BAGHDAD, Iraq — Intensified insurgent attacks targeting convoys transporting goods and troops forced the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq to shut down sections of two major highways Saturday, further isolating this edgy capital and raising the specter of supply shortages.
The indefinite road closures north and south of Baghdad follow days of roadside bombings and ambushes that have disrupted shipments of fuel and other products to and from the city. In addition, the western highway leading to Syria and Jordan has been shut because of insurgent attacks and U.S. military operations around Fallujah, which lies along the route.
Meanwhile, in Qaim near the Syrian border, Marines and insurgents reportedly fought pitched battles for hours. Six Marines, plus scores of insurgents, were killed, an embedded journalist from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said. The military did not immediately confirm those deaths.
Saturday’s highway shutdowns come as the sight of tankers and other vehicles ablaze along the roads has become commonplace. Kalashnikov-toting insurgents have seized hostages, including truckers, at makeshift checkpoints and ambush points, and some terrified drivers have refused to work.
The havoc on the highways has exacerbated an aura of uncertainty and fear in the capital, where rumors abound of militants making a strike on Baghdad.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, chief coalition military spokesman, said Saturday’s road closures have nothing to do with cutting off any prospective insurgent offensive. "If fighters would like to take the fight to Baghdad, they’ll have the First Cavalry Division waiting for them," Kimmitt said, referring to the Army unit based in the capital.
Instead, Kimmitt said, the indefinite closures are meant to give Iraqi engineers and coalition forces time to fix the routes, which have been chewed up by homemade bombs. It was unclear, however, how the military intended to provide security for construction crews.
The continuing attacks on convoys could slow civilian supplies and the $18 billion U.S. reconstruction effort, Kimmitt acknowledged last week.
As U.S. officials closed off the highways, rockets and mortars fell around Baghdad Saturday. Civilians interviewed at four sites that suffered damage expressed a sense of dread that matters may soon deteriorate further, particularly if uprisings among Sunni Muslim insurgents in Fallujah and Shiite militants in southern Iraq result in more clashes with U.S. troops.
"Things are so bad in Iraq now that one can get killed just sitting in the house with one’s children and family," said Emad Luis, a 48-year-old cigarette factory executive whose house in Baghdad’s middle-class Karrada district was damaged in a blast Saturday. "Everything seems to be getting worse and worse."
A spate of hostage-taking — mostly along the roads — has added to the sense of a crisis. On Saturday, though, two Japanese hostages were released, meaning all five Japanese taken hostage in Iraq have now been freed.
There was no official word on Pfc. Keith Maupin, 20, who was shown being held hostage on a video that aired Friday on the Arabic-language satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera. He is believed to have been taken captive when insurgents attacked a convoy about 10 days ago.
Dan Senor, chief spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition here, declined to comment Saturday when asked if Maupin was considered a hostage or prisoner of war. A captor in the videotape said Maupin would be held to be exchanged for Iraqi prisoners detained by U.S. forces. But officials are adamant no such discussions will take place. "We are not going to negotiate with terrorists, period," Senor said. "End of issue."
In the south, U.S. troops skirmished for a second day near Najaf with militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The U.S. military said that a coalition soldier with the Spanish-led force in Najaf was killed Friday in fighting with al-Sadr’s militia.
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