[1] US troops storm family home in ar-Ramadi, murder five men, kidnap two women.  Iraqi Resistance Reports, 22 April, 2006. (http://www.freearabvoice.org/Iraq/Report/report497.htm)

[2] PITMAN, T., U.S., Iraqi Forces Fight Ramadi Insurgents.  Washington Post, 22 April, 2006. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/22/AR2006042200508.html)

[3] SALAS, B.F., Insurgent attack kills 2 children in Ramadi April 30.  NewsBlaze, 30 april, 2006. (http://newsblaze.com/story/20060430142521nnnn.nb/topstory.html)

[4] US aircraft blast civilian house in ar-Ramadi. Iraqi Resistance Reports, 2 May, 2006. (http://www.freearabvoice.org/Iraq/Report/report507.htm)

[5] Resistance car bomb blasts motorcade of puppet governor of al-Anbar.  Iraqi Resistance Reports, 2 May, 2006. (http://www.freearabvoice.org/Iraq/Report/report507.htm)

[6] US airraid kills five civilians in ar-Ramadi Thursday morning.  Iraqi Resistance Reports, 4 May, 2006 (http://www.freearabvoice.org/Iraq/Report/report509.htm)

[7] At least 5 dead in strike on Iraqi house-witnesses.  Reuters Foundation Alertnet, 4 May, 2006. (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GEO433830.htm)

[8] WAGNER, T., Suicide bomber strikes at Baghdad court building. Mail&Guardian Online, 4 May, 2006.  (http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=270779&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/)

[9] US, Iraqis differ on civilian casualties in Ramadi.  Reuters Foundation Alertnet, 4 May, 2006. (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L04731714.htm)

[10] By nightfall Wednesday, bodies of 11 victims of US offensive on ar-Ramadi had been brought to local hospital.  Iraqi Resistance Reports, 10 May, 2006 (http://www.freearabvoice.org/Iraq/Report/report515.htm)

[11] CONLEY, B., Continued account from Qasem in Ramadi. Alive in Baghdad, 13 May,2006. (http://www.aliveinbaghdad.org/v2/node/161)

[12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_point_bullet

[13] Declaration (IV,3) concerning Expanding Bullets. The Hague, 29 July, 1899. (http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/FULL/170?OpenDocument)

[14] US warplanes rocket dormitory building at Al-Anbar University in ar-Ramadi, killing four.  Iraqi Resistance Reports, 11 May, 2006.  http://www.freearabvoice.org/Iraq/Report/report516.htm)

[15] LOGAN, L., Where the danger is.  CBS Evening News, 1 May, 2006.  (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/11/eveningnews/main1612946.shtml)

[16] US warplanes rocket homes, ambulance in northeastern Ramadi.  Iraqi Resistance Reports, 11 May, 2006.  http://www.freearabvoice.org/Iraq/Report/report516.htm)

[17] At least five family members killed in US air raid in ar-Ramadi.  Iraqi Resistance Reports, 12 May, 2006. (http://www.freearabvoice.org/Iraq/Report/report517.htm)

[18] CONLEY, B., Media Misconceptions of Ramadi Continue – Media Analysis!  Alive in Baghdad, 23 May, 2006. (http://www.aliveinbaghdad.org/v2/node/170)

[19] Insurgents hamper U.S., Iraqi forces in Ramadi.  Associated Press, 22 May, 2006. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12922324/)

[20] (http://www.freearabvoice.org/Iraq/Report/index.htm)

[21] US orders Resistance fighters to surrender, gives residents of ar-Ramadi until 15 June to leave their city or else face massive US offensive. Iraqi Resistance Reports, 12 June, 2006. (http://www.freearabvoice.org/Iraq/Report/report548.htm)

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Ar-Ramadi.

22/04/06 - 04/06/2006

US troops storm family home in ar-Ramadi, murder five men, kidnap two women.

In a dispatch posted at 2:20pm Makkah time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a force of about 50 US occupation troops accompanied by a large number of military vehicles stormed into the at-Ta’mim section of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the Americans executed five men from one family and wounded and abducted two women.  The fate of the two women was still unknown at the time of reporting.

Neighbors of the victim family told Mafkarat al-Islam that the US troops stormed the home of Kazim Badiwi Hassan, aged 60.  The soldiers blindfolded the members of the family and lined them up in front of the wall of one of the rooms in the house and then mowed them down with light machinegun fire.

The shooting killed the man of the house, Kazim Hassan and his four sons: Bashshar, a doctor of veterinary medicine; Muhammad, an accounts engineer; Ahmad, a student in the Environmental Science Department of the College of Sciences; and ‘Umar, a public secondary school student.

Both Kazim Hassan’s wife and daughter were severely wounded, the neighbors said, and the Americans later took them away to their western base in ar-Ramadi where their fate remained unknown at the time of writing.

The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent reported that the bodies of the five murdered men were to be buried at the ar-Ramadi Martyrs Cemetery later in the day.

Four US troops reported killed in Saturday morning bombing in ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 10:50am Makkah time Saturday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US military patrol in the middle of ar-Ramadi.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in ar-Ramadi as saying that the bomb completely destroyed a US Humvee, killing four American troops who were aboard it.

Resistance mortars pound US headquarters east of ar-Ramadi at dawn Saturday.

In a dispatch posted at 11:40am Makkah time Saturday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces bombarded the US military headquarters east of the city of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad at dawn on Saturday morning.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in as-Sufiyah in the eastern part of the city as saying that Resistance forces fired 82mm and 120mm mortar rounds into the US headquarters, setting off secondary explosions inside the camp.

23/04/2006

Resistance rockets blast US-occupied camp west of ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 8:10pm Makkah time Sunday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces fired four medium-range rockets into the former headquarters of the 8^th Brigade of the Iraqi Army, a facility that the US occupation troops have occupied and turned into their headquarters in western ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported local eyewitnesses as saying that the barrage set off violent explosions inside the US-occupied facility and sent plumes of smoke rising from the camp.  American helicopters could be seen hovering over the facility and surrounding areas at low altitude for some time after the attack.

US soldier killed in Resistance ambush in ar-Ramadi Sunday afternoon.

In a dispatch posted at 7:35pm Makkah time Sunday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces attacked a patrol of four US military vehicles that had been stopped since noon in front of the gate of the provincial government building, opposite the photography and photocopying shops in the center of ar-Ramadi on Sunday afternoon.  The Resistance fighters fired two RPG7 armor-piercing rocket-propelled grenades at the vehicles, disabling one and setting it on fire.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported local witnesses as saying that one American soldier who was inside the Humvee was killed and others who were standing around it were wounded.

The witnesses said that the second rocket actually missed its target, destroying a portable electric generator that served the building.

The correspondent reported that the occupation forces responded violently to the attack, unleashing savage gunfire for a solid 15 minutes.  They then withdrew with the body of the dead soldier and the wounded men, estimated by the local witnesses as numbering three or four.

24/04/2006

Resistance car bomber blasts US patrol in ar-Ramadi leaving five US troops reported dead.

In a dispatch posted at 5:50pm Makkah time Monday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance fida’i fighter drove a car bomb into a US military patrol near an observation point manned by US troops on the highway north of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported local eyewitnesses as saying that the Iraqi Resistance car bomber blasted into the American patrol near a highway bridge upon which an American observation point was located.  When the US patrol passed under the bridge, the Resistance fida’i fighter blasted into them, destroying two American military vehicles and killing six US troops and wounding five more American soldiers witnesses said.

25/04/2006

Resistance forces ambush US patrol in ar-Ramadi at dawn Tuesday.

In a dispatch posted at 6:30pm Makkah time Tuesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters ambushed a US patrol in the at-Ta’mim neighborhood of southern ar-Ramadi at dawn on Tuesday.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in at-Ta’mim as saying that Resistance fighters armed with light and medium weapons and pipe rockets attacked an American patrol in the al-Qadisiyah neighborhood of at-Ta’mim, damaging two US vehicles and wounding four American soldiers.

US troops throw 23 families out of their village west of ar-Ramadi, to set up camp there.

