Monday, September 03, 2007
Dawa and SIIC party officials in assassination attempts
Security, Politics
(Voices of Iraq) - An official of the Shiite Dawa, or call, Party survived an attempt on his life in al-Iskandariya district on Sunday while a member of the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) was separately wounded in an assault, police said. "Hussein Hassan al-Tamimi, the director of Dawa Party in al-Iskandariya, (50 km) north of Hilla, escaped an assassination attempt by an explosive device near his home in the residential compound of Hittin," a security source in Babel, who requested not to have his name mentioned, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
Tamimi, who is an officer in the Iraqi army in the rank of captain, survived the attack unscathed but his house was damaged, the source added. Meanwhile, the same source added, Muhammad Hussein al-Khafaji, a member of Shiite leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakeem's SIIC, was attacked with clubs by a group of people. Khafaji was wounded and rushed to hospital, he said. The source did not give further details about the two incidents.
SIIC and Dawa Party offices in different Iraqi provinces came under attacks by unidentified gunmen in the aftermath of last week's bloody incidents in Karbala in which scores were killed and hundreds others wounded. Earlier in Babel on Sunday Brig. Abbas al-Juburi, the commander of the special Scorpion Force, survived an attempt on his life when three gunmen in a civilian vehicle showered his house with bullets, killing one civilian inside.
"Gunmen attacked Juburi's house in al-Karama neighborhood in central Hilla on Sunday morning and escaped, but 30 minutes later the house security guards chased the culprits' vehicle and managed to arrest them," a security source told VOI. "Arms and ammunition in the gunmen's possession were seized," he added.
The U.S.-funded Scorpion Force comprises more than 850 soldiers in five companies, two of them specialized in aerial landings. The contingent, whose commander Col. Sallam al-Maamouri was assassinated last year by an explosive device planted in his office, is assigned to raid gunmen hideouts, not only in Hilla but also in all Iraqi provinces.
The special force has taken part in operations to eliminate the extremist Jund al-Samaa, or Soldiers of Heaven, movement and settling the recent incidents in Karbala during the holy Shiite rituals of a pilgrimage called al-Ziyara al-Shaabaniya, or the mid-Shaaban visit, to celebrate the birth anniversary of the Messiah-like Imam al-Mahdi, the 12th holiest figure for Shiite Muslims.
Tamimi, who is an officer in the Iraqi army in the rank of captain, survived the attack unscathed but his house was damaged, the source added. Meanwhile, the same source added, Muhammad Hussein al-Khafaji, a member of Shiite leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakeem's SIIC, was attacked with clubs by a group of people. Khafaji was wounded and rushed to hospital, he said. The source did not give further details about the two incidents.
SIIC and Dawa Party offices in different Iraqi provinces came under attacks by unidentified gunmen in the aftermath of last week's bloody incidents in Karbala in which scores were killed and hundreds others wounded. Earlier in Babel on Sunday Brig. Abbas al-Juburi, the commander of the special Scorpion Force, survived an attempt on his life when three gunmen in a civilian vehicle showered his house with bullets, killing one civilian inside.
"Gunmen attacked Juburi's house in al-Karama neighborhood in central Hilla on Sunday morning and escaped, but 30 minutes later the house security guards chased the culprits' vehicle and managed to arrest them," a security source told VOI. "Arms and ammunition in the gunmen's possession were seized," he added.
The U.S.-funded Scorpion Force comprises more than 850 soldiers in five companies, two of them specialized in aerial landings. The contingent, whose commander Col. Sallam al-Maamouri was assassinated last year by an explosive device planted in his office, is assigned to raid gunmen hideouts, not only in Hilla but also in all Iraqi provinces.
The special force has taken part in operations to eliminate the extremist Jund al-Samaa, or Soldiers of Heaven, movement and settling the recent incidents in Karbala during the holy Shiite rituals of a pilgrimage called al-Ziyara al-Shaabaniya, or the mid-Shaaban visit, to celebrate the birth anniversary of the Messiah-like Imam al-Mahdi, the 12th holiest figure for Shiite Muslims.
Labels: Brig. Abbas al-Juburi, Dawa party, Hussein Hassan al-Tamimi, Iskandariyah, Jund al-Samaa, Muhammad Hussein al-Khafaji, Scorpion Force, SIIC
