Saturday, June 02, 2007
Despite Baghdad security operation, violence soars
Security
(Azzaman) - Four months after the start of the U.S. military campaign to bring security to Baghdad, acts of violence, forced displacement and sectarian killings have worsened. Violence has even spread to quarters which were relatively quiet before the start of the operations which brought tens of thousands of more U.S. and Iraqi troops to the streets of the capital.
Worst hit is the Karkh side of Baghdad where pitched battles occasionally take place amid densely populated quarters. U.S. and Iraqi troops have failed to put an end to kidnapping and the dumping of unidentified bodies on the streets of Baghdad. Baghdad is divided into two quarters – Karkh and Rasafah – bisected by the Tigris River.
Assad Ali from Karkh says residents sometimes have to stay indoors for several days fearing to leave their homes due to escalating violence. “Violent acts are setting our areas on fire. It is illogical for the government to leave us to our fate,” he said. Ali said he thought the authorities were more concerned about the Rasafah side of Baghdad which he said was relatively quieter.
The ongoing violence has brought business to a halt in many areas. Workers and civil servants cannot join work, aggravating living conditions for the majority of the population. According to Muhsen Hamed property prices have dropped by almost 50 percent particularly in Karkh. “There is a continuous movement of families in the city for the most violent areas to the less violent,” he said.
Hamed said certain quarters of Baghdad with their own vigilante groups are seeing a rise in property and rent as more and more families flock there. Estate agents in Karkh say they have lost their business due to ongoing violence. “For more than a year I have not sold a single house,” said Abdullatif Raheem, an estate agent.
Raheem said even in smart areas with heavy military presence, prices property prices have dropped substantially. He said monthly rents in the smart district of Mansour have plummeted to about 250,000 (USD$200) dinars from one million.
Worst hit is the Karkh side of Baghdad where pitched battles occasionally take place amid densely populated quarters. U.S. and Iraqi troops have failed to put an end to kidnapping and the dumping of unidentified bodies on the streets of Baghdad. Baghdad is divided into two quarters – Karkh and Rasafah – bisected by the Tigris River.
Assad Ali from Karkh says residents sometimes have to stay indoors for several days fearing to leave their homes due to escalating violence. “Violent acts are setting our areas on fire. It is illogical for the government to leave us to our fate,” he said. Ali said he thought the authorities were more concerned about the Rasafah side of Baghdad which he said was relatively quieter.
The ongoing violence has brought business to a halt in many areas. Workers and civil servants cannot join work, aggravating living conditions for the majority of the population. According to Muhsen Hamed property prices have dropped by almost 50 percent particularly in Karkh. “There is a continuous movement of families in the city for the most violent areas to the less violent,” he said.
Hamed said certain quarters of Baghdad with their own vigilante groups are seeing a rise in property and rent as more and more families flock there. Estate agents in Karkh say they have lost their business due to ongoing violence. “For more than a year I have not sold a single house,” said Abdullatif Raheem, an estate agent.
Raheem said even in smart areas with heavy military presence, prices property prices have dropped substantially. He said monthly rents in the smart district of Mansour have plummeted to about 250,000 (USD$200) dinars from one million.
Labels: Baghdad, Karkh, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon, violence
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Worse security conditions despite 'surge'
Security
(Azzaman) - Baghdad inhabitants say the presence of armed groups has intensified since the start of U.S. military operations to pacify the city more than two months ago. More and more armed groups are springing up in Baghdad, they say, and restive quarters like Doura and Ghazaliya have turned into major insurgent strongholds.
The Ministry of Interior which plays a big hand in the current operations targeting armed and rebel groups in the city would not comment on reports on the escalation of the number of armed in the city. But a ministry source, refusing to be named, said, “The security forces are striking with a fist of iron all the hatcheries of armed groups in various areas (of Baghdad) and the provinces by capturing many of them every week.”
But Baghdad residents have different stories to tell. Kadhem Abedsada who has been forced to flee al-Ghazaliya district, said security conditions have aggravated since the government began its security plan. “I have never seen such a wide presence of armed groups before. Their hideouts dot al-Ghazaliya and they are breeding like mushrooms. They call themselves resistance but they kill and kidnap on identity cards and ask for massive ransoms,” Abedsada said.