In a dispatch posted at 1:10pm Makkah time Tuesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US troops have thrown 23 Iraqi villagers out of their homes in a farm village west of ar-Ramadi and then turned the area into a military position.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US troops stormed the al-Bu ‘Ali al-Jasim Village west of ar-Ramadi a 6am local time Tuesday morning and used loudspeakers to order all the residents in the area to leave their homes within three hours or be thrown out by force.

The Americans allowed the villagers to take only their clothes, money, and light and valuable personal items with them.  Then after two hours, rather than three as promised, they began throwing the families out of their village.  Some left on foot; others who had cars drove away.

The Americans then brought in bulldozers, digging machines, and cranes.  They laid sandbags around the villages and raised an earthen barricade six meters high in addition to the sand bags and then took over the 23 houses of the village families they had evicted.

In answer to the question why the Americans had chosen this particular village to take over and why they preferred to steal people’s houses rather than set up a camp on vacant land, villagers said that al-Bu ‘Ali Jasim village was located near the biggest US base in the area – al-Warrar Base.  They said that the Americans occupied their village to prevent the Resistance from using it as a launching area for rocket attacks on al-Warrar.  The village is also a good location from which the Americans can launch attacks on the people of ar-Ramadi.

The scene of the evicted villagers including women, children, and the elderly, being driven out of their confiscated homes was very painful to see, the correspondent reported.  Religious leaders in ar-Ramadi used mosque loudspeakers to announce: “whoever gives refuge or a home to them or takes care of them will have earned the pleasure of God. Muslims, hasten to earn God’s pleasure, receive your sisters, daughters, and brothers in your homes.  Don’t leave them in the street under the eyes of the occupation troops.”

Within one hour all the refugees had been given accommodation with families in the ar-Ramadi neighborhoods of at-Ta’mim, al-Mal‘ab, and ad-Dubbat.  Not one was forced to sleep in the street.

The correspondent reported an eyewitness from the confiscated village as saying that the occupation troops were still busy at the time of reporting putting up earthen barriers around their newly stolen camp.  American tanks and military vehicles meanwhile were destroying the villagers crops and killing the large number of livestock and poultry that the families were forced to leave behind.

26/04/2006

Resistance rockets blast US camp east of ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 12:20pm Makkah time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces fired two medium-range rockets into the US military headquarters in eastern ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad at dawn Wednesday.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported local eyewitnesses as saying that as the rockets blasted the US camp located in the farm area east of the city, they could hear violent explosions shake the US-occupied facility and surrounding area.  Quds Press reported witnesses as saying that the Americans responded by firing flares into the air trying to get a fix on the Resistance attackers’ position.

27/04/2006

Civilians killed as US launches massive air assault on ar-Ramadi late Thursday afternoon after cutting off power, water, fuel from city residents.

In a dispatch posted at 6:10pm Makkah time Thursday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier US warplanes had begun an extensive air offensive against the city of ar-Ramadi. US aircraft have been rocketing homes, farms, and former government buildings in the course of the raids.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that more than 10 US F-16 and F-18 fighter bombers had stormed into the skies over the city and begun attacking people’s houses in the western and southern parts of the city.

As of the time of reporting, the American aircraft had blown up nine homes, among them houses belonging to the al-Bu Kharbit, one of the largest tribes in ar-Ramadi with a reputation of loyalty to the Iraqi Resistance.

The correspondent reported that the American planes also rocketed the building that formerly served as the headquarters of Iraqi security before the US invasion.  The main train station in the city, the wholesale market, and the old post office (the last damaged by an armed group some time back) were also struck by the American warplanes.

In addition, a resident of ar-Ramadi told Mafkarat al-Islam that the American aircraft used anti-personnel cluster bombs to attack a stretch of empty desert where no one was living.

Much of America’s deadly ordnance has fallen on live targets, however, and the correspondent reported that as of the time of reporting it was known for certain that there were dead and wounded, but that an exact count was impossible to make, since getting to the ar-Ramadi General Hospital was too dangerous for either victims or journalists.

The American air offensive on ar-Ramadi, the capital of al-Anbar Province, was widely viewed in the area as an act of US 'collective punishment’ of the people of the city following the appearance of Abu Mus'ab az-Zarqawi, a leader of the al-Qa'idah-led groups of Resistance fighters in Iraq, on a video aired on Tuesday, 25 April.

Quds Press reported that residents of ar-Ramadi sensed that the US might target their city following the broadcast of the tape.  The Quds Press correspondent wrote that huge waves of ar-Ramadi residents took to the roads on Wednesday 26 April, afraid that the tape, in which az-Zarqawi indicated that he was in al-Anbar Province, would produce the usually savage and indiscriminate American response.

The Quds Press correspondent in ar-Ramadi reported that transport stations were jammed on Wednesday with families clamoring to get out of the city before the onset of what they sensed would be a deadly American storm.  Residents of the at-Ta’mim neighborhood in particular, frequently a scene of Resistance attacks, began fleeing their homes on Wednesday in large numbers.

In fact the American reprisal for the az-Zarqawi tape began before Thursday afternoon’s air offensive got underway.  Quds Press reported that the Americans completely shut off the supply of electricity to ar-Ramadi at dawn on Thursday, and also began shutting down the water supply to city residents.

Apparently to insure that the citizens’ lives would be as miserable as possible, the American forces closed the ar-Ramadi Clinic, transferring the facility’s maternity ward to the city of al-Fallujah.

The US occupation forces also closed down all fuel stations in ar-Ramadi at dawn on Thursday, throwing the residents of the city into a fuel crisis that sent the price of a liter of gasoline up to 3,000 Iraqi Dinars – about US$2 per liter (or approximately $7.58 per US gallon).

Further confirmation that the Americans were intending to launch an offensive on the city came when the Americans began posting snipers atop 14 buildings whose owners had fled the day before.  The homes were located on al-Kass Street, the market street, and in the al-Iskan and al-Mu'allimin neighborhoods – large sections in the center of the city.

During the day on Thursday, US forces also constructed a dirt road outside of ar-Ramadi, beginning at the eastern approach to the city and ending at the nearby American base. Local residents believed the path was a sure sign that the US would be launching a major assault on their city, for it was positioned to enable American troops to avoid entering the city proper.

Resistance fighters battle US troops in downtown ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 3:50pm Makkah time Thursday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that fierce fighting erupted between Iraqi Resistance forces and US occupation troops in the al-Mal'ab neighborhood of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the al-Bu Jabir area of al-Mal'ab as saying that the fighting broke out when Resistance fighters armed with light and medium weapons, ambushed a column of US forces in the neighborhood.

Eyewitnesses said that two US military vehicles were destroyed in the battle, which lasted over an hour.  Seven American occupation soldiers were killed or wounded and three Resistance fighters were also injured before the Resistance attackers withdrew from the scene.

After the battle, US troops surrounded the al-Mal'ab neighborhood and evacuated the bodies of their dead and hauled away the wreckage of their vehicles.

28/04/2006

Resistance bombards US facility in downtown ar-Ramadi Friday morning.

In a dispatch posted at 11am Makkah time Friday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces fired five heavy 120mm mortar rounds into the al-Anbar Provincial government building in the middle of ar-Ramadi, a facility occupied by US forces and used as their headquarters,

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported local eyewitnesses as saying that the barrage, which took place at 8:30am local time Friday morning, sent dust and thick smoke rising into the sky.

The provincial government building has been regularly attacked by Resistance forces for four months since US troops turned it into a local headquarters.

29/04/2006

Resistance bomb kills four puppet "Iraqi National Guards" in village west or ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 12:10pm Makkah time midday Saturday, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a column of Iraqi puppet "National Guard troops on the main road in the middle of as-Sukran Village west of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the village as saying that the bomb completely destroyed a troop transport vehicle, killing four Iraqi puppet "National Guards" and wounding five more of them.

After the attack, US and Iraqi puppet army troops surrounded the scene preventing anyone from approaching.

Resistance sharpshooter reportedly kills US soldier on patrol in ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 10:50am Makkah time Saturday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance marksman shot and killed a US soldier near the Intelligence Department Headquarter in ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the al-Mukhabarat neighborhood as saying that a US foot patrol was in the neighborhood near the old Intelligence Department headquarters when one of the American soldiers took a direct hit from a Resistance sharpshooter’s bullet, killing him instantly.

