Monday, August 13, 2007
Security officers arrested carrying explosive belts
Security
(Azzaman) - Two security officers have been arrested in the religious city of Karbala as they were trying to smuggle into the city explosive belts to target holy shrines, Karbala governor said. Aqeel al-Khazaali said preliminary investigations have shown that the two arrested officers were members of the Islamic Army, an armed group fighting U.S. occupation troops as well as the country’s U.S.-sponsored government.
Khazaali said the two, whose have not been identified, have admitted to committing “horrendous crimes” in the province. The arrest was made as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shiites began flocking to religious shrines to commemorate the death of one of their saints buried in Baghdad. Security was tight in Baghdad in the few days before the event on Thursday as multitudes of Shiites poured to the shrine of Imam Kadhem, a revered Shiite holy man buried in Baghdad. Iraqi security forces and army blocked the entrances and roads to the shrine and placed bomb and explosive detectors on all major roads leading to it.
Meantime, Brigadier Qassem Atta, a spokesman for the current campaign to secure Baghdad, said the authorities have discovered “a huge weapons depot” at a major Sunni mosque in the city. He said the arms cache include mortars, artillery projectiles, missiles and rocket launchers. Atta said 86 gunmen were killed and 143 captured in the past two weeks in Adhamiya, a predominantly Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad. He said 37 kidnapped Iraqis were freed, 914 bombs defused and 13 car bombs dismantled in the same area.
Khazaali said the two, whose have not been identified, have admitted to committing “horrendous crimes” in the province. The arrest was made as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shiites began flocking to religious shrines to commemorate the death of one of their saints buried in Baghdad. Security was tight in Baghdad in the few days before the event on Thursday as multitudes of Shiites poured to the shrine of Imam Kadhem, a revered Shiite holy man buried in Baghdad. Iraqi security forces and army blocked the entrances and roads to the shrine and placed bomb and explosive detectors on all major roads leading to it.
Meantime, Brigadier Qassem Atta, a spokesman for the current campaign to secure Baghdad, said the authorities have discovered “a huge weapons depot” at a major Sunni mosque in the city. He said the arms cache include mortars, artillery projectiles, missiles and rocket launchers. Atta said 86 gunmen were killed and 143 captured in the past two weeks in Adhamiya, a predominantly Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad. He said 37 kidnapped Iraqis were freed, 914 bombs defused and 13 car bombs dismantled in the same area.
Labels: Adhamiyah, Aqeel al-Khazaali, Brigadier Qassem Atta, explosive belts, Islamic Army in Iraq, Karbala, Sunni mosque, weapons cache
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Karbala, Anbar provinces form security committee
Security
(Voices of Iraq) - The provinces of Karbala and Anbar agreed to form a joint security committee to better achieve security cooperation and to coordinate information, the Karbala governor on Wednesday. "The two provinces agreed in the meeting, which took place Tuesday in Hilla city, to form a joint security committee from the two provinces, their councils, and the security forces in coordination with the coalition forces to study the present situation and means of better developing it to preserve the administrational boundaries between them", Aqeel al-Khazaali, the governor of Karbala, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
"We agreed on securing the international highway to ensure safety of the passengers including pilgrims and visitors of holy shrines in the province, determining boundaries of security responsibility and areas of joint patrols, and securing the area of Kilometer 160 which lies on the highway between Iraq and Jordan ", continued the governor.
"We also agreed on the necessity of securing the area near Razazah Lake (150 km west of Karbala), exchange intelligence tips, establishing a hotline between the two sides in both operation rooms, reporting any operations within the borders between the two provinces to take the necessary measures, and assist in evacuating bodies of the killed within the geographical boundaries of Anbar province" he added.
"The meeting resulted in a form of cooperation between the two provinces to find joint investment projects that meet the needs of the population in the two provinces" said al-Khazaali. "The two provinces share administrational boundaries, tribal relations, and Islamic and national brotherhood that are considered the cornerstone of preserving the unity of Iraq ", explained al-Khazaali.
He pointed out that the two provinces demanded the central government to support this approach between them and to provide the necessary requirements to render the work of the joint committee a success. Karbala, which is 108 km south of Baghdad, shares administrational boundaries with Anbar, 45 km west of Baghdad.
"We agreed on securing the international highway to ensure safety of the passengers including pilgrims and visitors of holy shrines in the province, determining boundaries of security responsibility and areas of joint patrols, and securing the area of Kilometer 160 which lies on the highway between Iraq and Jordan ", continued the governor.
"We also agreed on the necessity of securing the area near Razazah Lake (150 km west of Karbala), exchange intelligence tips, establishing a hotline between the two sides in both operation rooms, reporting any operations within the borders between the two provinces to take the necessary measures, and assist in evacuating bodies of the killed within the geographical boundaries of Anbar province" he added.
"The meeting resulted in a form of cooperation between the two provinces to find joint investment projects that meet the needs of the population in the two provinces" said al-Khazaali. "The two provinces share administrational boundaries, tribal relations, and Islamic and national brotherhood that are considered the cornerstone of preserving the unity of Iraq ", explained al-Khazaali.
He pointed out that the two provinces demanded the central government to support this approach between them and to provide the necessary requirements to render the work of the joint committee a success. Karbala, which is 108 km south of Baghdad, shares administrational boundaries with Anbar, 45 km west of Baghdad.
Labels: Al Anbar, Aqeel al-Khazaali, Hilla, Karbala, Kilometer 160, Razazah Lake, security