A woman, refusing to be named, said her husband was abducted by armed men who forced their way into their house in the violent neighborhood of Saydiya. “My husband was kidnapped from our home in Saydiya by an unidentified armed group. They entered our house, handcuffed my husband and took away our money and jewelry. “Then they asked for $30,000 as a ransom but later reduced it to $20,000 when I told them they had already taken almost all what we had. “After paying the ransom, they released my husband on condition that we immediately evacuate the neighborhood and so did we,” said the woman, who only spoke on condition of anonymity.
Abu Ahmad from al-Jamia neighborhood said their areas had turned into hideouts for armed groups. “Armed groups operate and act with impunity. They can do whatever they want as there are no Iraqi security forces in most of our neighborhood. “Occasionally, U.S. troops storm certain areas and arrest some people most of whom are innocent,” Abu Ahmad said.
Conditions in Amiriya neighborhood have also worsened since U.S. and Iraqi forces launched their security plan. Hadi Mahmoud said many residents in Amiriya now fear leaving their homes and a trip outside the neighborhood is for many ‘a journey to certain death.’ “We cannot leave our areas and our homes. Our neighborhood looks almost deserted apart from the sight of armed groups brandishing their weapons and wandering freely in the streets,” said Mahmoud.
The Ministry of Interior which plays a big hand in the current operations targeting armed and rebel groups in the city would not comment on reports on the escalation of the number of armed in the city. But a ministry source, refusing to be named, said, “The security forces are striking with a fist of iron all the hatcheries of armed groups in various areas (of Baghdad) and the provinces by capturing many of them every week.”
But Baghdad residents have different stories to tell. Kadhem Abedsada who has been forced to flee al-Ghazaliya district, said security conditions have aggravated since the government began its security plan. “I have never seen such a wide presence of armed groups before. Their hideouts dot al-Ghazaliya and they are breeding like mushrooms. They call themselves resistance but they kill and kidnap on identity cards and ask for massive ransoms,” Abedsada said.
A woman, refusing to be named, said her husband was abducted by armed men who forced their way into their house in the violent neighborhood of Saydiya. “My husband was kidnapped from our home in Saydiya by an unidentified armed group. They entered our house, handcuffed my husband and took away our money and jewelry. “Then they asked for $30,000 as a ransom but later reduced it to $20,000 when I told them they had already taken almost all what we had. “After paying the ransom, they released my husband on condition that we immediately evacuate the neighborhood and so did we,” said the woman, who only spoke on condition of anonymity.
Abu Ahmad from al-Jamia neighborhood said their areas had turned into hideouts for armed groups. “Armed groups operate and act with impunity. They can do whatever they want as there are no Iraqi security forces in most of our neighborhood. “Occasionally, U.S. troops storm certain areas and arrest some people most of whom are innocent,” Abu Ahmad said.
Conditions in Amiriya neighborhood have also worsened since U.S. and Iraqi forces launched their security plan. Hadi Mahmoud said many residents in Amiriya now fear leaving their homes and a trip outside the neighborhood is for many ‘a journey to certain death.’ “We cannot leave our areas and our homes. Our neighborhood looks almost deserted apart from the sight of armed groups brandishing their weapons and wandering freely in the streets,” said Mahmoud.
COMMENT: The Azzaman Arabic Daily is a self declared “independent” newspaper printed in Great Britain and distributed throughout the Arab community. The Editor-in-Chief, Sadi Al Bazzaz is a former employee of the Iraqi Ministry of Information, who fled Iraq in the early 1990’s to Great Britain. Azzaman is widely read throughout Baghdad as a valuable source of information. Azzaman continues to be the most popular printed news source in Baghdad. Azzaman takes more of a center approach in its reporting and editorials, rather than being pro-Coalition. The paper does run anti-Coalition pieces that label the US presence in Iraq as an occupying force. Azzaman Arabic Daily resembles a liberal, non-religious based, western paper; providing local and international news, sports, fashion, arts, a cyber section called “@.” This paper and those like it were not available in Baghdad during the Saddam regime.COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: al-Jamia, Ameriyah, armed groups, Baghdad, Doura, Ghazaliyah, insurgents, Ministry of Interior, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon, Saydiya, security
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
UNAMI - civilian casualties high in Baghdad despite security operation
Security, U.N., Human Rights
(AP) - Sectarian violence continued to claim the lives of a large number of Iraqi civilians in Sunni Arab and Shiite neighborhoods of Iraq's capital, despite the coalition's new Baghdad security plan, the U.N. said Wednesday. In its first human rights report since the security plan was launched on Feb. 14, with increasing U.S. and Iraqi troops levels in the capital, the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said civilian casualties in the daily violence between January and March remained high, concentrated in and around Baghdad.
