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Iraqi resistance intensifies

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA DEC.25. The Iraqi resistance fighters havein the space of 12 hours twice attacked a prominent hotel housing Westerners in Baghdad's high security zone and on Wednesday killed three American soldiers near Samarra north of the Iraqi capital, indicating that the resistance against the U.S. occupation continued to remain effective despite the recent capture of the former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein.

Six rockets were fired in Central Baghdad on Thursday targeting the Sheraton hotel and an apartment block within the "green zone" where the U.S. occupation authorities have their offices and residential compounds. The rockets smashed into the elevator area between the eighth and ninth floors, showering debris and shattered glass into the hotel's lobby.

Indicating that a fresh offensive had been launched, the U.S. forces found leaflets warning Iraqis to stay indoors. They also warned the U.S. forces to leave the country and urged the Iraqi police to cease working with foreign forces.

In a spate of attacks on Christmas, Iraqi fighters fired five grenades at the Baghdad Hotel, widely suspected of housing CIA personnel.

Two rockets were also fired at the Baghdad city council building, with one failing to explode. Besides, two grenades were launched at a major U.S. military base, east of Baghdad.

The Iraqi fighters on Wednesday night had hit the roof of the Sheraton hotel with a suspected rocket propelled grenade damaging a top floor restaurant, which was decorated for Christmas eve. There were no guests present at the time of the attack.

Offensive sweeps

Late at night, the U.S. planes carried out offensive sweeps inside suspected resistance strongholds in Baghdad and eyewitnesses said that the sound of bombing and gunfire could be heard till 2 a.m. on Thursday.

With the death of the three American soldiers near Samarra, the number of U.S. soldiers killed stood at 205 since the declaration by the U.S. President, George Bush, on May 1 that major combat in Iraq was over.

Elsewhere, a suicide bomber exploded a car packed with explosives in the Kurdish city of Irbil in northern Iraq, outside the Interior Minister's office.

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