Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Gunmen steal $550,000 in Iraq
Security
(AP) - Robbers dressed as police commandos hijacked an armored truck in eastern Baghdad on Wednesday, bound and gagged its guards, and made off with about $550,000 in Iraqi currency, police said. The bandits used what appeared to be two Iraqi police vehicles to set up a fake police checkpoint on Mohammed al-Qassim highway, near the Sinak district of the Iraqi capital, said two officers, both on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The robbery took place around 1:30 p.m., they said. At first, the assailants offered to escort and protect the armored truck en route to downtown Baghdad, the officers said. Along the way, they forced the truck driver to pull over near Mustansiriya University, they said. Then they handcuffed and gagged all the truck's occupants - five guards, one accountant and a driver - and stole the money.
One officer quoted the accountant as saying the cash was being carried from a factory in Baghdad's Zafaraniyah neighborhood to a private bank. The victims drew attention from passing motorists, who alerted police. Authorities responded about an hour later, when they found the seven victims sitting unharmed in the empty armored truck by the side of the road, the officers said.
The assailants' identities were unknown, and it was unclear how they obtained what appeared to be two Iraqi police vehicles, in which they fled. One of the police officers who spoke to The Associated Press was on patrol at the time of the robbery and responded to the scene. The other was on duty in a local station and received multiple reports of the incident.
One officer quoted the accountant as saying the cash was being carried from a factory in Baghdad's Zafaraniyah neighborhood to a private bank. The victims drew attention from passing motorists, who alerted police. Authorities responded about an hour later, when they found the seven victims sitting unharmed in the empty armored truck by the side of the road, the officers said.
The assailants' identities were unknown, and it was unclear how they obtained what appeared to be two Iraqi police vehicles, in which they fled. One of the police officers who spoke to The Associated Press was on patrol at the time of the robbery and responded to the scene. The other was on duty in a local station and received multiple reports of the incident.
Labels: Baghdad, robbery, Sinak, theft
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Truck bomb kills 75 as new offensive launched
Security
(RFE/RL) - A massive truck bomb explosion has killed some 75 people and wounded at least 130 in central Baghdad. The explosion occurred near the Shi'ite Al-Khalani Mosque in the city center. The attack in Baghdad's busy commercial district of Sinak came just hours after thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops launched a new offensive north of Baghdad aimed at clearing the region of Sunni insurgents and Al-Qaeda.
The operation is called Arrowhead Ripper and involves some 10,000 U.S. and Iraqi soldiers in Diyala Governorate. The operation began in earnest overnight, with air and ground assaults in and around the provincial capital of Ba'qubah, 60 kilometers north of Baghdad. By daybreak, the U.S. military said 22 militants had been killed. The Diyala operation opens a new front and comes in response to changing insurgent tactics.
The U.S.-led troop surge in Baghdad, and Al-Anbar Governorate to the west, has meant insurgents, who are being pushed out of those areas, are refocusing their activities to other parts of the country. In a report issued on June 13, the Pentagon said the rise in attacks in Diyala and Ninawa governorates were threatening to offset coalition gains in Iraq’s center. In recent months, Diyala Governorate has emerged as a center of the Sunni Arab insurgency, with Al-Qaeda In Mesopotamia and other militant groups turning it into a base of operations.
Shi’ite militias have also been active in the region. Diyala Governorate, a prime agricultural region of date and orange groves has a mixed Sunni and Shi’a population. That makes it explosive as extremists seek to fan sectarian tensions. Thousands of people have already been forced from their homes in fighting between militant groups.
While Diyala Governorate appears to be a current epicenter of insurgent-led violence in Iraq, the Pentagon report also notes a rise in militant attacks in the southern city of Al-Basrah as well as Mosul and Tal Afar in the north, all of which were once touted as islands of relative stability. Operation Arrowhead Ripper comes just days after the U.S. military said it had completed its buildup of forces in Iraq to 160,000 troops.
The operation is called Arrowhead Ripper and involves some 10,000 U.S. and Iraqi soldiers in Diyala Governorate. The operation began in earnest overnight, with air and ground assaults in and around the provincial capital of Ba'qubah, 60 kilometers north of Baghdad. By daybreak, the U.S. military said 22 militants had been killed. The Diyala operation opens a new front and comes in response to changing insurgent tactics.
The U.S.-led troop surge in Baghdad, and Al-Anbar Governorate to the west, has meant insurgents, who are being pushed out of those areas, are refocusing their activities to other parts of the country. In a report issued on June 13, the Pentagon said the rise in attacks in Diyala and Ninawa governorates were threatening to offset coalition gains in Iraq’s center. In recent months, Diyala Governorate has emerged as a center of the Sunni Arab insurgency, with Al-Qaeda In Mesopotamia and other militant groups turning it into a base of operations.
Shi’ite militias have also been active in the region. Diyala Governorate, a prime agricultural region of date and orange groves has a mixed Sunni and Shi’a population. That makes it explosive as extremists seek to fan sectarian tensions. Thousands of people have already been forced from their homes in fighting between militant groups.
While Diyala Governorate appears to be a current epicenter of insurgent-led violence in Iraq, the Pentagon report also notes a rise in militant attacks in the southern city of Al-Basrah as well as Mosul and Tal Afar in the north, all of which were once touted as islands of relative stability. Operation Arrowhead Ripper comes just days after the U.S. military said it had completed its buildup of forces in Iraq to 160,000 troops.
Labels: Al Qaeda in Iraq, Al-Khalani Mosque, Arrowhead Ripper, Baqouba, Diyala, Shia militias, Sinak, truck bomb