UNAMI also said that for the first time since it began issuing quarterly reports on the human rights situation in Iraq, the new Jan. 1 through March 31 report did not contain overall death figures from Iraq's Ministry of Health because it refused to release them. The U.N. agency said the reason appeared to be that after the publication of its last human rights report on Jan. 16, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office told UNAMI its mortality figures were exaggerated, "although they were in fact official figures compiled and provided by a government ministry."
"While government officials claimed an initial drop in the number of killings in the latter half of February following the launch of the Baghdad security plan, the number of reported casualties rose again in March," the UNAMI study said. Despite the government's announced decrease, the number of victims remained high, with up to 25 bodies still being found on some days during this period in Baghdad, the report said.
On March 1, it said, Iraq's Ministry of Interior announced that 1,646 civilians were killed in Iraq in February, most of them in Baghdad, but that "it is unclear on what basis these figures were compiled." UNAMI said that even though its current report's evidence cannot be numerically substantiated with government figures, it shows continued high levels of violence throughout the period, including large scale indiscriminate killings and assassinations by insurgents, militias and other armed groups.
UNAMI also said that for the first time since it began issuing quarterly reports on the human rights situation in Iraq, the new Jan. 1 through March 31 report did not contain overall death figures from Iraq's Ministry of Health because it refused to release them. The U.N. agency said the reason appeared to be that after the publication of its last human rights report on Jan. 16, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office told UNAMI its mortality figures were exaggerated, "although they were in fact official figures compiled and provided by a government ministry."
"While government officials claimed an initial drop in the number of killings in the latter half of February following the launch of the Baghdad security plan, the number of reported casualties rose again in March," the UNAMI study said. Despite the government's announced decrease, the number of victims remained high, with up to 25 bodies still being found on some days during this period in Baghdad, the report said.
On March 1, it said, Iraq's Ministry of Interior announced that 1,646 civilians were killed in Iraq in February, most of them in Baghdad, but that "it is unclear on what basis these figures were compiled." UNAMI said that even though its current report's evidence cannot be numerically substantiated with government figures, it shows continued high levels of violence throughout the period, including large scale indiscriminate killings and assassinations by insurgents, militias and other armed groups.
Labels: Baghdad, human rights, Ministry of Health, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon, sectarian violence, U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq, UNAMI
Monday, March 26, 2007
Head of U.S. Central Command in Baghdad
Security
(AFP) - Admiral William Fallon has arrived in Iraq for his first visit since being appointed head of US Central Command which overseas American military operations in the Middle East, a spokesman said on Sunday. ‘I can confirm that he’s in Iraq. This is his first trip since taking command at US Central Command,’ Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver told AFP, saying that Fallon would be meeting government and military leaders.
The Iraqi defence ministry said Fallon and Iraqi Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassim Mohammed met in Baghdad for talks about security on Sunday. They discussed a continuing operation launched by US and Iraqi troops last month in a bid to quell violence in Baghdad, and security concerns in the provinces of Al Anbar, Basra, Diyala and Nineveh, the ministry said.
Fallon this year replaced General John Abizaid as head of the Central Command, which oversees US forces from North Africa to Central Asia and is in charge of running the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A former head of American forces in the Pacific, Fallon was a navy combat pilot during the Vietnam War, commanded an attack squadron during the 1991 Gulf War and was involved in NATO’s Operation Deliberate Force in Bosnia.
The Iraqi defence ministry said Fallon and Iraqi Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassim Mohammed met in Baghdad for talks about security on Sunday. They discussed a continuing operation launched by US and Iraqi troops last month in a bid to quell violence in Baghdad, and security concerns in the provinces of Al Anbar, Basra, Diyala and Nineveh, the ministry said.
Fallon this year replaced General John Abizaid as head of the Central Command, which oversees US forces from North Africa to Central Asia and is in charge of running the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A former head of American forces in the Pacific, Fallon was a navy combat pilot during the Vietnam War, commanded an attack squadron during the 1991 Gulf War and was involved in NATO’s Operation Deliberate Force in Bosnia.
