
"In the southwestern area there are terrorists and insurgents on the
streets but this is not city wide. We are still well in control," she
said.
A night-time curfew, imposed earlier in the week initially until
Friday, will remain in place from 4pm (1300 GMT) until 6am, Hasting
said, without specifying when the order would expire.
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