01/05/2006

Ar-Ramadi.

Resistance fighters ambush plain-clothes puppet police in bold assault in ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 2pm Makkah time Monday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces ambushed Iraqi puppet police as their car as it came out of the al-Anbar Province government building in ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in ar-Ramadi as saying that Resistance fighters armed with machine guns opened fire on a civilian car in which three puppet policemen in civilian clothing were riding, having just emerged from the gate of the al-Anbar Provincial government building where they worked.  The government building is concurrently used by US forces as one of their headquarters in ar-Ramadi.

Witnesses confirmed that one of the three puppet policemen was killed instantly, while the other two were wounded and ran back into the protection of the provincial government building, which is full of American troops.

The Resistance fighters were unable to pursue the two wounded puppet police officers into the American-run building, but they did pull the corpse of the dead policeman out of the car and set fire to the bullet-ridden vehicle as a way of finishing off their attack.

Iraqi Resistance sharpshooter reportedly kills US soldier doing house raids and searches in ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 9:05am Makkah time Monday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance marksman shot and killed a US soldier in the az-Zyuyut section of central ar-Ramadi.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in ar-Ramadi as saying that an American force was conducting raids and searches of houses in the az-Zuyut neighborhood when one of the US troops took a direct hit in the head from an Iraqi Resistance sharpshooter’s bullet, killing him instantly.

02/05/2006

Americans tighten noose on people of ar-Ramadi Tuesday: water and electricity having been cut off, Americans ban use of private generators and threaten to kill anyone trying to get river water.  US troops raid all Internet cafes in city cutting off communications with outside world.

In a dispatch posted at 7pm Makkah time Tuesday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US occupation forces raided and searched every Internet café and office in the city of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad on Tuesday afternoon.

In another move to cut off the residents of ar-Ramadi from the outside world, the American occupation forces threatened to arrest anyone caught using a cellular telephone in the city.  The Americans claimed that this order was needed because the Resistance – whom they called “terrorists” as is their habit – use cellular phones as a means of communication and for setting off bombs by remote control.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US troops arrested owners of the Internet cafes and confiscated all their equipment.  They also threatened to arrest anyone seen outside his house during the nighttime curfew from 8pm until 6am.

After cutting off the national electricity grid to the entire city of ar-Ramadi, the Americans then banned the use of private home generators, the one alternative source of electric power to which many people have recourse given the ruined state of the country’s infrastructure thanks to the years of murderous US sanctions and destructive occupation.

The American occupation forces have also shut down the water supply to the city, undergoing a stringent American siege, Mafkarat al-Islam’s correspondent reported on Tuesday that US troops had now tightened the noose on the local population by issuing a warning that they would shoot to kill any individuals seen approaching the Euphrates River, which runs past the city, to try to get water.

The correspondent reported that over the previous three days, residents of ar-Ramadi had been depending on the river as their only source of needed water, following the American cut off of water supplies to the city.

US aircraft blast civilian house in ar-Ramadi, killing eight including two women, three children late Tuesday afternoon.

In a dispatch posted at 6:35pm Makkah time Tuesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier, US fighterbombers rocketed a house in the middle of ar-Ramadi, killing eight Iraqi civilians, including women and children.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported an Iraqi medical source in the City Field Hospital that was set up after the US occupation troops closed down the regular ar-Ramadi General Hospital as saying: “A little while ago US warplanes rocketed a house belonging to residents of the al-Bu Jabir area in the middle of ar-Ramadi.”  The medical source said that the air assault destroyed the home and inflicted severe damage to the houses neighboring it.  Eight individuals, including two women and three children were killed in the attack, the source at the field hospital said.

The source said that at the time of reporting searchers were going through the rubble of the house because there are believed to be three men still missing in the ruins.  He added that five people who lived in the neighboring houses were wounded in the American attack.

Resistance bomb reportedly kills three US troops near al-Anbar University in ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 4:50pm Makkah time Tuesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US military column on the main road in the at-Ta’mim section of southern ar-Ramadi.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in at-Ta’mim as saying that an explosives-laden car that was parked by the side of the main road near the University Bridge in the city blew up as an American column emerged from the University of al-Anbar.  The blast destroyed one armored vehicle and disabled a second.  Three US soldiers were killed and three more of them wounded in the explosion.

Hour-long battle rages in ar-Ramadi’s az-Zuyut section Tuesday morning.

In a dispatch posted at 2:30pm Makkah time Tuesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that fierce fighting broke out between Iraqi Resistance fighters and US occupation troops in the central ar-Ramadi area of az-Zuyut on Tuesday morning.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in ar-Ramadi as saying that the combat erupted when Resistance fighters armed with light and medium weapons and pipe rockets ambushed a US patrol and assaulted a US camp on al-Mustawdi‘ Street in az-Zuyut.

The battle lasted for about an hour, and left two Humvees ablaze and one armored vehicle disabled.  The intensity of the fighting and then the American cordon around the area after the battle prevented the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent from ascertaining any further details as to the nature or extent of casualties.

Resistance car bomb blasts motorcade of puppet governor of al-Anbar.

In a dispatch posted at 12:30pm Makkah time Tuesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier it had been reported that an Iraqi Resistance car bomb had exploded by the motorcade of the puppet governor of al-Anbar Province Ma’mun Sami Rashid as it was heading towards the puppet provincial government building in ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported local eyewitnesses as saying that the attack took place on al-Mahkamah (“Courthouse”) Street in downtown ar-Ramadi.  The witnesses said that at least two cars were destroyed in the attack.

The scene of the blast was completely surrounded and US helicopters were seen hovering over the area, preventing any information on the fate of the puppet governor leaking out.

Later, In a dispatch posted at 4:30pm Makkah time Tuesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a source in the Iraqi puppet army had announced that the attempted assassination of the puppet provincial governor had taken the life of the personal driver and a companion of the puppet governor and wounded one other person.

The source said that the puppet governor himself was not injured in the car bomb attack because he was riding in an American Humvee during the attack.  Nevertheless, the source said, the puppet governor lost his sense of balance due to the force of the blast.  He was therefore transported by US helicopter to the American base nearby.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the Information Office of the puppet governor had issued no official statement confirming or denying the information provided by that source.

03/05/2006

Four US troops reported killed in Resistance assault on American camp near ar-Ramadi Wednesday afternoon.

In a dispatch posted at 3:40pm Makkah time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters assaulted a US military camp at Kilometer 5 southwest of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the area as saying that a short while earlier Resistance fighters armed with mortars and rockets as well as light and medium weapons attacked the US camp in ‘Ulwat ar-Rashid in the Kilometer 5 area, completely destroying one American tank and disabling a Humvee.  The correspondent reported that four US troops were killed and five more of them wounded in the Resistance attack.

04/05/2006

US air raid kills five civilians in ar-Ramadi Thursday morning.

A US aircraft rocketed a house in the middle of ar-Ramadi on Thursday morning, killing or wounding a number of local civilian residents according to eyewitness accountes quoted by Quds Press.

A medical source in the ar-Ramadi clinic told Quds Press that he had taken in five bodies and a number of wounded.  The source said that the bodies had been recovered from under the rubble of a house in the city and that among them were women and children.

The US military issued a statement denying any knowledge of any air raid on the city, but said that they were investigating the reports.

Quds Press noted that the city of ar-Ramadi is in a state of high tension in which clashes take place daily between US and Resistance forces.  American troops have the city tightly sealed off from the outside world with electricity and water supplies shut down.

05/05/2006

US soldier reported killed in Resistance bombing west of ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 1:40pm Makkah time Friday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US patrol on the main road in the village of al-Bu ‘Abid, west of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in al-Bu ‘Abid as saying that a bobm that had been planted by the main road blew up by a US patrol, disabling an armored vehicle and killing one US soldier and wounding two more of them.

