Iraqi insurgents operating in large groups...

[DanS]

In Baquba, up to 500 insurgents took part in the latest battle, described below. However, early indications are that the insurgents got the worst of it.

I wonder why the change in operational style? It doesn't seem that smart to me, as it just masses more of them for us to kill, but maybe the military types around here have more informed views.

Thirty die in Iraqi city battle
Man injured in one of the attacks in Baquba
Several people were also injured in the fighting in Baquba
At least 21 Iraqi insurgents and seven soldiers have been killed in fighting in the city of Baquba during which at least 43 insurgents were captured.

Baquba was put under curfew after the attacks on Thursday on police stations and checkpoints in the city and surrounding province of Diyala.

At least two civilians also died in the fighting, US and Iraqi sources said.

The attacks raged for "hours", an Iraqi police official said, estimating that between 400 and 500 rebels took part.

In other developments:

* an alleged senior member of the al-Qaeda in Iraq militant group, Humadi al-Takhi, is killed along with two other militants when US and Iraqi troops raid a house in Samarra

* a bomb attack on a patrol in Falluja kills at least two Iraqi policemen

* the US military confirms the death of a US soldier in a roadside bombing on Thursday evening in Baghdad

'Wedding party cover'

In Baquba, insurgents used mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms to attack five police checkpoints, a police station and an Iraqi army headquarters, Iraqi and US sources said.

Diyala Province governor Rad Rasheed al-Mulla said the attackers had planned to seize control of Baquba's south, west and south-west entrances.

The city, 60km (35 miles) north of Baghdad, has seen frequent insurgent attacks in recent months.

In one of Thursday's attacks, gunmen reportedly pulled up at a checkpoint posing as a wedding party in a convoy of vehicles, one of which was decorated with ribbons and flowers.

They then sprayed the checkpoint with bullets, a security source told AFP news agency.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4953624.stm

[DanS]

Another article re the battle...

Iraqi, US troops say kill al Qaeda leader
28 Apr 2006 14:00:49 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD, April 28 (Reuters) - Iraqi and U.S. troops killed a leader of al Qaeda in Iraq on Friday and the city of Baquba was under curfew after at least 30 people died a day earlier in one of the biggest recent battles with insurgents.

Humadi al-Takhi, a well-known figure locally and reputed to be the district al Qaeda chief, was killed in a raid on a house just outside the city of Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghad.

He is the third brother from his family to die as a senior member of al Qaeda, assuming the Samarra leadership last year when hs elder brother Najim was arrested and later found dead.

Another al Qaeda leader was arrested nearby on Thursday.

The U.S. says al Qaeda and its leader, Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, are the driving force behind the bloody insurgency against U.S. and Iraqi forces and fomenting sectarian violence.

Samarra, a hotbed of the Sunni Arab insurgency, is the city where a Shi'ite mosque was bombed in February, unleashing a wave of sectarian bloodshed across the country. Zarqawi denied U.S. and Iraqi accusations that al Qaeda was behind the bombing.

The U.S. estimates violence against civilians almost doubled, jumping 90 percent, over the 10 weeks since the shrine blast.

Zarqawi appeared in a rare video aired this week, saying his holy warriors would fight on and accusing the United States of installing a puppet regime so it could flee Iraq.

CURFEW

In the city of Baquba, to the east of Samarra, the streets were quiet after a daytime curfew was imposed following an attack on police and army posts on Thursday by at least 100 rebels.

In one raid, insurgents attacked a police station and five police checkpoints with mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. Iraqi soldiers and police killed 17 rebels, the U.S. military said. One Iraqi soldier was killed and two were wounded.

In a separate operation, insurgents also armed with mortar rounds and rocket launchers attacked an Iraqi army headquarters. Four insurgents were killed and six Iraqi soldiers died in those clashes, which also left two civilians dead.

Although suicide bombings continue to inflict heavy damage, insurgents have been launching more and more bold operations against police and army targets.

