Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Security situation out of control in Basra
Security
According to a senior Interior Ministry official, crime and militias operate almost freely in Basra, which has a population of three million. Lt. Gen. Abdulkhudher Mahdi, a ministry undersecretary, said the city’s security forces rarely received tips from residents on the presence of what was described as “criminals and terrorists.”
He said without cooperation from ordinary citizens, the police will not be able to “crack down on crime and defeat terror.” He claimed the Basra gangs were recieving assisstance from abroad but he said the authorities didn't know which countries were supporting the violence. He said the city’s population are not siding with anyone as they fear reprisals from criminals and terrorists.
Mahdi said thousands of families have been forced to leave their homes in the towns of Abu Khaseeb and al-Zubair which have become “theaters for kidnapping, assassination and looting.”
But he claimed that conditions have slightly improved recently and that 100 deported families have returned to their original towns.
He said without cooperation from ordinary citizens, the police will not be able to “crack down on crime and defeat terror.” He claimed the Basra gangs were recieving assisstance from abroad but he said the authorities didn't know which countries were supporting the violence. He said the city’s population are not siding with anyone as they fear reprisals from criminals and terrorists.
Mahdi said thousands of families have been forced to leave their homes in the towns of Abu Khaseeb and al-Zubair which have become “theaters for kidnapping, assassination and looting.”
But he claimed that conditions have slightly improved recently and that 100 deported families have returned to their original towns.
COMMENT: The foreign support to which Mahdi refers is more than likely from Iran which has been arming and training militias such as the Fadheela Party militias and outlaw tribes. COMMENT ENDS.
