http://www.boston.com/dailynews/020/world/U_S_troops_launch_fresh_raids_:.shtml BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) U.S. troops launched fresh raids Thursday around the northern city of Mosul, killing five suspected insurgents, in a bid to rein in guerrillas who have threatened to disrupt upcoming elections. Iraqi forces sealed off main routes into Baghdad a day after a wave of deadly car bombings.
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A speech on an Islamic Web site, purportedly from the most feared terrorist in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, denounced Iraqi Shiites for fighting alongside U.S. troops an apparent attempt to enflame sectarian tensions ahead of the Jan. 30 vote.
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Army troops from the Stryker Brigade Combat Team killed five suspected insurgents in Mosul and provided security for Iraqi National Guard troops who raided a mosque and recovered a cache of weapons, the military said. U.S. troops also detained nine people and seized weapons in overnight sweeps in the city.
Later Thursday, insurgents shelled a hospital in Mosul where U.S. and Iraqi forces had taken up positions in an annex, hospital director Faris Hani said. Doctors and patients fled, and no casualties were reported.
... from an Aljazeera report the Mosul hospital had been evacuated by the US forces earlier today.