ICRC delivers aid in Samarrah

Food, blankets, heaters and stoves have been handed out in Samarrah, some 125 km northwest of Baghdad, where US troops have killed more than 100 insurgents in recent days, according to International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) spokesman Ahmed al-Rawi. More than 500 families have been displaced by fighting in recent weeks and are staying with friends and relatives in nearby villages, al-Rawi told IRIN in Baghdad. Medical supplies were delivered by the Iraqi Red Crescent to the Samarrah general hospital, he added. "ICRC has expressed its concern over the fate of civilians in this conflict," the spokesman said. "All injured people should have access to hospitals." Samarrah residents wave white flags whenever they came out of their houses to show they meant no harm to US forces, who are now in "mop-up" operations against insurgent forces. In Babil province, south of Baghdad, 3,000 US and Iraqi troops have launched a major offensive, uncovering a suspected training camp while rounding up more than 30 suspected insurgents. The strategic city is believed to be used by insurgents as a rear base for the city of Fallujah, their stronghold in Iraq. Babylon is also the fabled cradle of civilisation. "While rounding up 30 suspects during the initial sweep, the Iraqis and their US allies seized a suspected insurgent training camp and took control of the Jurf Kas Sukr bridge," said a statement released by the US military. "The bridge, spanning the Euphrates southwest of Baghdad, is believed to be a favoured corridor for insurgents moving into and out of key cities, including the capital hub and the current [rebel] sanctuary of Fallujah." The US military continues to say that Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi and men loyal to him are fighting from Fallujah, home to followers of former President Saddam Hussein. US troops have not patrolled Fallujah since April, when four US contractors were killed, their bodies hung from a bridge spanning the Tigris River. Fighting there was ended by a deal to allow Iraqi forces to patrol the city. Those forces quickly melted away to leave a city apparently run by the insurgents. The crackdown comes as the US military promises to make all of Iraq open in order to hold scheduled parliamentary elections in January. US forces are hailing the success in Samarrah as the positive test of newly trained Iraqi forces. In addition, a number of foreigners from Egypt and Sudan were taken into custody in Samarrah, according to Maj-Gen John Batiste, a commander in Samarrah. Some US $13.5 million has been set aside to rebuild the city, Batiste said. He didn't directly address allegations that civilians had been targeted in the fighting, although he did say that insurgents used civilians as "human shields". "I don't think people need to be afraid of American forces," he said. "Insurgents made the decision to use people's houses to fight." In Sadr City, a suburb of Baghdad, representatives of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi are still negotiating with Mehdi army rebels loyal to anti-US cleric Moqtada Sadr. Allawi is calling on them to hand over weapons after many walked away from fighting in the southern city of Najaf with their battle gear intact. Previous negotiations in Sadr City have broken down, leading to nightly clashes in recent weeks.