Thursday, March 15, 2007
Sunni mosque attacked by armed group
Security, Politics
(VOI) An armed group stormed a Sunni mosque on Tuesday in Resala neighborhood, southern Baghdad, and killed five persons inside, an Iraqi police source said, while a statement of Iraq's people Congress asserted that casualties were seven.“An armed group driving a black car stormed this afternoon a mosque in Resala neighborhood, killing five civilians inside,” the police source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). Meanwhile, a statement issued by Iraq's People Congress, a Sunni political movement, accused the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr Mahdi army of implementing the attack, underlining that it left seven dead.
COMMENT: This fuels the unconfirmed reports of Mahdi Army activity in Baghdad, although they are said to be lying low and their leaders to be in Iran. Sightings of Mahdi Army militiamen have been reported. If these reports are correct, then the Sunni insurgents have achieved their objective of provoking Shia retaliations following recent mass casualty bombings targeting Shias. This places al-Sadr in an uncomfortable position as, even though these may be rogue elements operating without his command, it will be interpreted as him not supporting the security effort. It also places al-Maliki in an awkward position politically as it will reinforce allegations that he has not cracked down on the Mahdi Army as much as he claimed. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Mahdi Army, Moqtada Al-Sadr