06/05/2006

Resistance bombards three major US headquarters in ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 1:50pm Makkah time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces bombarded the three main US occupation headquarters in the city of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in ar-Ramadi as saying that the Iraqi Resistance fired three heavy 120mm mortar rounds into the headquarters of the Iraqi Army’s Eighth Brigade prior to the American invasion, a facility now occupied by US military forces in the western part of ar-Ramadi

The Resistance also bombarded the US base in the agricultural area east of the city with five 82mm mortar rounds and struck the provincial government building in downtown ar-Ramadi – a facility now occupied by American and Iraqi puppet forces and turned into a headquarters – with six 60mm mortar shells.

The correspondent reported that plumes of smoke could be seen rising from all three of the American headquarters as swarms of helicopters and US warplanes flew into the area.

10/05/2006

US offensive against ar-Ramadi begins at dawn Wednesday.

In a dispatch posted at 10:30am Makkah time Wednesday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US occupation forces began their anticipated new offensive against the people of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad, at dawn on Wednesday.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the city as saying that more than 500 US troops with air cover from helicopter gunships and warplanes and accompanied by soldiers in the Iraqi puppet army launched their assault on the city from several directions.

They began their campaign against the north of the city, specifically the areas around ar-Ramadi General Hospital and then spread out to the center of the city, carrying out house-to-house raids and arrests of local residents.  The correspondent reported that US warplanes put up a show of military strength in the sky over the city, firing four rockets at empty houses that harmed neither local civilians nor Resistance fighters.

As usual in such offensives, ar-Ramadi has been surrounded with no one allowed in or out.  Puppet government offices and departments and schools and colleges are closed.

At the start of their campaign, US troops used loudspeakers and distributed written declarations in the city, demanding that local people assist them in finding members of al-Qa‘idah in return for receiving American “protection” and “security” and the rebuilding of their city.  The American declarations threatened that coming hours and days would be difficult for the city’s residents if they do not cooperate with the American forces.  The American statement said that the local people would be treated as “supporters of terrorism” if they fail to cooperate with the US invaders.

The correspondent reported that the city was without activity, other than that of the US and Iraqi puppet troops who are combing a large number of neighborhoods and extensive parts of the city.

A Resistance commander, meanwhile, told Mafkarat al-Islam, “we are now arranging our ranks and preparing ourselves for a battle that, if it breaks out, only God knows how long it will last.”

US warplanes rocket ar-Ramadi train station.

In a dispatch posted at 10:40am Makkah time Wednesday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short time earlier US warplanes rocketed the area around the ar-Ramadi train station in the northeast of the city.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses as saying that one of the American fighter-bombers fired two rockets at the railroad station.  The railroad station, which is used by students and employees commuting from the east to the west of the city, was completely destroyed.

The correspondent wrote that the American raids, searches, and arrests were still going on at the time of reporting and that so far the Resistance had launched no attacks in response.

Americans arrest five puppet police for passing secrets to the Resistance.

In a bulletin posted at 11:25am Makkah time Wednesday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier the US occupation troops in ar-Ramadi had arrested five puppet policemen in the city on charges that they leaked security information to the Iraqi Resistance.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported a source in the ar-Ramadi puppet police station who asked not to be identified as saying that an American  force of five Humvees stormed the puppet police station and arrested five puppet policemen, three of them officers, on charges of passing security information on the movements of the US and Iraqi puppet military forces to the Iraqi Resistance.

The source said that the Americans took off the officers’ rank insignia, seized their personal weapons, and then put bags over their heads and took them away to the US al-Warrar base west of the city.

US airplanes rocked Consumer Cooperative Society, killing four persons.

In a dispatch posted at 12:30pm Makkah time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier US warplanes rocketed the Consumer Cooperative Society offices in northwestern ar-Ramadi.  Located at in the Consumer Cooperative complex was a vegetable market and a market for household appliances, but both have been vacant for months because of the situation in the city.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the American attack was part of th American offensive against the city population launched at dawn Wednesday.  The city hospital reported that the American raid on the Consumer Cooperative killed four Iraqis but the correspondent was unable to find out whether the four were Resistance fighters or civilians.

Resistance launches counter attacks on American Marines in ar-Ramad at midday, having allowed them to get into narrow lanes in the center of the city.

In a dispatch posted at 1pm Makkah time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier fierce fighting erupted in various parts of ar-Ramadi as Resistance fighters launched coordinated counter attacks on American troops engaged since dawn in a campaign against the city.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses as saying that the fighting was increasing in intensity at the time of reporting in the areas of the residential apartments, and the neighborhood of al-Mu‘allimin, and in the al-Mal‘ab (playing field) area of the city.

The correspondent reported that dozens of Resistance fighters appeared in the streets of the city after first allowing the American Marines to get into the center of town and into narrow lanes where they are particularly vulnerable to attack.

At the time of reporting US warplanes were rocketing the residential apartments area in eastern ar-Ramadi as battle continued to intensify.  US snipers killed one Iraqi Resistance fighter in the first minutes after the Resistance launched its counteroffensive.

Residents begin fleeing their homes in northern and eastern ar-Ramadi in droves as American aircraft, helicopters attack.  But as exit from the city is blocked by US forces, refugees have no place to go.

In a dispatch posted at 2pm Makkah time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that dozens of residents of eastern and northern ar-Ramadi and their families had begun to flee their homes on foot after American fighter bombers and helicopters began rocketing and shelling the houses in their neighborhoods.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that residents were leaving in an “unprecedented” wave as US forces dropped percussion explosives into those areas to force local people out.  But since the Americans are not letting anyone enter or leave the city, the refugees who flee their homes under American attack find themselves running in circles.

As of the time of reporting, the correspondent said that there were no other representatives of the media in ar-Ramadi.

Puppet governor of al-Anbar Province said fleeing Iraq with his family; US military commander takes over.

In a dispatch posted at 2:10 pm Makkah time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that word was circulating in ar-Ramadi that Ma’mun Sami Rashid, the puppet governor of al-Anbar Province – the capital of which is ar-Ramadi – had fled the country together with his family.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported a source in the puppet Directorate of al-Anbar Provincial Affairs as saying that “the governor was seen with his family in his personal car wearing a dishdashah and headcloth to make him look like an ordinary citizen.  He was observed heading towards the Jordanian border,” the source added.

The source said that the American military commander in the city of ar-Ramadi had taken over the tasks of the puppet governor for the moment, signing official mail in the governor’s office.

Rashid was the target of an assassination attempt earlier in May when his motorcade was attacked by a Resistance car bomber while he was on his way to work.

Resistance begins rocket and mortar bombardments of US bases and troop concentrations in and around ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 6:35pm Makkah time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces had begun pounding US bases an troop concentrations in the east and north of ar-Ramadi with rockets.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the Resistance fired seven rockets of various types as well as three heavy mortar rounds at the Agricultural College, a facility that the Americans have turned into one of their headquarters.  The College had been a staging area where US troops were gathered since dawn Wednesday.

The correspondent reported that most of the rockets and mortar shells landed in or near the American troop concentrations, according to a Resistance source.  The Resistance fighter told Mafkarat al-Islam that “we took coordinates of most of the expected target areas where American troops might concentrate during an offensive.  That was several days ago.  And now that’s what’s happened, so the bombardment was fruitful.”

The Resistance mounted a similar barrage on the US al-Warrar base west of ar-Ramadi, firing five Katyusha rockets and four 82mm mortar rounds into that facility.  The Resistance bombarded various places where US troops were concentrated throughout the city the correspondent added.

Resistance reports destroying two US Humvees, one Abrams tank in afternoon fighting.

In a dispatch posted at 6:40pm Makkah time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces had completely destroyed two US military vehicles and a tank in the course of battles that broke out in ar-Ramadi at midday Wednesday when Resistance fighters launched counterattacks on US Marines in the city.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported a member of the Resistance as saying that two Humees and an Abrams tank during the fighting.  The source also affirmed that nine American troops were killed or wounded on al-‘Arid [“Broad”] Street in the middle of the city.  Three Resistance fighters were killed in the battle.

At the time of reporting, intermittent fighting was still continuing in the city, the correspondent reported.

By nightfall Wednesday, bodies of 11 victims of US offensive on ar-Ramadi had been brought to local hospital.

