Revenge attacks target former regime

The news comes after several attacks against US forces in Iraq

US aid workers say members of Iraq's former ruling Baath party have become the target of a wave of revenge attacks in the town of Kut.

Up to 30 houses belonging to party officials have been systematically demolished over the past few weeks, aid official Cassandra Nelson from US aid organisation Mercy Corps told the BBC.

The attacks were intensifying and were now being carried out almost on a nightly basis, she added.

There are no indications whether any particular political or religious group is behind them.

'Well-organised'

The town of Kut - 100 miles (160km) south-east of Baghdad and in the al Wasit province bordering Iran - is not a place friendly to Americans.

Numerous houses have been blown up... we hear them on a nightly basis

Mercy Corps worker Cassandra Nelson

There have been attacks on US marines and last month the local police station was burnt down.

But there is also a deep hatred of Saddam Hussein and the regime that killed leading Shia clerics, many of whom had supporters in the town.

The attackers appear to be well organised, Ms Nelson says it is a miracle that no-one so far has been killed.

"They will go by the house the day before and leave some kind of marker or indicator that they will demolish the house," she said.

"Numerous houses have been blown up, many of them only about a block away from the Mercy Corps offices. We hear them on a nightly basis."

General lawlessness

Ms Nelson added that often the political or religious party that is planning the attack raises a coloured flag above the target house and may even drop in to warn the inhabitants in person.

Nonetheless, the attacks are part of the picture of a general lawlessness that is pervading the town.

A recent feud between neighbours escalated into a gun fight across the street.

And workers in the Kut General Hospital emergency room say that the number of people with gunshot wounds has risen from pre-war levels of a few every now and then to up to 10 a day.