Developments of military operations in Iraq

Concerning the status of military operations in Iraq, a statement by the American army said that the air borne squad 82 has taken a position in Haifa street in the downtown of Baghdad. A place which is considered a center for the Sunni fighters who oppose the American presence in the capital. A place where continued attacks against the American forces take place.

Squad 82 which is positioned in Falluja and al-Tamadi, the center for fighters to the west of Baghdad, since September 2003 until march 2004.

A senior American official announced on Friday that what he called the Iraqi rebels are making and implanting on road-side explosives like the one which led on Thursday to the killing of seven American soldiers when their armored vehicle ran over an explosive to the west of Baghdad.

Meantime, attacks continued targeting American forces and others for the Iraqi national guards and police to the west, north and south of Baghdad.

News reports said that four members of the Iraqi national guards were killed when one explosive went off targeting their vehicle in Abu Ghreib area to the west of Baghdad. In the same area, a house used by the American forces as a headquarters was bombarded by mortar shelling resulted in damaging several American armored vehicles.

In al-Smeilat area to the west of Baghdad, another vehicle was damaged when one explosive targeted one American vehicle. In the south of Baghdad, unidentified gunmen killed one guard for a medical clinic, according to a source in the Iraqi police.

Samera city to the north of Baghdad witnessed several incidents especially the killing two Iraqi soldiers and wounding other four and also killing one civilian in confrontations that took place with gunmen in al-Mu'tasim quarters in the downtown of the city. Near al-Dalo'eya, two Iraqi soldiers were killed and one Iraqi civilians in confrontations that took place in the town.

In Irbil to the north of Iraq, Ismael Kala, one of the candidates of the Kurdistani Democratic Front led by Masoud al-Barazani was wounded following a bomb explosion in the downtown of the city..

In another development, news reports said that gunmen attacked one election center in al-Musil and detonated it.