Insurgents on rampage in north Iraq city of Mosul

Explosions and fire from assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades could be heard echoing across the city and columns of smoke rose from at least two police stations set alight.

"It's crazy, really, really crazy," said Abdallah Fathi, a resident who witnessed a police station being attacked.

"Yesterday, the city felt like hell, today it could be the same or worse."

The northern city of Mosul has seen frequent outbreaks of violence, but residents and reporters said the past two days were the worst since the end of the war last year.

As U.S. forces battle to suppress insurgents in the rebel city of Falluja, it appears many fighters may have fled to other cities where they are launching new attacks.

In the past three days, there has been a step up in guerrilla activity in Samarra, Baiji, Baquba, Tikrit, Ramadi, areas of Baghdad and in the holy city of Kerbala to the south.

In Mosul, a city of about three million people, insurgents attacked a group of Iraqi National Guardsmen blocking a bridge in the city centre, killing five of them and destroying three vehicles, witnesses said.

A cameraman working for Reuters filmed groups of militants emerging from a police station carrying police-issued AK-47s and bullet-proof jackets before setting the building on fire.

A photographer working for Reuters covering the aftermath of one attack was shot in the leg and taken to hospital. It was not clear how severe his injuries were.

Doctors said one civilian had died and at least 25 had been wounded by crossfire in the past two days of fighting.

OUT OF CONTROL

In Mosul on Wednesday, large groups of armed men, many wearing traditional scarves around their heads, attacked police stations and a convoy of civilian contractor vehicles.

It was not immediately clear how many people were killed in the attacks, but the photographer took pictures of an Iraqi army officer lying dead in the street, a group of five armed men standing over his body celebrating.

Insurgents drove around the city centre at will, freely wandering through traffic and brandishing their weapons aloft.

"It doesn't feel like the police or any local government officials are in charge at all," one resident said. "The insurgents are everywhere."

He said that while Thursday had begun slightly more calmly than Wednesday, there was still a blanket of tension and insecurity hanging over the city. "There seem to be battles going on in several places," he said.

Most residents were too scared to leave their homes and those that spoke to journalists did not want their names used.

U.S. forces responsible for security in the city issued a statement on Wednesday saying "the current situation is developing", but did not elaborate. They did not immediately respond to requests for information on Thursday.

Mosul's governor imposed an immediate curfew on Wednesday and said that anyone crossing any of the five bridges over the Tigris river running through the city would be shot dead.

A reporter working for Reuters drove through areas of Mosul on Thursday morning and saw virtually no U.S. forces on the city streets. There were, however, groups of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi National Guardsmen blocking access to the bridges.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/BAK135332.htm