Iraqi resistance forces number at most 5,000: general

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, November 14, 2003

Iraqi resistance forces number at most 5,000: general

Opposition forces fighting US and allied troops in Iraq total no more than 5,000, but they are well-financed and have showed increased coordination, a top US general said Thursday.

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Opposition forces fighting US and allied troops in Iraq total no more than 5,000, but they are well-financed and have showed increased coordination, a top US general said Thursday.

"In all, I would say that the force of people actively armed and operating against us does not exceed 5,000," General John Abizaid, head of the US Central Command, said in a news briefing from Tampa, Florida, the command's headquarters. The Central Command leads military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Abizaid said although the number of the resistance forces appeared small compared with that of the US and allied troops in Iraq, they were dangerous because of they are determined, well-organized, and "have access to a lot of money and a lot of ammunition."

The largest and most dangerous portion of the opposition forcesare loyalists of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, the general said. They operate mainly around Baghdad and the northern cities of Fallujah, Tikrit, Mosul and Kirkuk, using improvised explosive devices, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and sometimes small arms.

Abizaid said there was also "a small yet important and well-organized group" of foreign fighters in Iraq, many of whom penetrated from neighboring countries. He did not give a number.

For months, the Pentagon has described the resistance in Iraq as sporadic and poorly-organized. But Abizaid said there is "some level of coordination that's taking place at very high levels."

He said US and allied troops need better intelligence at the regional and the national level to combat the resistance, but the resistance forces posed no military threat in Iraq that can drive US and allied troops out.

"The goal of the enemy is not to defeat us militarily," he said."But the enemy is trying to split the coalition. The enemy is trying to break our will."

The 130,000 US troops and 25,000 troops from Britain and other countries currently deploying in Iraq are facing attacks which increased both in number and lethality. At least 27 people, 18 of them Italians, were killed Wednesday when a suicide bomber blew upa truck packed with explosives at an Italian police base in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah.

"I want to emphasize to the people that there is no military threat in Iraq that can drive us out," Abizaid said. "We have the best equipped, best trained army in the world in position in the toughest areas that we have to deal with. The troops are confident.They're tough. They're capable."

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