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Anti-Saddam brigade claims attacks on US in Iraq
Doha, June 18: A group calling itself the Iraqi Resistance Brigades has claimed responsibility for `all` attacks against US-led occupation forces in Iraq, Qatar`s Al-Jazeera satellite channel reported yesterday.
Doha, June 18: A group calling itself the Iraqi Resistance Brigades has claimed responsibility for "all" attacks against US-led occupation forces in Iraq, Qatar's
Al-Jazeera satellite channel reported yesterday.
In a statement screened by Al-Jazeera, the group denied that the spate of attacks on US troops in Iraq in recent weeks was the work of loyalists to the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein, whom it described as an enemy.
"The Iraqi resistance brigades claim responsibility for all revenge and combat operations against the occupation forces," the statement said.
"These operations are planned and executed by the units of the Iraqi Resistance Brigades and, contrary to what some news agencies claim, they are not the work of the head of the former regime and his supporters or individual acts by Islamist extremists," said the statement dated June 16.
"They are the work of a group of Iraqi and Arab youths who believe in Iraq's unity, freedom and Arabism.
"The resistance factions consider Saddam Hussein and his followers to be enemies who contributed to the loss of the homeland and the deepening of its wounds," it added.
The US-led coalition has blamed diehard Saddam loyalists for repeated attacks on US troops in Sunni-populated regions extending from Baghdad to the North and West of the country that have prompted the US army to launch major operations to root out resistance.
A total of 50 US soldiers have been killed in Iraq since President George W Bush declared the war there effectively over on May 1, according to an AFP count from US military statements.
Bureau Report
In a statement screened by Al-Jazeera, the group denied that the spate of attacks on US troops in Iraq in recent weeks was the work of loyalists to the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein, whom it described as an enemy.
"The Iraqi resistance brigades claim responsibility for all revenge and combat operations against the occupation forces," the statement said.
"These operations are planned and executed by the units of the Iraqi Resistance Brigades and, contrary to what some news agencies claim, they are not the work of the head of the former regime and his supporters or individual acts by Islamist extremists," said the statement dated June 16.
"They are the work of a group of Iraqi and Arab youths who believe in Iraq's unity, freedom and Arabism.
"The resistance factions consider Saddam Hussein and his followers to be enemies who contributed to the loss of the homeland and the deepening of its wounds," it added.
The US-led coalition has blamed diehard Saddam loyalists for repeated attacks on US troops in Sunni-populated regions extending from Baghdad to the North and West of the country that have prompted the US army to launch major operations to root out resistance.
A total of 50 US soldiers have been killed in Iraq since President George W Bush declared the war there effectively over on May 1, according to an AFP count from US military statements.
Bureau Report