BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi forces clashed with insurgents Friday near the notorious airport road and other districts of western Baghdad, arresting nearly 60 people as the sounds of a rousing song, “Where are the terrorists now?” blared from police car loudspeakers.
U.S. attack helicopters roamed the skies and the rattle of automatic weapons fire echoed through the streets as motorists abandoned their vehicles and merchants shuttered their shops.
Residents reported seeing insurgent snipers on rooftops in the Jihad district and masked gunmen, some armed with rocket-propelled grenades, in the alleyways.
In the Saydiyah neighborhood, witnesses saw police hustle about a dozen men, blindfolded and handcuffed, into pickup trucks and drive away, while police car loudspeakers blared the lyrics to a commando fight song – “Oh God, you protected the homeland, where are the terrorists now?”
Police said about 60 people had been arrested in the confrontations. There was no word on casualties.
Meanwhile, two Germans taken hostage in northern Iraq on Tuesday appealed to their government to help win their release in a videotape aired by Al-Jazeera. German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned “this cruel kidnapping” and called for their release “without delay.”
The engineers, who work for a company in Leipzig, were identified by relatives as Thomas Nitzschke and Rene Braeunlich. They were kidnapped only two days after arriving in Iraq.
At least five foreigners have been kidnapped this month: the Germans, two Kenyan engineers and American journalist Jill Carroll.
Carroll’s kidnappers have threatened to kill her unless all Iraqi women are freed from custody. The U.S. military released five Iraqi women Thursday, but said the move was unrelated to the kidnappers’ demand.
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