In a dispatch posted at 6:50pm Makkah time Wednesday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier the hospital of the city of ar-Ramadi announced that it had taken in five bodies of local residents killed by US gunfire.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported Dr. Faz‘ Muhawish of ar-Ramadi Hospital as saying that among the dead are a woman and two children.  All the victims were shot dead by American snipers in the city.

In all, the doctor said, the bodies of 11 local people killed by the Americans in their offensive on the city had been brought into the hospital since dawn.  Five of those were women and children.

High explosive Resistance bomb leaves US soldier reported dead in ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 7pm Makkah time Wednesday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a high-explosive Iraqi Resistance bomb planted in a cooking gas cylinder and planted by the side of the road in the at-Ta’mim area blew up by a US military column at 6:30pm local time Wednesday afternoon

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam, who went to the scene of the attack, reported that the bomb went off opposite the as-Siddiq Markets in the middle of at-Ta’mim.  The blast flipped an armored Humvee upside down. When the correspondent arrived on the scene, an American soldier was administering first aid to three wounded US troops lying on the ground near the overturned vehicle. A fourth American lay motionless nearby.

Local witnesses told the correspondent that the blast hurled one of the Americans out of the Humvee, killing him instantly.  The witnesses said there was still a fifth American soldier under the overturned vehicle.  The Americans on the scene had been unable to get him out.  They were apparently awaiting help to arrive from the US base located three kilometers away from the scene.

Americans in control of 40 percent of ar-Ramadi as they settle into reinforced foxholes in the city for the night Wednesday evening.

In a dispatch posted at 8:45pm Makkah time Wednesday night, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US and Iraqi puppet forces had set up camps and checkpoints and observation points throughout the parts of ar-Ramadi over which they had taken control in the north and northeast of the city on Wednesday.  These correspondend to parts of the neighborhoods of al-Mal‘ab (the playing field) and as-Sufiyah.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the Americans had put up big piles of sand bags  and dug covered positions for themselves in the sidewalks and in the yards of empty houses.

The part of the city now under control of the Americans, the correspondent reported, amounted to about 40 percent of ar-Ramadi.  They included the housing areas of al-Mukhabarat, ad-Dubbat, and al-Bu Jabir as well as a part of the as-Sikak neighborhood of al-Mal‘ab.  US and Iraqi puppet troops are concentrated in those areas, but halted their advance into the rest of the city at sunset Wednesday.

Skies over western ar-Ramadi swarm with US aircraft after nightfall Wednesday.

In a dispatch posted at 8:55pm Makkah time Wednesday night, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the skies above the western part of ar-Ramadi, where the neighborhoods of at-Ta’mim and 7 April are located are swarming with US helicopter gun ships and war planes.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the curfew remained in force in the city but that the sounds of battle could be heard intermittently in various parts of the northern and southern sections of ar-Ramadi.  The Americans fire flares over the city from time to time to help their helicopters as they search for anything moving in the city. With the curfew in force, anyone caught out after dark can be shot on sight.

US posts 120 snipers atop roofs in ar-Ramadi trying to prevent Resistance fighters from maneuvering.

In a dispatch posted at 10pm Makkah time Wednesday night, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance activist in ar-Ramadi had said that they estimated that more than 120 US snipers had deployed atop high buildings in the city.  Many are now occupying the roofs of private homes that they have seized from local residents.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported Shaykh Abu Ihasan ad-Dulaymi as saying that the American snipers in such large numbers made it extremely difficult for Resistance fighters to move around and maneuver.

Ad-Dulaymi said that nevertheless, the invader troops were doomed to fail in this their latest offensive.  “They haven’t said any thing about in their media or announcements because they don’t want any more disasters or embarrassments as happened to them in their other operations,” Shaykh ad-Dulaymi said.  “The world would come back and stump them with the question ‘what have you accomplished in that operation?’ So this time they have launched an offensive unannounced, because their last operation in Samarra’ and the shame that came to them as a result of their miserable failure there made them launch their raids and offensives in this city without any media fanfare or show of force as happened in the past.  The fact is that they were not able to do more than they have done today in ar-Ramadi this is the limit of their total strength,” Shaykh ad-Dulaymi told Mafkarat al-Islam.

11/05/2006

US fighter-bombers rocket deserted coffee house.

In a dispatch posted at 7:45pm Makkah time Thursday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier US warplanes rocketed a popular coffee house in the 7 April neighborhood of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad, as the American offensive against the city begun at dawn on Wednesday continued.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported hat the attack totally demolished the coffee house.  There was no indication of any casualties as a result of the raid.  Local people said that the coffee house had been shut down for some time with no customers ever going there.  The devastated facility was still on fire at the time of reporting.

US warplanes rocket homes, ambulance in northeastern ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 7:25pm Makkah time Thursday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US warplanes rocketed residential apartments in the northeast of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that at the time of reporting the American fighter-bombers had so far fired seven rockets into homes in the area.  Clouds of smoke could be seen rising from the houses and the US aircraft were continuing with their intensive rocket bombardment.

The American planes fired one rocket into an ambulance that was trying to get into the neighborhood.  That strike killed the ambulance driver and two first aid workers who were riding inside.

No information was immediately available on the number or nature of casualties as a result of the latest air strikes.  Large numbers of residents of the neighborhood fled their homes on Wednesday, the first day of the American offensive on ar-Ramadi.

US warplanes rocket dormitory building at al-Anbar University in ar-Ramadi, killing four.

In a bulletin posted at 12:50pm Makkah time Thursday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier US warplanes rocketed the University of al-Anbar Internal Departments student dormitory.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the American fighter bombers fired three rockets into the dormitory, in which no students had resided for about two months.  Large parts of the dormitory building were razed to the ground.  Four Iraqis were killed in the attack, according to preliminary information, but a search for other victims was still underway through the rubble at the time of reporting.

Resistance sharpshooter reportedly kills US soldier near ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 12:45pm Makkah time Thursday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance marksman shot and killed a US soldier in the Kilometer 5 area southwest of ar-Ramadi.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the Kilometer 5 area as saying that a US foot patrol was moving down the road to the az-Zankurah Bridge when one of the Americans took a direct hit from a Resistance sharpshooter’s bullet, killing him instantly.
 

12/05/2006

Mourners at funeral for victims of US bombing forced to walk 12 kilomters due to US ban on motor traffic in ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 7:30pm Makkah time Friday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a gathering of the people of ar-Ramadi laid four victims of the American offensive to rest on Friday.  Two of the dead were a woman and child killed in American bombing on Thursday evening.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the funeral procession wound its way on foot for 12 kilometers from the al-Hajj Salih mosque to the city Martyrs Cemetery.  US forces have prohibited local people from driving any cars in the city, which American forces have blockaded and where US troops have been carrying out raids since early Wednesday morning.

At least five members of Iraqi family killed in US air raid in ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 5:55pm Makkah time Friday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier US aircraft rocketed a private home in northeastern ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported a medical first aid worker as saying that according to preliminary figures, the American air attack killed five members of one family, a man, his wife and their three children.

“That’s how many we have pulled out from under the rubble so far.  But neighbors of the victims are sure that there were more people in the house, relatives who had fled from Baghdad because of the murders of the Sunnis by the Shi‘ah there,” the aid worker told Mafkarat al-Islam.

“So we’re continuing to search until we’re sure that we have got all the victims out,” the medical aid worker concluded.

Puppet officer claims major US bombing sweep of ar-Ramadi will be next stage of American campaign there.

In a dispatch posted at 3:15pm Makkah time Friday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an officer in the Iraqi puppet army had described the current US offensive on the people of ar-Ramadi as an effort to “slowly bleed” what he described as “al-Qa‘idah and other armed groups” in the city.  The puppet officer said that this operation was in preparation for what they hoped would be “final elimination” of the Resistance.

In keeping with the American propaganda approach of dropping the name “al-Qa‘idah” in a constant effort to justify their operations in Iraq, the puppet officer claimed that the organization’s supposed presence in ar-Ramadi had turned that city into a second al-Fallujah where the present searches and arrests and occasionally assaults will be followed up by heavy airstrikes to kill off the fighters.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported the puppet officer, who would not give his name, as saying: “the air strikes, arrests of suspects, and the bombardment of possible nests of al-Qa‘idah men are the start of a big campaign in the city that will soon be put into action.”

