Al-Sader supporters kidnap 18 policemen in al-Najaf; Explosions in Baghdad
Strong explosions were heard today morning in several areas in Baghdad most of them came from the strongly fortified Green Area. The complex which includes the headquarters of the Interim goverenment and the American embassy.
One witness said that following the explosions warning whistles were heard in the area which is the target of fighters who often fire mortars shelling and detonate bombs at the roadside near the green area.
This came with the escalation of security deterioration as the Iraqi gunmen killed 6 national guards men in one explosion in Baqouba to the north east of Baghdad and one colonel in the police in one explosion in the downtown of Baghdad, while the American forces announced the killing of 6 of its soldiers, four of them by gunmen bullets.
Among the killed Americans were two soldiers killed by one explosion in their patrol to the west of Baghdad yesterday evening while two Marines died because of their wounds they had with Iraqi gunmen in al-Anbar governorate on Monday, while other two were killed in attacks said to be of no connection to resistance attacks.
In Najaf city to the south of Baghdad, the supporters of the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sader held 18 policemen as hostages in order to exchange them for the release of their friends in the detention centers. The governor of Najaf Adnan al-Zarafi threatened to seek the support of the American forces in order to put an end to the al-Mahdi army.
He said that the police and the national guards forces in Najaf are in a state of alert to deal with any emergency case and to tighten the siege of gunmen of al-Mahdi army who are positioned in the old city and Wadi al-Salam cemetery.
In the course of the series of operations which targeted the oil pipelines, the Iraqi oil pipeline which links between Karkouk and Jeihan Turkish port was yesterday exposed to an attack but the attack did not affect the exports which had been halted for weeks.
Concerning the hostages held in Iraq, the Jordanian authorities said that one of its citizens was kidnapped in Iraq and thereby the number of Jordanian hostages held in Iraq increased to seven.
Meantime, kidnappers of the Lebanese businessman Antoine Antoine who disappeared in Iraq on Saturday contacted one of his employees in Baghdad to notify about his kidnapping.
Former Lebanese minister Fawzi Hbeish said, following his meeting with the Lebanese foreign minister Jean Obeid, about the kidnapping issue that the kidnappers asked for a ransom but did not specify the amount.
In the same context the Turkish " Belenitor " company decided to withdraw its workers from Iraq after the killing of hostage Murad Yuji at the hand of a group of kidnappers.