MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) - Iraqi and US forces have killed 15 rebels and arrested 45 suspected insurgents over a 24-hour period in Mosul that included a dusk raid on a mosque and tea house in the northern city`s old quarter, US military officials said.
But insurgents appear to be hitting back on soft targets with the US military saying it received unconfirmed reports that 12 members of the Iraq`s paramilitary national guard had been kidnapped and possibly executed.
Rebels also left a trail of mayhem at a government-owned food distribution warehouse on the west side of the city, where voter registration forms for the January elections were turned into smoldering ashes, according to an AFP reporter embedded with the US military.
A force of about 400 newly-trained Iraqi commandos descended in pickup trucks on the city`s historic centre shortly after evening prayers.
Their commander Major General Rashid Flaih and US military officials said the target was a meeting place for insurgent leaders.
Commandos wearing dark green military fatigues and ski masks flashed lights at shuttered shops and crumbling buildings or fired warning shots in the air as they strutted down deserted streets, eyewitnesses said.
"I want to avenge my comrades. I will kill them down to the last terrorist," said commando Abu Mustafa, sporting an ammunition belt around his neck.
A dozen US soldiers on foot observed from a distance while others waited in armoured Stryker vehicles on the edge of the neighbourhood in case the commandos needed reinforcement, while two US helicopters provided air support.
Flares fired by a US warplane lit up the sky.
The commandos entered a mosque on a side street and detained a number of people. They also rounded people in a nearby tea house who appeared to be unarmed and were playing dominoes and cards when the troops showed up.
A grocery shop owner was also among those arrested.
A US military official confirmed that 23 suspects in total were held.
Earlier, US commanders said up to 100 insurgents were thought to be in the neighbourhood, among them rebel leaders, and that the aim of the operation was to draw them out into the open.
"We are finding the (insurgent) pockets with Iraqis, and going and asking them to come out and fight," said Colonel Robert Brown, a senior US military commander in Mosul.
"Every time they fight, we will kill a lot of them."
He said 15 rebels had been killed in joint operations throughout the city over the past 24 hours.
A raid Thursday by commandos and US troops on the Medical City hospital and surrounding neighbourhoods on the northwest side netted 22 suspects, including two who were being treated for gunshot wounds believed to have been sustained during a fight with the commandos in the area on Saturday.
"We also found 23 in the hospital morgue dressed in black," said Brown.
Pursuing insurgents in a city of almost two million people appeared to be turning into a game of cat and mouse since a force of about 1,200 US soldiers and 1,600 Iraqi forces, including 500 commandos from Baghdad, took to Mosul`s streets on Tuesday to restore order.
Brown admitted that the insurgents` ability to operate in small groups and blend easily into the general population made it difficult to catch them.
He said they were setting up checkpoints on the city`s east side to kill or kidnap members of Iraq`s fledgling security forces.
Another US military officer said later that they were checking preliminary reports that at least 12 Iraqi national guardsmen had been "kidnapped and possibly beheaded."
US officials estimated that maybe 80 percent of the city`s total police force of about 5,000 abandoned their duties after insurgents attacked at least 10 police stations on November 11, setting many of them on fire and killing several policemen.
"I know at least 1,000 are still working and I am in talks with the new police chief and the governor to revamp the force," said Brown.
The police debacle in Mosul is a serious blow to US efforts to have an effective Iraqi security force in place with elections about two months away.
In addition to relentless attacks against security forces, insurgents appear determined to derail election plans.
An AFP reporter accompanying US soldiers on a patrol in one of Mosul`s most restive areas on the west side saw heaps of election forms reduced to ashes outside warehouses belonging to the trade ministry.
A voter registration centre had been set up in the sprawling facility where monthly government-subsidised food rations are distributed to Iraqis.
"About 150 masked gunmen showed up last week, dragged the forms from the tea warehouse and set them on fire in the open," said Major Husam Abdul Ghani, who heads a special facility protection force on site.
But smoke rising from the smoldering ashes suggested the attack may have been more recent.
11/19/2004 - 23:00 GMT - AFP