Word: diwaniyah
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
While the focus this weekend on attacks on Baghdad has now turned towards Basra, violence has surged for weeks throughout the Shi'ite south, where Americans have suffered fresh losses in old haunts in the cities of Nasiriyah, Hilla and Diwaniyah. Meanwhile, the Shi'ite infighting in Basra has forced British forces to stall the planned withdrawal of some 1,500 troops. Some 4,000 British troops have been hunkered down at the Basra airport after turning the city over to Iraqi forces last year. So far they have not been drawn from their base into this week's fighting...
...have power and have attacks against the innocent people. So yes, it's time, because of the improvement of the situation and security and addition to that, we have many areas where the authority is in the hands of Iraqis - Nasiriyah, Diwaniyah, Basra, in Karbala. Because of this improvement, we have to have a plan to accelerate the capability of Iraqi forces in order to make the withdrawal happen...
Leckrone, the American commander, said that with the British out of Basra, and U.S. and Coalition forces withdrawing from Karbala last week, Shi'ite militias in southern Iraq may now focus on Diwaniyah. "There's been, no doubt, a lot of progress lately," he said. "But it's still an uphill battle here, a tough fight. You never know where or when they [the militia] are going...
Emboldened by a propaganda victory when the British left Basra, Shi'ite militants have since turned their sights on the Poles and the patchwork of other international forces stationed in and around Diwaniyah. Camp Echo, the headquarters of Multinational Division Central-South, is a virtual Tower of Babel where more than 200 Americans and most of the 900-strong Polish force work and live alongside 100 Mongolians, 62 Romanians, 46 Armenians, 36 Bosnians, 27 Ukrainians, a Lithuanian, a Latvian and a bunch of Ugandan guards. Together they and their numbers posted in urban outposts endure frequent mortar and rocket attacks...
Polish commanders say more aggressive patrolling, targeted raids and more robust civil affair missions and infrastructure projects have dented the militants' ability to mount such attacks in recent months, but Diwaniyah is still a dangerous place for foreign troops. During an emotional Catholic Mass Friday night after Cpl. Filipek's death, Maj. Gen. Tadeusz Buk, the commander of all Polish forces in Iraq, called for the Coalition troops in Diwaniyah to rally together in their time of grief. "Please, let me ask you to get even more united, even more strong, so that this sacrifice is not a waste...