Sunday, March 18, 2007
Security forces expect more chemical bomb attacks
Security, Insurgency
(AFP) - Insurgents in Iraq killed seven more US troops as security forces on Sunday said they expected more chemical bomb attacks after three dirty bombs left two policemen dead and 350 civilians sick. Iraq government spokesman Ali Al Dabbagh claimed on Sunday that Friday’s chlorine attacks in the restive Anbar province west of Baghdad were sparked by the fact that public opinion is turning against militant groups.
Insurgents detonated three trucks filled with toxic chlorine gas, putting at least 350 Iraqi civilians in hospital and killing two policemen, the US military reported, adding that six American soldiers also fell sick. Two of the attacks came just south of the town of Fallujah and one was northeast of the nearby city of Ramadi, both hotbeds of Al Qaeda militants in Anbar province. 'This is the doing of terrorist organisations in Ramadi and Fallujah,’ Dabbagh told a news conference in Baghdad on Sunday. ‘Public opinion in Ramadi is going against these groups, and so they threaten the people of Anbar. We were expecting such chlorine attacks. It is not easy to stop them.’
Iraqi interior ministry operations director Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf had on Saturday suggested the bombings may have been launched in revenge for recent government successes against insurgents in Ramadi. Sunni tribes from Anbar have united in a coalition to oppose Al Qaeda in Iraq, sending thousands of young men to join the government security forces and cooperating with US and Iraqi commanders.
Insurgents continue to carry out assaults in Baghdad despite the presence of 90,000 US and Iraqi troops on the streets as part of Operation Fardh Al Qanoon (Imposing Law), which was launched on February 14 in a bid to quell sectarian violence. US military spokesman Rear Admiral Mark Fox acknowledged at the joint news conference with Dabbagh that as general violence in the capital has been reduced, the number of car bombings has risen. ‘We are taking down the networks that produce these car bombs; we are taking down car bomb factories,’ he added.Insurgents detonated three trucks filled with toxic chlorine gas, putting at least 350 Iraqi civilians in hospital and killing two policemen, the US military reported, adding that six American soldiers also fell sick. Two of the attacks came just south of the town of Fallujah and one was northeast of the nearby city of Ramadi, both hotbeds of Al Qaeda militants in Anbar province. 'This is the doing of terrorist organisations in Ramadi and Fallujah,’ Dabbagh told a news conference in Baghdad on Sunday. ‘Public opinion in Ramadi is going against these groups, and so they threaten the people of Anbar. We were expecting such chlorine attacks. It is not easy to stop them.’
Iraqi interior ministry operations director Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf had on Saturday suggested the bombings may have been launched in revenge for recent government successes against insurgents in Ramadi. Sunni tribes from Anbar have united in a coalition to oppose Al Qaeda in Iraq, sending thousands of young men to join the government security forces and cooperating with US and Iraqi commanders.
Labels: Al Anbar, Ali Al Dabbagh, Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf, chlorine bombs, tribes
