Masked
fighters staged a show of strength in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi
on Thursday, attacking a US base and seizing control of some streets,
residents said.
Scores of heavily armed men set up
roadblocks at key entrance and exit points to the city, a heartland of
the insurgency in Iraq, and patrolled the main thoroughfares, residents
said.
In some areas they dispersed after a few hours, but they remained in other parts.
Leaflets
were distributed and posted on walls saying al Qaeda in Iraq, the group
led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant, was taking over
the city.
"Its followers will burn the Americans and
will drive themback to their homes by force. Iraq will be a graveyard
for the Americans and their allies," one leaflet read.
An
internet posting from the group said the attack, dubbed "Battle of the
Lions", was carried out to expose "the falseness of the crusaders'
claims about their imaginary 'Steel Curtain'".
This was a reference to a recent US-led operation in western Iraq which officials said killed hundreds of insurgents.
After
the initial attack, the situation calmed down, with groups of masked
men holding ground but not firing their weapons. In other parts of the
city the rebels dispersed, and some residents said American forces were
starting to patrol again.
The assault on Ramadi, capital
of Anbar province, began early on Thursday with a mortar and rocket
attack on a US base in the city and on a nearby provincial governor's
building.
"They've taken control of all the main streets
and other sections of Ramadi," a reporter for Reuters there said
earlier. "I've seen about 400 armed men controlling streets, some of
which were controlled by Americans before."
The US
military played down the assault. Captain Patrick Kerr of the US
Marines said: "Reports of insurgents taking control of Ramadi are
completely unsubstantiated. There have been a few sporadic small- arms
engagements, but nothing out of the ordinary."
Ramadi
has long been a focal point of militant activity in Iraq. After
American forces overran Falluja in a massive offensive in November last
year, many fighters apparently fled west to Ramadi, which is about 60km
beyond Falluja.
Thursday's assault came the day after
George Bush announced details of his strategy in Iraq, saying more
efforts would be made to train Iraqi security forces to take on
insurgents so that American forces could eventually withdraw.