The puppet officer said, “the number of armed men who are present in ar-Ramadi can be got rid of and killed by air strikes as was done in al-Fallujah, al-Qa’im, and Tall ‘Afar.  Those will be followed by large-scale ground operations in the city and its environs.”

The puppet officer added: “ar-Ramadi has become a second al-Fallujah after al-Qa‘idah’s commanders gathered.”

US tanks blast houses in northern ar-Ramadi.

In a bulletin posted at 3:10pm Makkah time Friday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier, US tanks had shelled residential homes in the as-Sikak neighborhood of northern ar-Ramadi.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US tanks which had halted in the middle of ar-Ramadi near the big mosque suddenly opened fire on houses in the as-Sikak neighborhood.  The American barrage destroyed six vacant houses in the neighborhood, killing four men who were inside.

Ambulances and fire trucks raced to the scene and for the first time since the start of their offensive on the city at dawn Wednesday, the Americans allowed the emergency vehicles into the stricken area to help the victims.

US launches extensive campaign of raids, searches, and arrests in villages east of ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 9:50am Makkah time Friday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US occupation forces launched an extensive campaign of raids and searches in the villages east of the city of ar-Ramadi.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam in the eastern part of ar-Ramaid reported that US occupation footsoldiers backed up by dozens of vehicles and helicopter gun ships stormed through the villages of as-Sajariyah, al-Bu Fahd, al-Bu ‘Ali al-Jazim and the areas around the al-Jazirah region, raiding houses and farms.

At the time of reporting, the Americans had arrested 50 peasants, confiscating their personal light arms such as hunting guns, in their campaign, which was still underway according to sources in the villages.
 

13/05/2006

Resistance, US troops battle in ar-Ramadi Saturday afternoon.

In a dispatch posted at 3:15pm Makkah time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that at that moment fighting had broken out between Iraqi Resistance forces and US troops in the middle of ar-Ramadi, a city 110km west of Baghdad that had been the object of a US offensive since dawn on Wednesday.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the fighting was centered on the main street opposite the Iraqi Islamic Bank.  More than 30 Resistance fighters fell to fighting a US military column that had been cruising back and forth along the street.

The Resistance fighters fired RPG7 rocket-propelled grenades, Kalashnikov assault rifles, and PKS medium machine guns and hurled hand grenades at the Americans, destroying a Humvee.  At the time of reporting, the battle was still going on.

US troops driven back, take cover in bank building as Resistance lays siege.

In a dispatch posted at 4:30pm Makkah time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that in the fighting, which was still under way in the city, US troops had been forced to retreat from their earlier positions.  The retreating Americans took over the Iraqi Islamic Bank building for cover and posted snipers atop it.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that two American Humvees had been struck by rocket propelled grenades and set ablaze, as he could personally see.  Local eyewitnesses said they saw the American Marines pull four of their men into the Bank building, but they could not tell whether they were dead or wounded.

Because the fighting was taking place at such close quarters, US warplanes had been unable to intervene with bombs or other weaponry in support of the US troops on the ground.  American helicopters, for their part, were afraid to descend to an altitude where they could support the US ground troops because they would also be exposing themselves to lethal fire from the Resistance.

Meanwhile strikes by the Resistance had set the second floor of the Islamic Bank building on fire.

The correspondent noted that the Islamic Bank itself had been vacated some two months ago due to the turmoil in ar-Ramadi.

US troops fire on civilians, residential houses to pressure Resistance to pull back.

In a dispatch posted at 6:50pm Makkah time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that fighting, while still underway, had become more sporadic as the afternoon wore on towards evening in ar-Ramadi on Saturday.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that for the previous half hour, the Americans had been mainly unleashing intense gunfire on family houses near their position trying to use that as a means to force the Resistance to withdraw from their attack positions.

The correspondent wrote that meanwhile, the Americans shooting had killed at least five Iraqi civilians, according to a medical source.

A Resistance fighter told Mafkarat al-Islam that the Resistance fighters actually fear that they cannot back away from their advanced positions around the Islamic Bank, where a force of Americans is holed up, because when they do, they will open themselves to American air strikes.

In their forward positions close to the bank, however, the position of the Resistance is excellent, the fighter explained, close to the Americans surrounded in the bank.

US helicopters land dozens of Americans to try to relieve US troops surrounded in Bank.

In a dispatch posted at 7:20pm Makkah time Saturday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier, US forces staged an airborne landing about one kilometer from the Islamic Bank where fighting had been raging for hours between the Iraqi Resistance and a group of US troops surrounded in the building.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that four US helicopters landed dozens of American troops in the al-Kass Street area about one kilometer from the fighting.

At the time of reporting the sounds of gunfire and battle could be heard from the area where the landing took place and it appeared that a battle was underway at the landing site, as another Iraqi Resistance force engaged the Americans just after they had landed.

Battle around Islamic Bank ends.  Dozens of US troops land to relieve beleaguered Americans; Resistance fighters slip away.

In a dispatch posted at 10:15pm Makkah time Saturday night, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the battle in ar-Ramadi had finally concluded after the landing of dozens of airborne Marines and the withdrawal of the Resistance fighters.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the Marines who landed from helicopters set out to relieve the US troops who had been trapped and besieged in the Bank building.  One group of the airborne Marines surrounded the former Immigration Building in the city and another group of them encircled the grand Celebration Square area of the city near the bank building where fighting had been going on since early in the afternoon.

The correspondent reported that three Resistance bombs exploded in the two areas where the airborne Marines were concentrated, but no information on the nature or extent of casualties they suffered as a result of those attacks was available.

Despite the blasts, after about half an hour the American forces were able to get to the area where the battle was under way.  Aware of the arrival of a large US force, the Iraqi Resistance fighters used narrow lanes and alleys to slip away from the battle zone, which the Americans were intent on surrounding.

A source in the Iraqi Resistance told Mafkarat al-Islam that seven Resistance fighters had been killed in the battle and the withdrawal.  Four more, one of them a fraternal Arab fighter, were wounded.  Nine Iraqi civilians were killed in the course of the battle, during which the Americans opened fire on civilian homes in an effort to pressure the Resistance to fall back.

At the time of writing, US forces were surrounding the former battle zone, the surrounding area, and also the regions in which they imagine the Resistance fighters might have taken refuge.  The Americans are going around using chemicals to inspect the hands of local residents to see if they have handled weapons or explosives in the hours previous.

The correspondent reported that after the Resistance fighters withdrew and the Americans took over, the US military sent large numbers of additional troops into the area through the city’s eastern entrance, where the new American headquarters set up in the former Agricultural College is located, and from the city’s western entrance, where the US al-Warrar base is located.

American troops also surrounded the houses of four Iraqi physicians who live in the al-‘Aziziyah area and the ad-Dubbat neighborhood of the city, trying to catch and wounded Resistance fighters who might try to seek treatment from the doctors.  The one hospital I the city has been shut down by the US forces.

American foot soldiers also surrounded a number of mosques and four abandoned buildings in ar-Ramadi.

The correspondent reported a source in the Iraqi Resistance as saying that they had set five American vehicles ablaze, completely destroying some of them and disabling the others.  The source said that they had killed or wounded more than 20 US troops during the hours of battle.

18/05/2006

At least seven US troops killed in fierce fighting in ar-Ramadi Thursday afternoon.

In a bulletin posted at 12:12pm Makkah time midday Thursday, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that fierce fighting broke out in the city about half an hour earlier and was still going on at the time of reporting.  

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that dozens of Resistance fighters were engaged in combat with US occupation troops around 17 Tammuz Street which links the north of ar-Ramadi to the south.

In a dispatch posted at 1:15pm Makkah time Thursday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces had completely destroyed three Humvees in the course of he fighting which was still raging at that hour.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported local eyewitnesses as saying that three US Humvees were blasted apart, with pieces of them being thrown around the area.  Seven US troops had been killed, the correspondent reported, adding that their motionless bodies were still strewn around the street.  Resistance fire was so intense that the other Americans had so far been unable to retrieve the corpses.

