Dubai: As widespread looting continued in Baghdad, the US on April 12 announced that
1,200 police and judicial officials will go to Iraq to help restore order amid
reports that Kurdish fighters were withdrawing from the Northern city of Kirkuk
while fighting between Arabs and Kurds in Mosul left 15 to 20 people dead and over
200 wounded.
The US-led coalition, trying to restore calm in cities wracked by violence and
looting since the regime lost power, called on Baghdad's police to return to work.
US troops said the restoration of law and order will become a higher
priority.
A BBC correspondent reported that Shia Muslims were fighting gunbattles with their
Sunni neighbours throughout the capital.
In Washington, the State Department said it is sending 26 police and judicial
officers to Iraq, the first component of a team that will eventually number about
1,200, to help restore order there. The group will be led by retired General Jay
Garner.
In Kirkuk, Kurdish fighters began withdrawing and US forces are increasing their
presence to establish control in the city, which is a centre of the oil industry in
the North.
The move is vital to pacify Turkey, which borders Northern Iraq and opposes any
moves to create an independent Kurdish state.
In the Northern city of Mosul, 15 to 20 people were killed and over 200 wounded in
fighting between Arabs and Kurds, hospital sources said.
"There are more than 200 wounded and 15 to 20 dead Arabs and Kurds since yesterday,"
said Muzahim Kawat, chief surgeon at the city's emergency hospital.
PTI
