AP: Iraq Insurgency: 20,000+ strong and not Islamist [View All]

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=4&u=/ap/20040708/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_insurgency_2

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The Iraq (news - web sites) insurgency is far larger than the 5,000 guerrillas previously thought to be at its core, U.S. military officials say, and it's being led by well-armed Iraqi Sunnis angry at being pushed from power alongside Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).

Although U.S. military analysts disagree over the exact size, dozens of regional cells, often led by tribal sheiks and inspired by Sunni Muslim imams, can call upon part-time fighters to boost forces to as high as 20,000 — an estimate reflected in the insurgency's continued strength after U.S. forces killed as many as 4,000 in April alone.

And some insurgents are highly specialized — one Baghdad cell, for instance, has two leaders, one assassin, and two groups of bomb-makers.