Labels: Admiral William Fallon, Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassim Mohammed, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon, US Central Command
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Iraqi prison population soars, expected to rise
Security
(Azzaman) The population of prisons in Iraq has soared in recent months with tens of thousands of Iraqis currently in U.S. custody without trial. U.S. troops and Iraqi government are investing heavily in the construction of prisons in the country with more than 100,000 Iraqis currently behind bars. A parliamentary investigation commission has found that U.S. troops alone now detain more than 61,000 Iraqis and the figure is expected to swell as the Americans press ahead with their military operations.
More than 50,000 Iraqis were reported to have been arrested in the past four weeks as part of the joint U.S.-Iraqi military campaign to subdue Baghdad. U.S. troops detain Iraqis merely on suspicion. Once detained, Iraqis may stay indefinitely as they are denied access to lawyers and Iraqi courts and government have no right to question U.S. troops’ actions.
Even Iraqi troops operations and activities now fall beyond the Iraqi judicial system as the country has been placed under emergency rule under which the courts have no power to question what the security forces do. Many of the detainees are subjected to torture by military interrogators who use all means to extract confessions.
The detainees are denied visits by family members or relatives and they usually have no means to get in touch with them until they are released. Many Iraqi families continue a hopeless search for relatives detained by U.S. troops. The search starts with hospital morgues and government-run prisons. U.S. prisons are off bounds. U.S. troops do not inform relatives of the Iraqis they capture.
More than 50,000 Iraqis were reported to have been arrested in the past four weeks as part of the joint U.S.-Iraqi military campaign to subdue Baghdad. U.S. troops detain Iraqis merely on suspicion. Once detained, Iraqis may stay indefinitely as they are denied access to lawyers and Iraqi courts and government have no right to question U.S. troops’ actions.
Even Iraqi troops operations and activities now fall beyond the Iraqi judicial system as the country has been placed under emergency rule under which the courts have no power to question what the security forces do. Many of the detainees are subjected to torture by military interrogators who use all means to extract confessions.
The detainees are denied visits by family members or relatives and they usually have no means to get in touch with them until they are released. Many Iraqi families continue a hopeless search for relatives detained by U.S. troops. The search starts with hospital morgues and government-run prisons. U.S. prisons are off bounds. U.S. troops do not inform relatives of the Iraqis they capture.
Labels: Operation Fardh al-Qanoon, prisons
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Mass protests in Sadr City
Security, Politics
(Al Jazeera) More than a thousand unarmed protesters demanded the removal of a US military base in Baghdad's Sadr City on Friday in the first sign of Shia opposition to a new security plan. A large crowd of Shia-led worshippers unfurled banners demanding the base be abandoned while chanting: "No, no to America. No, no to Israel. No, no to Satan."
There have been fears that US and Iraqi forces would face violent opposition as they tried to gain control of the vast Sadr City district- a stronghold of the Moqtada al-Sadr's al-Mahdi armed fighters. Instead, al-Sadr's black-clad fighters melted away as the plan went into effect last month. Sadr himself was not present - the US military believes he has gone to ground in Iraq's Shia neighbour Iran - but supporters carried his portrait and read out a statement he had apparently sent to them.
There have been fears that US and Iraqi forces would face violent opposition as they tried to gain control of the vast Sadr City district- a stronghold of the Moqtada al-Sadr's al-Mahdi armed fighters. Instead, al-Sadr's black-clad fighters melted away as the plan went into effect last month. Sadr himself was not present - the US military believes he has gone to ground in Iraq's Shia neighbour Iran - but supporters carried his portrait and read out a statement he had apparently sent to them.
COMMENT: It is likely the protests were triggered by the attack on the mayor of Sadr City, Rahim al-Darraji, who has been cooperative with the U.S. in Operation Imposing Law and statements released by al-Sadr to stand up to the U.S. Although Sunnis are obvious suspects to have carried out the attack, it could also have been conducted by Shia militia men against the stand that al-Darraji has taken with the U.S. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Moqtada Al-Sadr, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon, Rahim al-Darraji, Sadr City
Friday, March 16, 2007
Iraqi general in charge of Baghdad security plan fired
Politics, Security
(Azzaman) The Iraqi general who commanded the joint U.S.-Iraqi military operation to subdue Baghdad has been fired. Lt. General Abdoud Qanbar Hashem was forced to retire at a lower rank. His name was included in a list of 1,189 former army officers who were put on pension.
General Qanbar was a senior officer in the former army under former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. But Prime Minister Nouri Maliki first employed him as head of his office and then promoted him to the rank of Lt. General to lead the troops deployed to impose law and order in Baghdad.
