Los Angeles Times
5:21 PM PST, December 8, 2004
BAGHDAD -- Two months after U.S. forces declared that they had
pacified Samarra, the restive city again erupted in violence with a string of
attacks Wednesday that killed at least four Iraqis, damaged a U.S. military
convoy and caused the local police chief to announce his resignation.
The
strikes followed a month of car bombs, ambushes and bloodshed in the Iraqi city
that shook residents, shuttered businesses and disrupted voter registration
efforts.
In announcing his resignation over a mosque loudspeaker, Maj.
Gen. Talib Shamil Samarriee said insurgents had attacked his home and attempted
to kidnap his son at school, where teachers hid the boy to save him. Earlier in
the day, gunmen attacked the chief's car.
"I came according to the wish
of the sons of the city in order to serve this city and to present any
assistance I can," the police commander said. "But (after) what has happened to
me within these three days, especially today, when my house and family were
attacked and terrified, I decided to quit everything. I have no relationship
with any governmental office."
U.S. military officials said Wednesday
evening that they had contacted the police chief and he was still on the job. It
was not immediately clear whether Samarriee had changed his mind.
The
confusion followed a difficult day for Iraqi security forces in Samarra, about
65 miles north of Baghdad. Insurgents armed with guns and rocket-propelled
grenades stormed two police stations. At one, they killed an Iraqi police
officer and a child at a nearby school, witnesses said. At the second, militants
chased officers away and set off explosives.
U.S. and Iraqi forces
eventually secured both stations.
Meanwhile, a suicide car bomber
attacked two U.S. Bradley fighting vehicles driving just outside the city and
gunmen fired at a U.S. checkpoint. No troops were hurt, but two Iraqi civilians
were killed by U.S. forces in the crossfire, military officials said. One of the
Bradleys was damaged by the car bomb.
The assault on Samarra in early
October by 5,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops was touted as a model for defeating
Iraq's insurgency. The recent turnaround underscores the long-term challenges
still faced by U.S. military leaders, who are finding that as they squeeze
militants in one city, they are popping up in another.
The turmoil in
Samarra has grown over the last month as U.S. and Iraqi security forces have
diverted their attention toward retaking Fallujah, another hotspot dominated by
Sunni Muslims.
The U.S. military downplayed the insurgent attacks and
said that police training and recruitment in Samarra remained on
track.
"Currently Task Force 1-26, along with the local government of
Samarra, has control of the city," said Maj. Jeffrey Church, executive officer
of the Army's 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, which oversees about 1,000
U.S. soldiers in the area.
When U.S. troops reduced their presence in
Samarra in October, the chief question was whether Iraqi security forces would
be able to keep the peace. At the time, nearly 1,200 Iraqi army and national
guard members were stationed in the city and the governor pledged to send 1,500
Iraqi police officers from other parts of the country until local police could
be trained.
But many of those out-of-town police officers have since left
the city, particularly after attacks increased, residents and local police
officers said.
"We are exposed to continuous threats by gunmen," said one
Samarra police officer, who requested anonymity for fear of being targeted. "The
insurgents have better weapons."
There also are questions about whether
the police force has been infiltrated by insurgents. After militants raided a
Samarra police station last week and escaped with equipment and cars, U.S.
troops reportedly went to the station the next day and arrested several
people.
For residents, life in Samarra has become increasingly tense.
Cars are banned from the roads after 5 p.m., and a 9 p.m. curfew remains in
effect. On Wednesday, sniper fire between U.S. troops and insurgents kept many
residents indoors.
A Times special correspondent in Samarra
contributed to this report.