U.S., Iraqi Forces Rescue Kidnapped Sunnis

Iraqi women mourn their killed relative outside a morgue in Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Thursday, May 11, 2006. Wedad al-Shamri, a local teacher was killed by unknown gunmen. (AP Photo/Mohammed Hamed) (Mohammed Hamed - AP)

The shift has impacted heavily on civilians, many of whom have been targeted simply because of their religious affiliation. According to the Health Ministry, 952 people were killed nationwide last month in "terrorist" violence, among them 686 civilians.

By comparison, ministry figures showed that 548 civilians were killed nationwide in January, 545 in February and 769 in March.

Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, spokesman for the U.S. command, said attacks against civilians were up by about 80 percent over the level of six months ago. He blamed the increase on al-Qaida in Iraq and its Jordanian leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who he said were trying to ignite a Sunni-Shiite war.

"We acknowledge that the primary targets of the insurgency are the innocent men, women and children of Iraq," Lynch told reporters. He said attacks against civilians were aimed at enflaming sectarian hatred "and then folks like the militias, either Shiite militias or Sunni militias, are carrying out retaliatory attacks and killing innocent men, women and children."

President Jalal Talabani has appealed to clerics to condemn sectarian violence, which has raised fears of civil war.

In a show of solidarity with the Sunnis, Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, ordered all Shiite mosques in the mostly Sunni town of Zubayr to close through Saturday to protest the assassination of a Sunni cleric there.

Al-Sistani's order followed the slaying of Sheik Khaled Ali Obeid al-Saadoun, who was gunned down Wednesday with two associates as he left a mosque. The ayatollah has often spoken out against sectarian violence and played a key role in curbing attacks after the bombing of a Shiite shrine in February.

U.S. officials hope the new unity government of Shiites, Kurds and Shiites can win public confidence and in time quell the violence so that American and other international troops can go home.

The framework of the government was put in place last month with the appointment of Nouri al-Maliki as prime minister-designate. Al-Maliki, a Shiite, is trying to put together a Cabinet, but the process has bogged down over who will lead the defense and interior ministries.

Shiite officials said al-Maliki may ask parliament to approve the rest of his Cabinet within a few days while negotiations continue on the two contested ministries.

Also Thursday, insurgents attacked U.S. Marines from an abandoned hotel in Haqlaniyah, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The Marines responded with small arms fire, a shoulder-fired rocket and an airstrike on the hotel. There were no U.S. casualties but one child suffered minor injuries, the military said.

In other violence Thursday, according to police:

_At least 14 people were killed in Baghdad, including five municipal street cleaners in an explosion.

_A Shiite professor, Widad al-Shimri, and her 7-year-old daughter were slain as they drove through Baqouba.

_A professor of Islamic law, Dr. Khalaf al-Jumaili, was shot dead after assailants stopped his car in Fallujah.

_One policeman was killed when gunmen fired on a police station in Kirkuk.

_Police killed a man who tried to plant a bomb under the car of Baqouba's mayor.