There were reports that U.S. commanders were not pleased with Qanbar at the head of the operation. It is not clear whether the decision to put Qanbar on pension has anything to do with the pace of progress in the operation. The operation is still on but it seems it has so far made little success. The decision to place Qanbar on pension was signed by the head of the prime minister’s office, which means that it had the blessing of Maliki himself.
General Qanbar was a senior officer in the former army under former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. But Prime Minister Nouri Maliki first employed him as head of his office and then promoted him to the rank of Lt. General to lead the troops deployed to impose law and order in Baghdad.
There were reports that U.S. commanders were not pleased with Qanbar at the head of the operation. It is not clear whether the decision to put Qanbar on pension has anything to do with the pace of progress in the operation. The operation is still on but it seems it has so far made little success. The decision to place Qanbar on pension was signed by the head of the prime minister’s office, which means that it had the blessing of Maliki himself.
Labels: al-Maliki, Lt. General Abdoud Qanbar Hashem, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Al-Maliki tells Iraqi governors to implement security plan
Security
(Al-Iraqiyah) Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a meeting of Iraqi governors in Baghdad on March 12 that security forces operating in the governorates should be on guard against terrorists who have fled Baghdad, Al-Iraqiyah television reported the same day. Al-Maliki asked the governors to cooperate "with all other executive agencies in their respective governorates in order to develop a plan similar to the Baghdad law enforcement plan so as to impose the law in these areas."
He also called on governors to make full use of their budgets in order to speed reconstruction efforts. In years past, the governorates did not spend all of the money allocated to them because of security conditions. Al-Maliki reportedly said the funds will be withdrawn by the federal government if they are not used.
Labels: al-Maliki, governors, Operation Fardh al-Qanoon
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Attacks step up as Operation Imposing Law continues
Security
(Al Jazeera) More than 40 civilians and several Iraqi and US soldiers have died in a series of attacks in Baghdad, a day after more than 60 people were killed when two car bombs were detonated near a market. Monday's killings were the latest blow to a joint security operation by US and Iraqi forces aimed at improving security in the capital.
In Baghdad, the bloodshed included at least 11 people killed in a mortar attack on a Shia enclave and five killed when a suicide attacker detonated a bomb-rigged belt on a public bus headed for the mostly Shia area of Karradah, police reported.
On a highway about nine miles northwest of Baghdad, armed men stopped a minivan and assassinated all 13 occupants, including an elderly woman and two boys, accusing them of opposing al-Qaeda in Iraq, police and witnesses said. North of Baghdad, a suicide car bomber attacked a house in the Khazraj district belonging to an Iraqi army major, killing five soldiers and wounding 10 others, police said. In a separate incident, one person was killed and seven others were injured in a car bomb explosion in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, police said. In the northern city of Tal Afar, five people, including a six-year-old boy, were killed by a roadside bomb, Najim Abdullah, a local official, said.
In Baghdad, the bloodshed included at least 11 people killed in a mortar attack on a Shia enclave and five killed when a suicide attacker detonated a bomb-rigged belt on a public bus headed for the mostly Shia area of Karradah, police reported.
On a highway about nine miles northwest of Baghdad, armed men stopped a minivan and assassinated all 13 occupants, including an elderly woman and two boys, accusing them of opposing al-Qaeda in Iraq, police and witnesses said. North of Baghdad, a suicide car bomber attacked a house in the Khazraj district belonging to an Iraqi army major, killing five soldiers and wounding 10 others, police said. In a separate incident, one person was killed and seven others were injured in a car bomb explosion in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, police said. In the northern city of Tal Afar, five people, including a six-year-old boy, were killed by a roadside bomb, Najim Abdullah, a local official, said.
Outside Baghdad, nearly 150 people were hospitalized complaining of breathing problems, vomiting and other ailments after a truck carrying a chlorine-based substance was hit by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad, said Brig. Gen. Qassim Moussawi, a military spokesman. Two people died in the blast and the others were treated after being exposed to fumes and debris near Taji, about 12 miles northwest of Baghdad, Moussawi said. All those treated were in stable condition.
Tens of thousands of US and Iraqi troops have been deployed in Baghdad as part of Operation Fardh al-Qanoon - Operation Imposing Law - which officially started last week.
Tens of thousands of US and Iraqi troops have been deployed in Baghdad as part of Operation Fardh al-Qanoon - Operation Imposing Law - which officially started last week.
Labels: Operation Fardh al-Qanoon, Operation Imposing Law -
