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WAR UPDATE

July 20, 2008

One of five Britons kidnapped in Iraq more than a year ago has killed himself, according to a Shia militia that claimed responsibility for the kidnappings. The Sunday Times of London published what it said was a statement in a video it obtained from the group through an intermediary in Iraq. The video shows an Arabic-language statement claiming that one of the hostages - identified only as Jason - killed himself May 25. A photograph is affixed to the top left corner of the statement. The newspaper said the statement blamed the British government for ignoring previous statements that the kidnappers and the captives have made. In the past, the militia has demanded that that all British forces be withdrawn from Iraq and that Iraqis held by U.S.-led forces be freed.

The British government said last night that it could not confirm the veracity of the latest video or verify its claims.

After intense U.S. assaults, al-Qaida may be considering shifting focus to its original home base in Afghanistan, where American casualties are running higher than in Iraq, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said yesterday. "We do think that there is some assessment ongoing as to the continued viability of al-Qaida's fight in Iraq," Gen. David Petraeus told The Associated Press in an interview at his office at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Whatever the result, Petraeus said no one should expect al-Qaida to give up entirely in Iraq. "They're not going to abandon Iraq. They're not going to write it off. None of that," he said. "But what they certainly may do is start to provide some of those resources that would have come to Iraq to Pakistan, possibly Afghanistan."

Also yesterday, Iraq's largest Sunni Arab political bloc returned to the government fold yesterday after calling off a nearly one-year boycott of the Shia-dominated leadership - another critical stride toward healing sectarian rifts. The return of the National Accordance Front does more than politically reunite some of Iraq's main centers of power. It was seen as a significant advance toward reconciliation and efforts to cement security cooperation between Shia-led forces and armed Sunni groups that rose up against al-Qaida in Iraq. The United States has pressured Iraq's government to work toward settling the sectarian feuds.

Afghan troops clashed with Taliban insurgents attacking a supply convoy for NATO troops, killing nine militants, officials said yesterday. Roadside bombs killed a NATO soldier in a separate convoy and four policemen. The violence came as Barack Obama arrived in Kabul with an official congressional delegation. It was the Democratic presidential contender's first visit to Afghanistan. The militants were killed after they attacked a supply convoy for NATO-led troops in Zabul province, said provincial police official Jalali Khan. There were no casualties among Afghan troops, he said. In neighboring Kandahar province, a blast struck a police patrol in Maywand district, killing four officers and wounding another, said Khan Mohammad, a police official. Another bomb struck a NATO convoy in Kandahar's Panjwayi district, killing a soldier, NATO's press office in Kabul said.

Meanwhile, in Pakistan, at least 10 Taliban were killed in fierce fighting between two rival militant groups in the northwest, a government official and Taliban spokesman said yesterday. Hundreds of supporters of the top Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud clashed Friday with a breakaway faction of the group in Mohmand tribal region, said local administrator Syed Ali. He said both sides used rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons in the fighting. Between 10 and 15 men died, he said.