WAR: Iraqi Resistance Have Control of Two Cities, page 1

The Iraqi Resistance consisting of Al-Sadr followers, both Shi'ites and Sunnis, are now in control of two cities, Kut and Kufa and parts of Najaf. Police in the cities have abandoned their stations or stood aside as the gunmen roam the streets. Meanwhile the Sunni's are continuing to put up resistance in Fallujah against the Marines. The Iraqi Resistance to U.S and Coalition Occupation is now in it's fourth day and the death toll on both sides continue to rise. In related issues, Iraq's interior minister said he was forced to resign by coalition administrator Paul Bremer. Iraq's interior minister leads the Iraqi police and security forces. No additional reasons as to his resignation were given.

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Shi'ites seize 2 cities, part of a third
The top U.S. general in Iraq said Thursday he will mount a "sustained campaign" to break an insurgency in which followers of a radical cleric and others have taken over two cities and parts of a third, kidnapped more than a dozen people and demanded coalition forces leave the country.

Hospitals reported nearly 500 militants killed in the weeks' fighting. Three U.S. troops died Thursday, bringing to 40 the number of American soldiers killed this week.



[Edited on 4-9-2004 by worldwatcher]

[Edited on 9-4-2004 by Banshee]

update:
U.S Forces have regained control of the city of Kut, however the fighting has intensified in other areas. Smoke was seen over the Baghdad skyline this morning coming from a sealed off area. No explanation as to the cause of the smoke yet.
U.S. Forces Recapture Southern City of Kut; Brief Halt in Marine Assault on Fallujah Breaks Down
In Fallujah, 35 miles west of Baghdad and the scene of bloody fighting with Sunni insurgents this week - Marines called a halt to offensive operations at noon, while a delegation of city leaders met with Marine commanders, said Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, commander of the 1st Battalion 5th Marine Regiment.

But 90 minutes later, Marines were given the go-ahead to resume operations, Byrne said. U.S. forces were heard firing into the city soon after. The reasons for the end of the suspension were not immediately clear, but it appeared negotiations never took place.

The heavy siege of the city, a bastion of anti-U.S. Sunni guerrillas, has angered even pro-U.S. Iraqi officials.

"These operations were a mass punishment for the people of Fallujah," Adnan Pachachi, a senior member of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council, told Al-Arabiya TV. "It was not right to punish all the people of Fallujah and we consider these operations by the Americans unacceptable and illegal."

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