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Conflict continues in Iraq

Jun-17-2005 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT

A transcript of an interview with COL Brown, Commander, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division (SBCT)

Link to Full Article
Michael Vincent, The World Today

TANYA NOLAN: While Australia's focus has been on freed hostage Douglas Wood who is now leaving Iraq, the bloody violence in Baghdad and elsewhere in the country continues.

In the past few days, five US soldiers and more than 40 Iraqis have been killed in deadly attacks by insurgents.

Coalition forces are claiming a victory today, with the capture of a senior adviser to Jordanian militant and key insurgent, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Michael Vincent reports.

MICHAEL VINCENT: In Iraq the violence is relentless.

Insurgents continue to use suicide bombers, like the one overnight, who on the road to Baghdad's airport, ploughed his car at high speed into a truck carrying Iraqi policemen. He killed at least eight and wounded another 25.

A day earlier, a suicide bomber wearing an Iraqi uniform walked into a barracks north of Baghdad and detonated, killing at least 26 soldiers and leaving 29 wounded.

It's not only the nature of their attacks, the insurgents also appear to be modifying their bombs to pierce armoured vehicles.

In Ramadi, five US marines were killed yesterday when their vehicle was blasted by an improvised explosive device. Their Humvee had special armour plating.

US officers say the militants may be making "shaped charges", which can focus a blast to pierce even thick protection.

More than 1,700 US military personnel have now been killed in Iraq since the invasion in March 2003.

While there are no official figures for Iraqis, it's estimated more than 20,000 have been killed in the same period.

US forces have been able to claim a victory overnight. They released the details of a man they captured earlier in the week named Abu Talha, believed to be a senior aide to al-Qaeda affiliated militant, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

US Colonel Robert Brown of the 25th Infantry Division has told the BBC they're certain they've got the right man.

US Colonel Robert Brown of the 25th Infantry Division has told the BBC they're certain they've got the right man.

ROBERT BROWN: We had captured a series of videotapes back in November. This gave us pictures of the individual, of Talha, and in those videotapes it shows over 50 suicide bombings that he directed, killing many, many innocent women and children, many innocent Iraqis, and then also we have a video and then statements and absolutely certain that he was responsible for over 100 brutal murders, including beheadings and murders where they tied the hands behind their back and shot individuals in the head.

No question he's done these things, and a very, very evil individual has been taken off the street, a high level al-Qaeda member, and the al-Qaeda network is clearly being disrupted. [...]


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