http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/03/AR2006080301541.htmlPosting proclamations in mosques and schools, the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq vowed Thursday to take back the volatile western city of Fallujah, declaring that it had united local armed factions into a cohesive force to fight the U.S. and Iraqi troops who now control its streets.
The declaration came as U.S. military commanders in Washington testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that Iraq's relentless sectarian violence, if unstopped, could push the country into civil war. Meanwhile, Baghdad was rocked by more violence Thursday, as a motorcycle bomb killed a dozen people in a central shopping district of the capital. The U.S. military also reported that two Marines were killed in separate incidents in the western province of Anbar, where Fallujah is located.
In Fallujah, police said they were taking the al-Qaeda warning seriously. It followed the recent killings of several religious and tribal leaders whom insurgents had accused of collaborating with U.S. forces and the Iraqi government.
Located about 35 miles west of Baghdad, Fallujah was a stronghold of both Iraqi and foreign insurgents until November 2004, when a major U.S. military offensive drove the bulk of the guerrillas from the city. Since then, the insurgent presence in the city has been vastly reduced, while in nearby Ramadi there have been daily scenes of fighting between U.S. troops and insurgents.
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