- RAWAH, Iraq (IslamOnline.net)
-- American troops "slaughtered" more than one hundred Iraqi
civilians, most of them killed while asleep, at the early hours of Friday,
June 13, eyewitnesses told IslamOnline.net.
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- The U.S. forces deliberately opened fire from tanks and
helicopter gunships at the houses of Iraqi civilians in Rawah, 400 kilometer
to the north-west of Baghdad, killing tens of people, they charged.
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- The town residents rushed out of their homes which came
under heavy American bombardment.
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- Some of them emerged with their light arms and battled
the occupation forces, killing and injuring an unspecified number of American
troops, eyewitnesses told IOL correspondent.
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- "The bodies of 12 of your boys were found tied with
ropes, each with a bullet in the head. The Americans detained them and
immediately executed them in this horrible way," charged Abu Saadoun,
one of the town tribal leaders.
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- "Now we have to avenge not only the occupation of
our country but also the slaughtering of our boys. We will open the gates
of hell on the Americans," he pledged in exclusive statements to IOL.
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- Tired and exhausted Abu Khaled told IOL he spent three
hours in the desert at the outskirts of Rawah digging a mass grave for
the victims of the American massacre.
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- "We buried more than 80 of our sons but are still
puzzled what pushed the Americans to massacre our people. We are far away
from Baghdad and no fighting has been reported here.
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- "We have no training camps as alleged by the occupation
forces. No Baathists. No nothing. The people of Rawah all reserved Sunnis,"
lamented Abu Khaled.
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- "Rawah has a majority of PHD and university certificates
holders," he asserted.
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- He uncovered to IOL that a number of Arab fighters,
who flocked to Iraq during the days leading to the Anglo-American occupation
to join arms in defending the Arab country, occasionally came to the town,
also inhabited by a number of Iraqi army officers.
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- "But, they are not Baathist officers. They opposed
Saddam regime but they more strongly oppose the American occupation of
their country," Abu Khaled said of the Iraqi army officers.
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- He asserted that the resistance of the American occupation
has not yet gained its full momentum and is just at the very beginning.
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- American armored vehicles and tanks are heavily deployed
along Baghdad-Rawah highway but none of the Americans agreed to deliver
statements to IOL team other than that they were hunting down loyalists
to Saddam and his Baath party.
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- Asked why they target the north and north-west of Iraq,
areas of Sunni majority, an American major who declined to put his name
said they do not care if the areas belong to Sunnis or others, claiming
there was "terrorist" activities there.
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- Islamists Not Baathists
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- Majid al-Rawi, a doctor of Rawah hospital, debunked American
"superstitions" , asserting that Baathists and Fedayeen Saddam
did not fight during the war and left Iraq for the Americans. So why should
they develop such a resistance enthusiasm now?"
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- "Most of the boys I treated I personally knew them
very well. They are reserved Islamists and not Baathists, " he told
IOL correspondent.
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- "The fairy tale of hunting down Saddas loyalists
and Baathists is a pretext exploited by the occupation forces to violate
all human rights, detain and kill people without being held accountable
and to evade being disclosed by the media," asserted the doctor.
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- "Suppose the Americans were right, does this give
them the right to immediate execute people in such a horrible manner. Where
is the democracy and freedom they said they came to give to the Iraqi people?
"
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- Doctor al-Rawi recalled hearing many Iraqi young men
saying they had yearned to fight the invading troops and "here they
have come to us by themselves. "
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- One of the local leaders who refused to put his name
told IOL correspondent "I swear by Allah Almighty there are no training
camps here. We do not need one. Each Iraqi child knows how to use arms.
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- "The obligatory enlisting and the long-running wars
Iraq fought over the past two decades taught lost of Iraq men military
planning and tactics of using heavy weapons. "
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- He asserted that the Popular Army and Al-Quds Army formed
by Saddam to falsely depict him as defender of the Arab nation did not
prevent the Americans from invading our land but they helped train men,
elders, women and children on using all types of arms.
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- "This will certainly help when we start real resistance
to boot out the occupation forces outside the town, " the unnamed
local leader told IOL.
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- The Americans, he said angrily, break into our homes
in a violent and barbaric not respecting in the least our traditions.
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- "They (U.S. forces) claim they are hunting down
Baathists while in fact they are only trying to terrorize us not to resist
the occupation, " he concluded.
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- U.S. Causalities
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- The American occupation forces sustain daily losses and
damages in all Sunni areas in northern Iraq.
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- In <http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-06/06/article10.shtml>Falluja,
anti-occupation resistance has been on the upswing to the extent that American
forces stationed there fear to leave their posts after sun set and open
random fire at any thing that moves.
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- Also, the towns of Abu Ghareb, el-Ramadi and Heit, all
to the west of the capital Baghdad, witness regular resistance operations
that inflicted fatalities and damage to the Americans and their weaponry
machine.
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- Over the past three days, confirms IOL correspondent,
the Americans lost seven soldiers; three <http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-06/12/article11.shtml>Apache
helicopter gunships, downed by Russian-made Strella missiles and two tanks
destroyed by RBJ.
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- Maddened by the resistance attacks and the causalities,
the Americans developed hostile attitude towards the media and deprived
the entire population of Falluja of electricity.
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- The American forces are always keen on evacuating any
attack site immediately even if this would cost them more lives.
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- One U.S. officers told IOL correspondent there are strict
orders not to allow the media to document any American <http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-06/11/article01.shtml>causalities.
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- The American forces even rearrange the attack site so
that no one would ever notice a battle was raging there.
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- Fires blazed on the major <http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-06/13/article03.shtml>pipeline
from Iraq's northern oilfields after twin bomb attacks aimed at sabotaging
exports through Turkey.
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- Iraqis accusing the Americans of stealing their oil wealth
by trying to export oil without the approval of a central Iraqi government
in Baghdad.
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- U.S. occupation forces <http://www.islamonline.net/english/News/2003-06/13/article11.shtml>killed
31 Iraqis on Friday, northeast of Baghdad, one day after another massive
raid killed 70, putting the death toll to 101.
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- U.S. army detained Monday, June 9, around <http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-06/12/article04.shtml>400
Iraqis suspected of participating in recent resistance attacks against
U.S. occupation troops.
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