The US occupation struck at the Iraqi resistance late Wednesday, destroying a warehouse in Baghdad and chasing attackers who were seen firing mortars.
American troops attacked a warehouse used by resistance fighters, setting off explosions that reverberated through the capital. "The facility is a known meeting, planning, storage and rendezvous point for belligerent elements currently conducting attacks on coalition forces and infrastructure," the Pentagon said, according to The AP.
The mission was part of "Operation Iron Hammer," a new "get tough" policy for confronting resistance.
Also Wednesday, US forces in Baghdad spotted attackers firing mortars, a statement from the 1st Armored Division said. The attackers fled in a van, making several stops as they tried to evade pursuing ground troops.
An Apache helicopter gunship discovered the van heading out of the city near the Abu Ghraib suburb and opened fire, disabling the vehicle and killing two of the occupants, the statement said. Three occupants were wounded and five others were captured.
Troops searching the first place where the van stopped found an 82mm mortar launch tube, the statement said.
In Washington, President Bush met with his top foreign advisers and chief Iraq administrator L. Paul Bremer on Wednesday to discuss the strategies to accelerate the transfer of power in Iraq and the deteriorating security situation.
"We have said from the outset that we wanted to transfer authority to the Iraqis as quickly as they were able to assume it and that is what we have done," Bremer said in Washington. "We have been moving forward on ways to continue to transfer authority to the Iraqis as they are ready for it."
Bremer is taking back to Baghdad several scenarios for discussion, officials said, according to The AP. A top-secret U.S. intelligence report warned that Iraqis were losing faith in the U.S.-led forces, which is increasing support for the resistance. (Albawaba.com)
