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U.S.: Iraq bomb factory raid nets deadly chlorine supply

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A U.S. military commander Thursday said a raid outside Falluja two days ago discovered a home-grown factory for car bombs that included a metal shop, explosives and cylinders of toxic chlorine gas and other chemicals.

Two deadly vehicle bombings this week and one last month used chlorine mixed with explosive devices, a new insurgent tactic.

The chemical attacks left at least 12 dead and more than 200 hospitalized in the past week.

Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of the Multinational Corps-Iraq, said U.S. troops discovered the canisters late Tuesday at a car bomb factory near Karma, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) northeast of Falluja. Both towns are in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province west of Baghdad.

"The unit discovered numerous artillery rounds, mortar rounds, bombs, rockets, gutted anti-aircraft shells, a pickup truck and three other vehicles that were already in various stages of preparations as car bombs as well as much detonation material," Odierno told Pentagon reporters via teleconference from Iraq.

"We also found ingredients to be used to devise or enhance explosives, such as fertilizer and chlorine cylinders. We also found the various components of a metal shop, including welders, burner stoves, circular saws, sanders and other items needed to build explosive devices."

Chlorine was employed by the military on both sides during World War I as a battlefield weapon.

Exposure to chlorine gas can cause difficulty in breathing, coughing, burning in the nose, throat and eyes, nausea and vomiting.

U.S.: Two detained in attacks on choppers

Odierno said two people suspected of being involved in the downing of U.S. helicopters in Iraq have been detained in recent days.

He did not say which of eight recent helicopter incidents were involved. The latest occurred Wednesday north of Baghdad.

The UH-60 Black Hawk was probably shot down by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, a military spokesman said Wednesday. Odierno said while the cause was under investigation, initial reports indicate enemy fire was responsible.

Military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said that the chopper landed safely and that all nine occupants were transferred to another helicopter. The chopper was secured, and officials were assessing damage, he added.

Caldwell said Thursday that insurgents put a high value on shooting down helicopters because "it's a high-profile event that gains a lot of attention."

"They're watching what we do; they're paying attention to it; they're very patient," he told CNN. "We in turn are modifying our flight routes, our tactics, our formations, our altitudes, our time of flight and a lot of other things in order to offset what they are intending to do against us."

Iraqi soldiers charged with rape

Apparently emboldened by a Sunni Arab woman who accused Iraqi security forces of rape on Al-Jazeera, a Sunni Turkmen woman took to the air Wednesday night to declare that she, too, was sexually assaulted.

Along with her appearance on the Arabic-language TV channel, the Turkmen woman also filed a complaint with authorities in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar, who then accused four Iraqi soldiers of raping the woman and attempting to rape her three daughters.

"The woman felt encouraged to come forward after hearing of the other rape allegation," said Brig. Gen. Nijm Abdullah, mayor of Tal Afar.

The other rape allegation was made Monday when a Sunni Arab woman appeared on Al-Jazeera, saying three members of the Shiite-dominated security forces raped her. She said it happened Sunday at a police facility after she was seized in a Baghdad raid, allegedly for aiding Sunni insurgents. (Full story)

Two such rape allegations by Sunni women, apparently against Shiites, threaten to worsen relations between the sects and sabotage the security crackdown in Baghdad, where the Shiite-led government has said it will not differentiate among ethnic or religious groups in its military operations.

Web postings claiming to be from two insurgent groups threatened Thursday to take revenge for the alleged rapes by stepping up attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces, The Associated Press reported. (Full story)

Discussion of rape is a strict taboo in Arab and Muslim society, so talk of such a crime in public has been shocking.

Honor killings -- the slaying of women who have been sexually assaulted -- have been a part of life in the Arab Middle East. Such killings are done to preserve the honor of a tribe or a community rather than have a woman live in shame.

The Tal Afar mayor said the alleged assault occurred about 12 days ago during a search for weapons and insurgents by an Iraqi army patrol.

A fifth soldier allegedly intervened and averted possible attacks on the daughters, he said.

The soldiers were detained and charged after the woman submitted a complaint Wednesday.

Sheik Mohammed Khalil Hassan, the head of the Sunni people's committee in Tal Afar, said the four accused soldiers and the fifth who intervened were Shiite Arabs.

Other developments

CNN's Saad Abedine, Mike Mount, Octavia Nasr and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

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