Tal Afar

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi troops began a ground assault yesterday to root out pockets of insurgents in the northern city of Tal Afar, a militant stronghold that coalition forces have struggled to secure since Saddam Hussein's ouster in 2003. Several thousand coalition soldiers converged on the city, moving from house to house through insurgent-held neighborhoods. Of the 17 battalions involved in the offensive, all but three were made up of Iraqi troops. Though the all-out assault began yesterday, U.S. and Iraqi troops have ramped up their crackdown on insurgents in Tal Afar in recent days.

BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military said yesterday that it had captured two militants from al-Qaida in Iraq wanted in the kidnapping of three American soldiers in May. The men were captured during an air and ground assault Tuesday near the city of Iskandariyah, 25 miles south of Baghdad. The paratroopers struck the town of Jurf al-Sakhr, which borders the western province of Anbar, which until recently has been a sanctuary for Islamic extremists. Three soldiers - Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, Spc. Alex R. Jimenez and Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr. - were abducted May 12 when fighters ambushed two U.S. Humvees that were on stakeout.

BAGHDAD -- An explosives-laden truck blew up yesterday at a crowded market in Tal Afar, killing at least 50 people and injuring 103 others, officials said. The truck had been loaded with flour, and shoppers were invited to help themselves. "They were all innocent civilians," Mayor Najin Abdullah Jubouri said. "Their only fault is that they are Shiite." Across the country yesterday, at least 84 Iraqis were found dead in bombings, mortar attacks, sniper fire and execution-style shootings.

Baghdad -- The Iraqi army scrambled yesterday to stop sectarian violence in the northern city of Tal Afar, where Shiite Muslim policemen, aided by an angry mob, killed at least 70 Sunnis in revenge for a pair of truck bombings a day earlier. The police went on the rampage late Tuesday and early yesterday, roaming Tal Afar's Sunni neighborhood of Wihda after two truck bombs exploded, killing 85 people, most of them Shiite Muslim Turkmen, and leaving 183 wounded. Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for the bombings.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi and U.S. troops sweeping through the northern city of Tal Afar yesterday killed 15 suspected rebels and discovered a bomb factory during the second day of a high-profile counter-insurgency offensive. About 5,000 Iraqi and 3,500 U.S. soldiers rummaging through the bombed-out mountain city found booby-trapped buildings, underground tunnels and large weapons caches but encountered little fighting during two days of operations. Residents estimated that 90 percent of the city of 200,000 had fled, many to a crowded tent camp.

Baghdad -- The Iraqi army scrambled yesterday to stop sectarian violence in the northern city of Tal Afar, where Shiite Muslim policemen, aided by an angry mob, killed at least 70 Sunnis in revenge for a pair of truck bombings a day earlier. The police went on the rampage late Tuesday and early yesterday, roaming Tal Afar's Sunni neighborhood of Wihda after two truck bombs exploded, killing 85 people, most of them Shiite Muslim Turkmen, and leaving 183 wounded. Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for the bombings.

NAJAF, Iraq - Three weeks of urban warfare killed at least 1,000 Iraqi rebels and civilians, the governor of this battle-weary city said yesterday in his first estimate of the death toll since the standoff ended two weeks ago. During last month's relentless close-quarters combat between U.S. troops and militants loyal to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, hospital officials and military officers had estimated the death toll in this southern holy city had...

The Insurgency, a Frontline documentary that airs tonight at 9 on PBS (MPT, Channels 22 and 67), is a detailed and brave piece of down-the-middle journalism that tackles the most important part of the most important news story in the world. With help from Time magazine Baghdad bureau chief Michael Ware, the Frontline team sets out to find who is behind the Iraqi insurgency, what their goals are and how quickly the U.S. military is preparing Iraqi security forces to take over the fight.

BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military said yesterday that it had captured two militants from al-Qaida in Iraq wanted in the kidnapping of three American soldiers in May. The men were captured during an air and ground assault Tuesday near the city of Iskandariyah, 25 miles south of Baghdad. The paratroopers struck the town of Jurf al-Sakhr, which borders the western province of Anbar, which until recently has been a sanctuary for Islamic extremists. Three soldiers - Pvt. Byron W. Fouty, Spc. Alex R. Jimenez and Pfc. Joseph J. Anzack Jr. - were abducted May 12 when fighters ambushed two U.S. Humvees that were on stakeout.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces went on the military and diplomatic offensive yesterday, hammering the insurgent strongholds of Fallujah and Tal Afar with warplanes while American Humvees cautiously reentered the rebellious city of Samarra for the first time in months with the backing of local officials. A military spokesman said at least 67 insurgents were killed in the attacks on Tal Afar, a town near the Syrian border that the United States claims is a haven for weapons smugglers and foreign fighters.

