Sunday, April 01, 2007
Tal Afar victims families want policemen arrested
(Azzaman) - The carnage of Telafar is now seen is the deadliest single incident since the 2003 U.S. invasion with at least 150 Iraqis killed by car bombings or executed in retaliation. Telafar to the west of the northern city of Mosul was hit by several bombings late last month targeting a densely populated district in the mixed town. Telafar has always been a hotbed of anti-U.S. rebellion but also a stronghold breeding ground for al-Qaeda operatives believed to be behind most of the deadly attacks on civilians.
Iraqi politicians and clergy across the country, whether Shiites or Sunnis, Kurds or Arabs, strongly denounce attacks targeting civilians whether mounted by terrorist groups like al-Qaeda or foreign and Iraqi troops fighting it. But amid rising sectarian strife, the confusion that resulted from U.S. invasion and the division of the country’s institutions along sectarian lines, anything happening in Iraq is being interpreted within a sectarian or ethnic context.
Immediately after the bombings in Telafar, Iraqi police, who are supposed to protect the civilian population, in apparent reprisal, killed in cold blood 70 people, mainly young men before the eyes of their families. The government initially arrested a few policemen but they were released shortly after.
The families of the victims are pressing the authorities in the province of Nineveh of which Mosul is the capital and Telafar a major town, to arrest the policemen involved in the summary executions. Tensions in Telafar have been rising and the town has seen no effective authority to restore law and order despite two massive U.S. attacks to subdue it.
Iraqi politicians and clergy across the country, whether Shiites or Sunnis, Kurds or Arabs, strongly denounce attacks targeting civilians whether mounted by terrorist groups like al-Qaeda or foreign and Iraqi troops fighting it. But amid rising sectarian strife, the confusion that resulted from U.S. invasion and the division of the country’s institutions along sectarian lines, anything happening in Iraq is being interpreted within a sectarian or ethnic context.
Immediately after the bombings in Telafar, Iraqi police, who are supposed to protect the civilian population, in apparent reprisal, killed in cold blood 70 people, mainly young men before the eyes of their families. The government initially arrested a few policemen but they were released shortly after.
The families of the victims are pressing the authorities in the province of Nineveh of which Mosul is the capital and Telafar a major town, to arrest the policemen involved in the summary executions. Tensions in Telafar have been rising and the town has seen no effective authority to restore law and order despite two massive U.S. attacks to subdue it.
Labels: executions, police, Tal Afar