More than one Iraqi Resistance organization was engaged in the afternoon battle in ar-Ramadi, the correspondent had learned.

Later, In a dispatch posted at 5:15pm Makkah time Thursday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance marksman shot and killed two US soldiers in the 17 Tammuz Street area at midday Thursday.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses as saying that the two Americans were part of a patrol that was proceeding along 17 Tammuz Street when they both took direct hits from an Iraqi sharpshooter’s bullet.  After the attack, US troops opened fire indiscriminately at nearby houses, inflicting heavy damage on them.

In a dispatch posted at 4:10pm Makkah time Thursday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier US tanks had shelled the Mosque of ‘Abd al-Malik and the Mosque of ‘Abd as-Salam ‘Arif in the middle of ar-Ramadi.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that after more than 10 US troops were killed or wounded in fighting in the city that he Americans turned the cannon on their tanks in the direction of the ‘Abd al-Malik Mosque and fired three shells into the building, bringing down the minaret and inflicting heavy damage on the sanctuary.

The American tanks fired two artillery rounds into the ‘Abd as-Salam ‘Arif Mosque, located not far from the other place of worship setting fire to the building and causing extensive damage.

Local people rushed to the mosque to try to put out the fire.  At the time of reporting, the correspondent reported that young people were busy trying to rescue copies of the Qur’an and religious books from the two houses of worship as men were working to extinguish the flames.

19/05/2006

Iraqi Resistance assassinates de facto puppet governor of al-Anbar Province Friday afternoon.

In a bulletin posted at 6pm Makkah time Friday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier Iraqi Resistance fighters had shot and killed the First Secretary of the puppet “Governor of al-Anbar Province” Ma’mun Sami Rashid.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters ambushed the car carrying ‘Umar Sirri, the First Secretary of the puppet governor, spraying it with a hail of bullets and killing him instantly.

The First Secretary was in fact serving as puppet governor of al-Anbar be default after the puppet governor himself disappeared several days ago (he reportedly fled the country in disguise) and after the resignation of the deputy puppet governor in April after he received threats from the Iraqi Resistance.

Six American Marines reported killed when Resistance car bomber blasts US column east of ar-Ramadi midday Friday.

In a dispatch posted at 12:28pm Makkah time Friday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier, an Iraqi Resistance fida’i fighter had driven an explosives-laden car into a US military column in northern ar-Ramadi.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses as saying that the Resistance fighter blasted into the American column as it was driving down the highway linking al-Fallujah with ar-Ramadi.  The blast completely burned and destroyed two US military vehicles, killing at least six American Marines.  US forces then called in Medevac helicopters, which were seen landing near the scene as American troops closed off the entire district.  At the time of reporting the road was still closed to traffic by US forces.

20/05/2006

Resistance bomb reportedly kills US soldier south of ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 8:35pm Makkah time Saturday night, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US patrol on the main road in the southern part of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the at-Ta’mim neighborhood as saying that the bomb exploded between their neighborhood and the Kilometer 5 area to the south.  The blast destroyed a Humvee, killing one US soldier and wounding three more of them.

Fighting erupts in four districts in ar-Ramadi Saturday morning.

In a dispatch posted at 10:10am Makkah time Saturday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that fighting had broken out between Iraqi Resistance forces and US occupation troops in various parts of ar-Ramadi.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses as saying that combat had erupted and was still raging in the areas of al-Mal'ab ("the playing field"), as-Sufiyah, al-Bu Jabir, and Suq Salalah ("the Salalah Market").  Because of the explosion of fighting in various parts of the city, US forces have sealed ar-Ramadi off from the world.  Three American fighter-bombers were bombing and rocketing the four sections of the city.

With roads cut by US forces and with intense fighting underway, however, the Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent was unable to get in to the area where the battles were underway.

24/05/2006

US tank blasts mosque in unprovoked attack Wednesday morning.

In a dispatch posted at 12:37pm Makkah time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a US tank fired two cannon shells at a mosque in the middle of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad on Wednesday morning, damaging the place of worship.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses as saying that the tank shot two shells from its cannon at the al-Bakriyah Mosque in the middle of ar-Ramadi.  One of the shells struck the minaret, seriously damaging it.  The second shell landed in the sanctuary of the mosque setting parts of it on fire.

Witnesses said there had been no clashes or Resistance attacks in the area prior to the attack and it was unknown why the American tankmen shelled the mosque for no apparent reason.

Resistance bomb reportedly kills two US troops in ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 11:10am Makkah time Wednesday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US patrol on 17 Tammuz Road in the middle of ar-Ramadi at 10am local time.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the neighborhood as saying that Resistance fighters had planted the bomb about a half hour before the arrival of the American column and asked the local people not to get near the place and to open their doors and windows.

The blast destroyed an American Humvee, killing two US soldiers and wounding a third.  The witnesses said they saw two Americans dead and a third wounded man whom the US soldiers lay out on the ground and who was then evacuated aboard a helicopter emblazoned with a red cross.  They said he was taken away to the al-Habbaniyah military hospital just opened on 12 May.

25/05/2006

US snipers shoot four primary school students dead, prompting authorities to postpone final exams for all schools in ar-Ramadi indefinitely.

In a dispatch posted at 10:55am Makkah time Thursday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the puppet authorities in ar-Ramadi, the capital of western Iraq’s al-Anbar Province, had announced that final exams for school children at all levels – primary school, middle school, and high school – would be postponed because of the “deterioration of the security situation in the city.”

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported Dr. ‘Abd ar-Rahman ad-Dulaymi, the assistant director for education in al-Anbar Province as saying that the decision came after four primary school students were shot dead by American snipers when they came out of their school.  We therefore decided to postpone the final exams indefinitely, until further notice, in order to protect the lives of the students.

26/05/2006

Three US troops reported killed in Resistance bombing east of ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 12:50pm Makkah time Friday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US patrol as it drove along the main road in the al-Bu Fahd area east of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in al-Bu Fahd as saying that the bomb went off on a farm road leading to the eastern entrance to ar-Ramadi as a patrol of five American Humvees was driving past.  The blast completely destroyed one Humvee, killing three US troops and wounding two more of them.

27/05/2006

US Navy helicopter crashes in al-Anbar Province.

In a dispatch posted at 9:15pm Makkah time Saturday night, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the US military had admitted that an American Navy helicopter had crashed in al-Anbar Province and that its two crewmen were “missing.”

Mafkarat al-Islam reported sources in the US military as telling al-Jazeera satellite TV that the helicopter was shot down by “friendly fire.”

Earlier the American military admitted the loss of a Marine in the course of a Resistance attack in al-Anbar Province but offered no futher details.

Resistance sharpshooter reportedly kills US soldier in eastern ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 4:25pm Makkah time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance marksman shot and killed a US soldier in eastern ar-Ramadi.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a US foot patrol accompanied by a number of armored Humvees was proceeding down a road in eastern ar-Ramadi when an Iraqi Resistance sharpshooter’s bullet scored a direct hit on a US soldier in the patrol, killing him instantly.

With US offensive reportedly looming, American military arrest Arab journalists in ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 10:40am Makkah time Saturday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US forces launched a campaign of mass arrests of Iraqi journalists who work for international, Arab, and local news agencies in ar-Ramadi.  The arrests were made but no charges leveled at the journalists as the American forces renew their effort to prevent unflattering information about their failing effort in Iraq from reaching the outside world.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US forces arrested seven journalists including some working for Reuters, the Associated Press, the Turkish News Agency, and the Iraqi newspaper al-Manar, as well as a news photographer for Reuters.  Quds Press added that one of those arrested was the correspondent for the Iraqi satellite channel az-Zawra’. All seven were taken from their homes except for the Reuters photographer, ‘Ali al-Mashhadani, who was arrested at an American checkpoint. 