The U.S. military says Zarqawi has shifted his tactics, focusing more on Iraqi troops and security forces as they train to eventually take over security and less on American troops.

In the first video showing an unmasked Zarqawi broadcast this week, he warned Iraqis against joining security forces.

The withdrawal of U.S. troops depends on the performance of Iraq's U.S.-trained security forces, who are struggling to curb insurgent suicide bombings, shootings and assassinations as well as the rise in sectarian violence.

Shi'ite Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki says he hopes to name a new cabinet next week sharing power among Shi'ites, Sunni Arabs a Kurds, a move many believe is vital for soothing sectarian tensions and quelling the insurgency.

[Arrian]

Well, one aspect of it makes sense: attacking the softer target (the Iraqi security forces instead of the US troops).

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

It could be to show the Iraqi people how much of a force they are. To scare the people of the other sect and to gain followers from those who thought the insurgents were small and unorganized thugs (now they are large organized thugs ).

[Arrian]

Essentially a similar gamble to TET? And no, I'm not saying "it's Vietnam!" I'm just going with an insurgency example that came to mind.

-Arrian

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Arrian
Essentially a similar gamble to TET?

One might hope so. It broke the back of the Viet Cong after all.

[Arrian]

Given the timing, I might agree, Dino. They're off by about a year. If they cranked up ops as the 2008 campaign got started, that would make sense (playing for the same result as TET - military failure but political success).

-Arrian

[Imran Siddiqui]

It's VIETNAM!!

Or, better yet...

[q=Arrian]I'm... saying "it's Vietnam!"[/q]



But perhaps similar goals, but not on the same level at one place. At least not yet.

[RGBVideo]

"The insurgency is not getting larger, more troops terrorists attacking us is just a proof that they're changing their strategy".

Nice spin

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by Arrian
Given the timing, I might agree, Dino. They're off by about a year. If they cranked up ops as the 2008 campaign got started, that would make sense (playing for the same result as TET - military failure but political success).

I can't imagine what better they could hope for.

Then again, one should not take it as a given that they've got a sensible strategy.

[Zkribbler]

This is one of the stages a successful insurgency goes through.

It begins with hit and run tactics, at first to grab weapons and later to cause casualties and chaos.

But at some point, if the rebels are to win, they must transform themselves into military style units and slug it out with the forces they're rebelling against.

[Dinner]

The individual insurgent cells operate much like gangs who run illegal activities to finance themselves. Occasionally several gangs will get together and try to do something really big but most of the time it ends up as a turkey shoot for the Americans.

[chequita guevara]

I think the larger groups have something to do with the Shi'ite death squads. The Sunnis are seeing the Americans withdrawing from various types of operations (apparently certain types of missions have been fobbed off on the diplomatic corps ) as the White House tries to lessen troop strength in time for the Congressional elections.

Rather than risk an all out sectarian civil war, the Sunnis are showing their strength.

Anyway, that's what I think.

[Ted Striker]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
This is one of the stages a successful insurgency goes through.

It begins with hit and run tactics, at first to grab weapons and later to cause casualties and chaos.

But at some point, if the rebels are to win, they must transform themselves into military style units and slug it out with the forces they're rebelling against.

Yep, there's actually a defined pattern that every insurgency goes through throughout history.

Sometimes they will go back and forth through diffrerent styles.

You can trace it back to the American Revolution

[Patroklos]

I wonder why the change in operational style? It doesn't seem that smart to me, as it just masses more of them for us to kill, but maybe the military types around here have more informed views.

It is just a group that has an unrealistic understanding of the political condition, thinking the time was right to try and transition to more conventional forces.

I don't think this is anything like Tet, as that was a nationwide coordinated attack involving tens of thousands of insurgents. This was just some group of retards getting waxed with no coordination at all, which proves the insurgents are in fact not in a position to take over anytime soon.

I wish they would do a Tet, the sooner these born losers get their martyerdom the better for everyone.