BAGHDAD -- An explosives-laden truck blew up yesterday at a crowded market in Tal Afar, killing at least 50 people and injuring 103 others, officials said. The truck had been loaded with flour, and shoppers were invited to help themselves. "They were all innocent civilians," Mayor Najin Abdullah Jubouri said. "Their only fault is that they are Shiite." Across the country yesterday, at least 84 Iraqis were found dead in bombings, mortar attacks, sniper fire and execution-style shootings.

CHICAGO -- President Bush has unveiled a bold new plan for the war in Iraq, which involves clearing and holding urban areas to provide security, offering new economic opportunities to drain support from the insurgency, and taking steps to give all Iraqis a stake in a democratic order. No, I'm not talking about his televised speech Wednesday night. I'm referring to his "national strategy for victory in Iraq" - unveiled in November 2005. The "new" element this time is pouring more troops into Baghdad to make the city safer.

The Insurgency, a Frontline documentary that airs tonight at 9 on PBS (MPT, Channels 22 and 67), is a detailed and brave piece of down-the-middle journalism that tackles the most important part of the most important news story in the world. With help from Time magazine Baghdad bureau chief Michael Ware, the Frontline team sets out to find who is behind the Iraqi insurgency, what their goals are and how quickly the U.S. military is preparing Iraqi security forces to take over the fight.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A U.S. helicopter with 12 passengers and crew members crashed in northern Iraq, killing all on board, the military command said yesterday. In addition, five Marines were reported killed in action, bringing to as many as 28 the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq since Thursday. The crash of the UH-60 Black Hawk military chopper late Saturday was the deadliest in Iraq since a Chinook transport helicopter went down last January near the Jordanian border, killing 30 Marines and a sailor.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded near an outdoor market in a poor, dusty Shiite village east of Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 30 Iraqis and wounding 48 as a new spate of sectarian bloodshed continued for a fourth day. Iraqi authorities said the deaths were among at least 40 reported throughout the country. The four-day death toll from politically motivated violence rose to at least 250. Police said the bomb blast in the Nahrawan district, a bleak agricultural region of dirt roads, mud-brick homes and impoverished Shiite farmers about 20 miles from Baghdad, was caused by a car parked near a public market that exploded about 6:30 p.m. as residents gathered to buy food and mingle.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi and U.S. troops sweeping through the northern city of Tal Afar yesterday killed 15 suspected rebels and discovered a bomb factory during the second day of a high-profile counter-insurgency offensive. About 5,000 Iraqi and 3,500 U.S. soldiers rummaging through the bombed-out mountain city found booby-trapped buildings, underground tunnels and large weapons caches but encountered little fighting during two days of operations. Residents estimated that 90 percent of the city of 200,000 had fled, many to a crowded tent camp.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded near an outdoor market in a poor, dusty Shiite village east of Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 30 Iraqis and wounding 48 as a new spate of sectarian bloodshed continued for a fourth day. Iraqi authorities said the deaths were among at least 40 reported throughout the country. The four-day death toll from politically motivated violence rose to at least 250. Police said the bomb blast in the Nahrawan district, a bleak agricultural region of dirt roads, mud-brick homes and impoverished Shiite farmers about 20 miles from Baghdad, was caused by a car parked near a public market that exploded about 6:30 p.m. as residents gathered to buy food and mingle.

BAGHDAD - As commanders in Iraq have deployed about 40,000 troops to guard checkpoints, conduct searches and secure entrances to Baghdad, violence in other cities has raised concerns that the crackdown in the capital is leaving other trouble spots more vulnerable to insurgent attacks. Numerous attacks in Mosul during the past five days have claimed the lives of 11 people, wounding another 11. In the latest assault, insurgents fired mortars yesterday at a police station in the northern city, killing at least one civilian.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi troops began a ground assault yesterday to root out pockets of insurgents in the northern city of Tal Afar, a militant stronghold that coalition forces have struggled to secure since Saddam Hussein's ouster in 2003. Several thousand coalition soldiers converged on the city, moving from house to house through insurgent-held neighborhoods. Of the 17 battalions involved in the offensive, all but three were made up of Iraqi troops. Though the all-out assault began yesterday, U.S. and Iraqi troops have ramped up their crackdown on insurgents in Tal Afar in recent days.

BAGHDAD - As commanders in Iraq have deployed about 40,000 troops to guard checkpoints, conduct searches and secure entrances to Baghdad, violence in other cities has raised concerns that the crackdown in the capital is leaving other trouble spots more vulnerable to insurgent attacks. Numerous attacks in Mosul during the past five days have claimed the lives of 11 people, wounding another 11. In the latest assault, insurgents fired mortars yesterday at a police station in the northern city, killing at least one civilian.