Mosul in lockdown after blast
Maher al-Thanoon
MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. forces have sealed off entire districts of the Iraqi city of Mosul and raided homes in a hunt for suspects following a guerrilla attack that killed 18 Americans and four Iraqis.
Mosul's governor issued an order banning use of the five bridges that span the River Tigris in the city, and said anyone breaking the order would be shot. Residents said Iraq's third city was a virtual ghost town, with no one in the streets.
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In Mosul, people were afraid: "Students went to school but were told to go home. People went to the shops, saw American troops in the streets, and went home," said Ahmad, 25, a car dealer who declined to give his surname.
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"We are conducting offensive operations to target specific objectives," Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hastings, a spokesman for U.S. forces in the area, said.
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"It was a tragic event, but it will not deter us from our mission," said Sergeant Steve Valley, a U.S. spokesman in Baghdad. "We're all here with the same purpose of ridding this country of these armed thugs and building a democracy."
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http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=642617
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