Secret report: terrorism spreading across Iraq
Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 1:15 pm
Exclusive: By James Cusick Westminster Editor and David Pratt Foreign Editor
Coalition claims that Iraq may still be able to hold elections in January are seriously undermined by secret intelligence material passed to the Sunday Herald which reveals the full extent of the resistance in the country.
Far from a limited number of pro-Saddam resistance groups fighting coalition forces, well-funded cells and militias representing a spectrum of Islamic groups are now spread across Iraq.
They include Sunni resistance groups, Ba’athist groups loyal to the ousted Saddam regime, Shi’ite resistance groups, and other terrorists groups that have moved into Iraq from Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Pakistan and Egypt since the occupation began in the spring of last year.
The intelligence revision of the scale of the insurgency, which puts the number of militant cells at over 50 and growing, indicates that the current level of coalition forces will struggle to cope with an increased level of insurgent activity as the election approaches next year.
The documents show that terrorist and militia activity is spreading across Iraq and is not just limited to Baghdad and Fallujah.
Read more: http://www.sundayherald.com/45619
Coalition claims that Iraq may still be able to hold elections in January are seriously undermined by secret intelligence material passed to the Sunday Herald which reveals the full extent of the resistance in the country.
Far from a limited number of pro-Saddam resistance groups fighting coalition forces, well-funded cells and militias representing a spectrum of Islamic groups are now spread across Iraq.
They include Sunni resistance groups, Ba’athist groups loyal to the ousted Saddam regime, Shi’ite resistance groups, and other terrorists groups that have moved into Iraq from Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Pakistan and Egypt since the occupation began in the spring of last year.
The intelligence revision of the scale of the insurgency, which puts the number of militant cells at over 50 and growing, indicates that the current level of coalition forces will struggle to cope with an increased level of insurgent activity as the election approaches next year.
The documents show that terrorist and militia activity is spreading across Iraq and is not just limited to Baghdad and Fallujah.
Read more: http://www.sundayherald.com/45619