Friday, May 11, 2007

 

Violence flares in mixed district in Baghdad

Security
(AP) - Three months into Baghdad's security crackdown, sectarian violence is back on the rise, this time, in a mixed neighborhood that had previously been relatively calm while Sunni-Shiite strife tore apart other parts of the Iraqi capital. Baiyaa, a middle-class district in western Baghdad, has started to display the fears and flight that have already carved up much of the city, which has become a patchwork of separate Sunni and Shiite enclaves.
Snipers have begun appearing in parts of Baiyaa. Many stores have closed, and both Shiite and Sunni families have fled the area in recent weeks. Last Sunday, a car bomb devastated a food market, killing 30 people. The rumblings in Baiyaa have ominous implications for the U.S.-led security plan. They show that previously calm areas are still vulnerable to violence despite the flood of U.S.-Iraqi forces onto Baghdad's streets since February.
In the early days of the security sweeps, American troops came into Baiyaa in large numbers and patrolled on foot, according to residents. But U.S. forces significantly scaled back by March and ventured only occasionally into Baiyaa, which is on the road leading to Baghdad's international airport. Security was left mostly in the hands of the Iraqi military, dominated by the country's Shiite majority.
The precise reasons for Baiyaa's troubles are not clear, but accusations are thick on both sides. Sunni politicians have accused the Shiite-dominated government of allowing Shiite militias to operate in Baiyaa and elsewhere. Members of three Shiite families that fled Baiyaa a few days ago claimed Sunni extremists had threatened them. Those residents of the neighborhood spoke by telephone on condition of anonymity because they fear reprisals by armed gangs.
U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl said security operations have been stepped up in the larger district that includes Baiyaa. The military has divided Baghdad into 10 districts, each with a permanent U.S.-Iraqi garrison, called a joint security station. The station for the Baiyaa district is in another neighborhood. Baiyaa, however, seemed ripe for trouble. Its dusty streets and low-slung houses borders areas where the Mahdi Army of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr holds sway.
Baiyaa has a Shiite majority but is also the main commercial center of the Sunni-dominated part of Baghdad on the west bank of the Tigris River. Baiyaa's Sunnis are mostly drawn from the Janabi clan dominant in areas south of Baghdad known as the "triangle of death" because of insurgent activity and attacks against Shiites. Baiyaa's Shiites have their roots in southern Iraq.
COMMENT: The word on the street should not be ignored as simple hearsay, even though much of it is obviously false. It helps shape Iraqi opinions and perceptions. These are the latest rumours regarding Bayaa:
In the recent past, Al Rahman Mosque in Bayaa was well-known for harboring Wahabi fighters. In the past few weeks, the rumor is that these Wahabists opened fire on a US patrol that was passing near the mosque. However, the US forces thought that Mahdi Army members opened fire on them and they then fired and called in air support on Mahdi Army members who were at a nearby Hussainiya (Shiite religious complex). The US air support strikes killed many Mahdi Army members. In revenge, Mahdi Army members from Ali Al Bayaa Mosque destroyed Al Rahman Mosque. In the past week, since the clash with US forces, Mahdi Army members have taken over Al Rahman Mosque in Bayaa and changed its name to Imam Al Askari Mosque. COMMENT ENDS.

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