Tal Afar drive targets insurgents

Baghdad - U.S. and Iraqi soldiers have been going from house to house in the restive northern city of Tal Afar to ferret out militants in an operation that will continue around the clock until it is "freed from insurgents," military officials said.

U.S. and Iraqi forces, traveling in Humvees and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, have swept through one-third of the city, where U.S. and Iraqi forces have been sparring with militants in recent weeks.

Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari on Saturday announced the offensive in a statement.

"At 2 a.m. today (6 p.m. Friday ET), acting on my orders, Iraqi forces commenced an operation to remove all remaining terrorist elements from the city of Tel Afar.

"These forces are operating with support from the multinational force. They are acting on behalf of all the different religious and ethnic elements in Tel Afar and in response to their appeals for help," said the statement, which al-Jaafari signed as prime minister and "commander of the Iraqi armed forces."

While exchanges of gunfire and sniper fire can be heard, U.S. military officials in charge of the operation say they are encountering less resistance than expected.

U.S. military officials said earlier this week forces were preparing operations against the insurgents in the city, located in the northern province of Nineveh.

The scale of the Tal Afar effort is not the size of the one in Falluja last November, but it is designed to oust the insurgent presence in the largely Turkmen city.

It comes as the U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a counter-insurgency effort dubbed recently by one U.S. military official as Operation Restoring Rights.

Insurgents have established a presence in Tal Afar over the year because of its proximity to Syria and its logical location as a big-city hideout, observers believe.

The militants who have used the city as a base include the various homegrown rejectionists and Saddamists, along with foreign fighters.

In his statement, al-Jaafari said "terrorist elements being targeted by this operation are guilty of blatant crimes against its people. They are enemies of Iraq. They have committed murder. They have driven people from their homes. They want to deny the citizens of Tel Afar their future in a democratic and peaceful Iraq. We want to guarantee those rights. These operations are being conducted precisely for that purpose."

Since last week, troops have detained and killed more than 200 insurgents.

Citizens from Sarai, a southeastern neighborhood with an insurgent presence, have been evacuated by officials, who have used bullhorns and broadcasting to urge citizens to get out of harm's way.

As residents have fled, Tal Afar's population -- once about 250,000 -- has been decreasing.

Officials have set down a stiff curfew as the military push goes on; no one is allowed to leave their home. All shops and residences appear to be closed in the city and barbed wire can be seen across roads throughout the city.

There have been fatalities in the fighting that has been taking place in recent days. On Thursday, U.S. soldiers from Task Force Freedom "killed nearly a dozen terrorists engaged in movement of arms and other operations," the U.S. military said.

Baghdad International Airport has reopened on Saturday after a brief shutdown prompted by a payment dispute with a British contractor that had been providing security services.

A Transportation Ministry official said Global Strategies Group has resumed its work at the airport after an agreement was forged between the government's ministers council and the company.

The dispute involved pay.

Global Strategies said it had not been paid for seven of the 16 months it has provided security there. Under this latest agreement, the company accepted a $12 million payment offer by the ministers council, the ministry official said.

Giles Morgan, a spokesman for Global, said the Iraqi government had agreed to make a payment to Global for half of the total money it is owed, but said "this payment does not cover the groups costs for work to date." The company is waiting to see how further discussions proceed.

"Pending the results of payment and the results of further discussions Global continues security operations at the airport," Morgan said.

Global suspended operations on Thursday, prompting the airport to close.

An American contractor rescued by coalition forces Wednesday after 10 months in captivity departed Iraq for the United States aboard a military plane Friday. (Full story)

Roy Hallums, who was freed along with an Iraqi from a farmhouse south of Baghdad based on a tip from an Iraqi detainee, departed from Balad Air Base on a U.S. Air Force C-17, according to a U.S. military statement.

Hallums, 57, and five others who worked for a Saudi-based food contractor were taken hostage after a gun battle in Baghdad November 1. Hallums was kept in captivity but the others were freed.

The U.S. military presence in Iraq will be greatly reduced in two years, with troops based there only to intimidate neighbors, Iraq President Jalal Talabani said Friday during a visit to Washington.

"There is not a need for a huge number of American forces, but I think there will be a need for two or three small bases for frightening others not to intervene in our international affairs," Talabani told reporters at the Pentagon.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who was host to Talabani, said discussions about the U.S. military presence should wait until a new Iraqi constitution is ratified and a permanent government is in place.

The United States has about 138,000 troops in Iraq.

U.S. officials have said forces will not withdraw until several criteria have been met, including the ability of Iraqi security forces to stabilize the country. -- CNN News

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