TALL AFAR, Iraq — Last fall, thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops descended on this ancient city close to the border with Syria. In the shadow of an Ottoman-era castle, they fought in narrow alleyways to clear the city of insurgents.
Last week, President Bush held up Tall Afar as an example of success in the country, calling it "a free city that gives reason for hope for a free Iraq."
The large-scale offensive in September, dubbed "Restoring Rights," may have rid Tall Afar of hard-core insurgent cells. But today this ethnically mixed city has become mired in the same sectarian strife and economic problems that afflict much of the rest of the country.
Fear is palpable in the streets of Tall Afar. Residents complain that the city is increasingly divided as tribal violence sharpens the boundaries between Sunni and Shiite Muslim neighborhoods.
"Violence has increased, mortar attacks have increased, roadside bombs have increased," said Mohammed Taqi, a national legislator from the city who recently wrote to Iraq's interim president and prime minister, requesting that Tall Afar's administrative affairs be handled in Baghdad rather than the provincial capital, Mosul. The roads to that city -- as well as two neighborhoods in Tall Afar -- are controlled by insurgents, he said.
While acknowledging the rebel holdouts in the city, U.S. commanders here say that attacks have decreased significantly after last fall's offensive.
To prevent more violence, the streets have been blanketed with troops. Four thousand U.S. troops and 8,000 Iraqi troops as well as about 1,700 police officers are in the city of 200,000 residents, said Col. Sean MacFarland, commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division.
"You can't go very far without seeing a patrol base or a checkpoint," he said.
But families in Tall Afar complain of no-go areas in the city, boundaries drawn up by sectarian violence or intimidation by rebels.
One sheik, Hashim Antar, said rebels were targeting Shiites to incite sectarian violence. These days, he said, Shiites cannot safely visit the city's only hospital.
"What is increasing is the targeting of the Shiites by the terrorist groups," he said.
MacFarland acknowledged that "there's a lot of intimidation going on" in the city, adding that most of the recent violence is between tribes.