Quds Press reported that the roundup of the seven Iraqi journalists was in response to their continued attempts to cover the intermittent fighting between the Iraqi Resistance and US troops that breaks out from time to time in the city.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported sources in the puppet Provincial Government building as saying that there is information that the US occupation intends to launch an offensive on ar-Ramadi in the near future, one that might resemble their notorious offensive on al-Fallujah in which they used chemical weapons.  The correspondent indicated that the Americans are therefore keen to round up all journalists in the city and keep them in detention or under control until the impending offensive has been completed.  Quds Press in its report on the development also indicated that an American offensive appeared to be in the offing and that the arrests without charge of the journalists were part of the US preparation for that action.

28/05/2006

American air raids in ar-Ramadi Sunday evening kill eight local civilians, wound 15 more.

In a dispatch posted at 8pm Makkah time Sunday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier US warplanes bombed residential areas in the city of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that the US air raids focused on the al-‘Aziziyah, as-Sufiyah, ad-Dubbat, and as-Sikak areas of the city.  The American air attack killed eight local residents, including three children and one woman.  Another 15 people were injured.

The correspondent reported that the American planes were clearly targeting residential houses.  All the bombs struck local houses, some of which were vacant.  At the time of reporting, the bodies of the eight victims of the American attack were being transported to a local mosque in preparation for their burial.  The injured people had to be taken outside the city for medical treatment because the one hospital in ar-Ramadi has been shut down.

Resistance mortars pound US headquarters east of ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 12:30pm Makkah time Sunday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance forces fired seven 82mm mortar rounds at the US headquarters set up in the Agricultural College of al-Anbar University east of ar-Ramadi.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the al-Bu Fahd area east of the city as saying that the seven mortar shells blasted directly into the US headquarters, sending plumes of smoke billowing into the sky.

29/05/2006

US troops storm into mosque, desecrate copies of the Qur’an, arrest nine worshippers Monday afternoon.

In a dispatch posted at 5:20pm Makkah time Monday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US occupation roops raided the al-Hamim mosques in the al-Jam‘iyah neighborhood of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad after midday prayers on Monday.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the al-Jam‘iyah neighborhood as saying that the Americans stormed violently into the mosque, detonating localized explosives and percussion grenades to break down the door.  They then searched the mosque, tearing up and desecrating copies of the Qur’an and dumping them in the courtyard and then kicking them around with their feet.  The Americans arrested nine worshippers who were in the mosque in the course of their rampage, which lasted over an hour.

Three US troops reported killed in Resistance attack in ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 1:10pm Makkah time Monday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters ambushed a US military column on the street running from the al-Mal‘ab (playing field) section of ar-Ramadi to the center of town.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in ar-Ramadi as saying that Resistance fighters armed with light and medium weapons and explosives attacked the column, disabling a Humvee and completely destroying an armored vehicle.  At least three US troops were killed and five more wounded in the Resistance assault.

30/05/2006

Resistance bomb reportedly kills US soldier east of ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 4:35pm Makkah time Tuesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US military column on the main road in the al-Bu ‘Ubayd area east of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in al-Bu ‘Ubayd as saying that the bomb destroyed an American armored vehicle, killing one US soldier who was in the turret and wounded three more of them.

US air forces shelled the neighborhood of al-‘Aziziyah in ar-Ramadi on Monday evening, killing five Iraqi civilians and wounding two more of them.

Dr. Diya’ Ahmad, a doctor in ar-Ramadi General Hospital told Quds Press that when the victims arrived at the hospital some of them had already died.  Two were still alive but were in critical condition.  Among the five who were killed by the American barrage were a woman and a child.

Witnesses told Quds Press that US artillery opened fire on the neighborhood on Monday afternoon, striking and destroying three houses and inflicting civilian casualties.  Residents said that the Americans have been shelling the al-‘Aziziyah neighborhood and a number of other neighborhoods near the center of the city every day now, forcing many people to take to the road.  A large-scale US offensive is expected to be launched in the near future.

31/05/2006

Resistance bomb blast kills three US troops and their translator in eastern ar-Ramadi Wednesday morning.

In a dispatch posted at 3:10pm Makkah time Wednesday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US patrol in the ad-Dubbat neighborhood of eastern ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported an official spokesman of the puppet police for al-Anbar Province as saying that the bomb killed three US soldiers and their translator who was a US citizen of Saudi origin.

The spokesman, a first lieutenant, told Mafkarat al-Islam that a bomb that had been planted by the side of the road blew up at about 8:20am local time Wednesday morning as a US patrol was driving along al-‘Arid Street in the ad-Dubbat neighborhood near the Ayah Markets on the way to the neighborhood mosque.  The blast killed three US Marines and their translator, an American citizen of Saudi origin named ‘Abd ar-Rahman.  He was one of six Arab translators working in ar-Ramadi with the American occupation forces, the source said.

The puppet police spokesman said that after the blast American troops arrested nine individuals.  They beat five of them extremely violently, he said, before taking them off to their base in the west of the city.

The correspondent reported a number of local residents as saying that the explosion could be heard very clearly in the city, but no one was able to find out the nature or extent of casualties because they were afraid to approach the area where the explosion took place.  The Americans arrest people who leave their houses and go out into the streets following explosions.

01/06/06

Resistance bomb blasts US patrol in ar-Ramadi’s at-Ta’mim district.

In a dispatch posted at 3:05pm Makkah time Thursday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a US military patrol on the main road at the entrance to the at-Ta’mim district of southern ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in at-Ta’mim as saying that the bomb, which was planted on as-Siramik Road blew up by a patrol of four American armored vehicles and two Humvees.  The blast disabled one armored vehicle, wounding its four-man crew.

Resistance bomb in eastern ar-Ramadi leaves one US soldier reported dead.

In a dispatch posted at 9:40am Makkah time Thursday morning, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that an Iraqi Resistance bomb exploded by a foot patrol of US and Iraqi puppet army troops in the al-Madiq area in eastern ar-Ramadi.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eye witnesses in al-Madiq as saying that the bomb, which was planted on a farm road in the area, killed onw US solsier and two Iraqi puppet army troops.  Two US troops and two Iraqi puppet army troops were wounded in the blast.

02/06/2006

Resistance batters US headquarters in ar-Ramadi Friday night.

In a dispatch posted at 8:20pm Makkah time Friday evening, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that a short while earlier, Iraqi Resistance forces unleashed a ferocious mortar bombardment on the al-Anbar Province government building in ar-Ramadi, a facility that the US occupation forces have taken over and turned into their local headquarters.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses as saying that the Resistance fired 16 mortar shells into the American occupied facility.  The barrage brought down one of the American base’s observation towers on the western side of the building.  Two American troops were on it when it was blasted down.  No precise information on the nature or extent of US casualties was available, however.

03/06/2006

Two US troops reported killed in Resistance ambush in ar-Ramadi late Saturday afternoon.

In a dispatch posted at 2:43pm Makkah time Saturday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters attacked a US patrol in the ath-Thilah neighborhood of central ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad at 11am local time Saturday morning.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in ath-Thilah as saying that Resistance fighters armed with machine guns and pipe rockets ambushed an American patrol on the main street in the neighborhood, damaging two American Humvees and killing two US troops and wounding four more of them.

04/06/2006

US troops aircraft deploy in strength on northern, western approaches to ar-Ramadi, terrorizing residents Sunday night.

In a dispatch posted at 9:15pm Makkah time Sunday night, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that hundreds of US troops deployed along the western and northern perimeter of the city of ar-Ramadi, about 110km west of Baghdad.

The ar-Ramadi correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported that US warplanes were, at that moment prowling the skies above the city at low altitude, firing large numbers of flares and terrorizing the residents of the city.

The Mafkarat al-Islam correspondent in the western part of the city reported that the US forces dropped leaflets in western ar-Ramadi ordering people to stay indoors and offer no help to the Iraqi Resistance fighters – whom the Americans called "terrorists."

Three US troops reported killed in ambush in ar-Ramadi.

In a dispatch posted at 2:30pm Makkah time Sunday afternoon, Mafkarat al-Islam reported that Iraqi Resistance fighters ambushed a US patrol in the al-Ma'arid area of western ar-Ramadi.

The correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported eyewitnesses in the city as saying that Resistance fighters armed with light and medium weapons completely destroyed one Humvee in the patrol, killing three US soldiers and wounding three more of them.