Iraqi forces raid Ramadi mosques

From CNN:
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Tuesday, October 12, 2004 Posted: 4:29 AM EDT (0829 GMT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. Marines and troops, Tuesday launched a series of raids on seven mosques in Ramadi, the U.S. military said.

Mosques, at times, have been used by insurgents to stage attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces.

The U.S. military Monday launched an airstrike against a mosque in the neighboring town of Hit -- about 30 miles northwest of Ramadi -- amid a battle with about 100 insurgents who had attacked U.S. Marines from inside the building.

"Our participation in these raids has been limited to supporting Iraqi Security Forces," Brig. Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, the assistant division commander for the 1st Marine Division, said of the Ramadi raids.

A statement from the Combined Press Information Center said:

"The mosques are suspected of participating in a spectrum of insurgent activity, including harboring known terrorists, storing illegal weapons caches, promoting violence against the Iraqi people and encouraging insurgent recruitment.

"The raids are an effort to search the mosques for known terrorists and insurgents, illegal weapons caches and insurgent propaganda."

The U.S. military said the mosques are considered holy sites and are granted protective status unless they are a being used for militant purposes.

Ramadi is located about 70 miles west of Baghdad.

A couple other versions of the raids can be found at the BBC's website and on the AP's site.

No U.S. casualties have been announced in relation to these raids thus far.