Thursday, June 28, 2007
25 killed in car bomb attack in Bayaa
Security
(Reuters) - A car bomb killed 25 people on Thursday at a busy intersection in Baghdad where minibuses pick up and drop off passengers, while 20 beheaded bodies were found on a river bank south of the capital, Iraqi police said. Another car bomb in Baghdad targeting motorists queuing for petrol killed five people, police said. Mortar bombs also killed four people in two separate neighborhoods in the city.
In the southern city of Basra, a roadside bomb killed three British soldiers and seriously wounded another in the early hours of Thursday, the British military said. The latest attacks underscore the strength of militants in Iraq despite the arrival of 28,000 additional U.S. troops. The unrelenting violence is pushing Iraq to the brink of all-out civil war between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs.
The deadliest car bomb in Baghdad exploded in the Shi'ite district of Bayaa. The blast, which went off during the morning rush hour, wounded 40 people and destroyed dozens of vehicles. The Bayaa area in southwest Baghdad has been a frequent target of car bombs blamed on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.
In the southern city of Basra, a roadside bomb killed three British soldiers and seriously wounded another in the early hours of Thursday, the British military said. The latest attacks underscore the strength of militants in Iraq despite the arrival of 28,000 additional U.S. troops. The unrelenting violence is pushing Iraq to the brink of all-out civil war between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs.
The deadliest car bomb in Baghdad exploded in the Shi'ite district of Bayaa. The blast, which went off during the morning rush hour, wounded 40 people and destroyed dozens of vehicles. The Bayaa area in southwest Baghdad has been a frequent target of car bombs blamed on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.
In the Sunni Arab town of Salman Pak south of Baghdad, locals made the gruesome discovery of 20 beheaded men on the bank of the River Tigris, police said. All the victims were wearing civilian clothes and had their hands and legs bound, police said, adding some of the heads were missing. Iraqi police had cordoned off the area while U.S. forces had also been summoned.
Labels: Baghdad, Basra, Bayaa, beheadings, car bomb, Salman Pak
Friday, May 11, 2007
Joint Forces Begin Search Operation In Bayaa
Security
(Addustour Newspaper) - 10 MAY - Local Hay Al Bayaa citizens said that a joint Iraqi-US force began searches and raids in the city looking for wanted for wanted suspects and illegal weapons. A local eyewitness stated that the joint force blocked the main street in the area only allowing people to move on foot before they began their searches. Another local witness said these forces used different types of military vehicles in their operation. There has not yet been any news about any arrests. The Commander of Baghdad Operations, MG Aboud Qanbar, visited Bayaa to inspect the situation after last week’s clashes between groups of gunmen.
Labels: Bayaa, Iraqi-U.S. force, Maj. Gen. Aboud Qanbar, raid
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.
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.
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.
Labels: Baiyaa, Bayaa, Janabi clan, Moqtada Al-Sadr, sectarian violence, Shiite militias, Sunni extremists
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Hundreds of families flee Baghdad as fighting escalates
Security
(Azzaman) - Fighting is escalating in several districts of Baghdad forcing hundreds of families to flee their homes. In Bayaa, a low-income neighborhood, militias and police have joined forces in attacking rebel hideouts and the ensuing fighting has caused scores of casualties.
The neighborhood’s inhabitants have written to the government to put a halt to military operations and stop the exodus of families but to no avail. U.S. troops are involved in the fighting which is reported to have resulted in 35 civilian deaths and more than 63 injured in only one major attack.
Despite the intensity of fighting and the deployment of militias as well as government troops, there is no sign that the government will eventually bring peace to the neighborhood. Many parts are still under the control of rebels who are said to be using various weapons. Life has come to a standstill in Bayaa and other districts and many inhabitants wonder whether there will be an end to the current security plan to pacify Baghdad, already in its third month.
Conditions are said to be even worse at the Saydiya and Doura districts which the joint U.S. and Iraqi forces have ostensibly failed to control. With the U.S. and Iraqi forces concentrated in Baghdad, the rebels have strengthened their grip on several cities and towns to the west and north of the capital. Most parts of the northern city of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest, are in rebel hands.
The neighborhood’s inhabitants have written to the government to put a halt to military operations and stop the exodus of families but to no avail. U.S. troops are involved in the fighting which is reported to have resulted in 35 civilian deaths and more than 63 injured in only one major attack.
Despite the intensity of fighting and the deployment of militias as well as government troops, there is no sign that the government will eventually bring peace to the neighborhood. Many parts are still under the control of rebels who are said to be using various weapons. Life has come to a standstill in Bayaa and other districts and many inhabitants wonder whether there will be an end to the current security plan to pacify Baghdad, already in its third month.
Conditions are said to be even worse at the Saydiya and Doura districts which the joint U.S. and Iraqi forces have ostensibly failed to control. With the U.S. and Iraqi forces concentrated in Baghdad, the rebels have strengthened their grip on several cities and towns to the west and north of the capital. Most parts of the northern city of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest, are in rebel hands.
