The Hindu : Iraqi fighters warned of action

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 12, 2003

International

International

Iraqi fighters warned of action

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA Nov.11. Jolted by a series of attacks against its forces last week, a top U.S. military commander has warned Iraqi resistance fighters with tougher action, even as bomb explosions in Basra and Baghdad on Tuesday killed three people and injured six.

General John Abizaid, chief of the U.S. Central Command, has reportedly warned tribal sheikhs and Mayors in the restive city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, that the occupation forces had the "capabilities and equipment" to take stern action.

The U.S. military since Saturday — a day after Iraqi guerillas brought down a Black Hawk helicopter, carried out for the first time since May air raids in Tikrit, north of Baghdad and on alleged resistance safe-houses in Fallujah, using F-16 fighter planes. Air raids by high-flying fighter jets close to urban areas can cause significant civilian casualties, as the accuracy of their munitions is questionable.

The bomb in Basra exploded next to a minibus, on a road that has been frequently used by the British forces deployed there, and killed three people.

In Baghdad, a bomb blast outside a city court wounded six detainees, who were being taken in for questioning.

The Kurdish rebel group, Congress for Freedom and Democracy in Kurdistan (KADEK), said it was planning to transform itself into a new group that would fight for Kurdish rights through negotiations.

"The KADEK is being dissolved in order to make way for a new, more democratic organizational structure that allows for broader participation,'' the group said in a statement. It was earlier called the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, but changed its name last year.

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