Friday, May 25, 2007
Turkey violates Kurdish airspace
Security, Kurdistan, Turkey
(Voices of Iraq) - A military source from Iraq's Kurdistan region said on Thursday two Turkish warplanes violated Iraqi northern Kurdistan airspace near the borders with Turkey. "Two Turkish warplanes violated today the Kurdistan region airspace for a distance of ten kilometers inside the Iraqi territories," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The warplanes flew over Kurdish villages west of Zakho, the source added. Meanwhile, local residents from villages on the borders with Turkey told VOI "12 artillery shells were fired from the Turkish territories onto the villages of Nazador and Gali Bazagha with no reports of casualties." Duhuk, third province within Kurdistan region, is in the farthest north of Iraq and it has borders with Turkey and Syria.
The warplanes flew over Kurdish villages west of Zakho, the source added. Meanwhile, local residents from villages on the borders with Turkey told VOI "12 artillery shells were fired from the Turkish territories onto the villages of Nazador and Gali Bazagha with no reports of casualties." Duhuk, third province within Kurdistan region, is in the farthest north of Iraq and it has borders with Turkey and Syria.
(Stratfor) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would support Turkey's generals if they chose to attack Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq in retaliation for the May 22 suicide bombing in Ankara. The Kurdistan Workers' Party has denied responsibility for the blast. Erdogan also said the United States should do more to crack down on Kurdish separatists in Iraq.
COMMENT: Previously Turkey's military command and politicians have been divided on attacking Kurdistan to pursue the PKK, with the military pushing for an attack and the politicians prefering a more diplomatic approach. The chances of Turkey attacking will rise now that the two sides are (temporarily) united. Also, the politicians had to be seen to be doing something following the Ankara bombing. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Ankara, bombings, Kurdistan, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish warplanes, Zakhu
Monday, March 19, 2007
Two bombs explode in Kirkuk as Shiite mosque in Baghdad attacked
Security
(AP) - Two car bombs exploded in different parts of the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk on Monday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 37, police said. The first explosion occurred near a market in southern Kirkuk, which has an Arab majority, while the second took place in the center of the city, targeting a residential area with a mixed Kurdish and Turkomen population. Kirkuk, located 180 miles north of Baghdad, has seen a recent rise in violence that many blame on insurgents who have fled a security crackdown in Baghdad. The city is also the center of an ethnic power struggle as Kurds are seeking to incorporate it into their autonomous zone.
A bomb exploded during prayers at a Shiite mosque in the capital Monday, killing at least eight worshippers and wounding nearly three dozen on the eve of the war's fourth anniversary, police said. The attack occurred about 12:30 p.m., shattering windows and damaging a wall of the small green-domed mosque that is situated among several shops in the central Shorja market area. Police initially blamed it on a suicide bomber trying to enter the building but later said the blast was caused by a bomb placed in the corner behind the preacher's podium, leaving a crater in the floor. Gheith Jassim, the 32-year-old owner of a textile shop near the mosque, said some worshippers at the scene were cursing Sunni extremists. "We are not saved from them even during prayers," he said. "They want to ignite Sunni-Shiite strife."
Labels: bombings, Kirkuk, Shiite mosque
Sunday, March 11, 2007
More pilgrims killed
Security
(BBC) Two bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, have left at least 29 people dead, police said. Nineteen people died in the Karrada district when a car bomb exploded near a truck carrying Shia pilgrims. In a separate incident, a suicide bomber blew himself up on a minibus in eastern Baghdad, killing 10 people. The latest violence comes a day after Baghdad hosted a conference on security, attended by world powers including the US, Syria and Iran.
In Karrada, a car bomber drove into a truck that was bringing about 70 men and boys home from the holy city of Karbala, south of Baghdad. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims had gone to Karbala to mark the Arbaeen ceremony, one of the holiest events in the Shia calendar. "I blame the government," the Associated Press news agency quoted one man injured in the blast as saying. "They didn't provide a safe route for us even though they knew we were targets for attack."
Last week, in the run-up to the ceremony, scores of pilgrims were killed in bomb and gun attacks across Iraq.
Sunday's separate suicide attack happened in Baghdad's Shia stronghold of Sadr City, injuring at least eight people.
In Karrada, a car bomber drove into a truck that was bringing about 70 men and boys home from the holy city of Karbala, south of Baghdad. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims had gone to Karbala to mark the Arbaeen ceremony, one of the holiest events in the Shia calendar. "I blame the government," the Associated Press news agency quoted one man injured in the blast as saying. "They didn't provide a safe route for us even though they knew we were targets for attack."
Last week, in the run-up to the ceremony, scores of pilgrims were killed in bomb and gun attacks across Iraq.
Sunday's separate suicide attack happened in Baghdad's Shia stronghold of Sadr City, injuring at least eight people.
Labels: bombings, Karrada, Sadr City, Shiite pilgrims
Monday, February 19, 2007
Scores killed by bombs as security operation continues
Security
(Al Jazeera) At least 13 people have died in a series of bombings in Baghdad, a day after more than 60 people were killed when two car bombs were detonated near a market. The bombings were the latest blow to a joint security operation by US and Iraqi forces aimed at improving security in the capital.
Five commuters were killed when a bomb which was hidden on a minibus exploded in the Karradah district, police said. In a second attack, a roadside bomb exploded by a police patrol, killing two people and wounding 40 bystanders, in the nearby district of Zafaraniyah, a security official 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, police said. In a separate incident, one person was killed and another seven injured in a car bomb explosion in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, police said.
Five commuters were killed when a bomb which was hidden on a minibus exploded in the Karradah district, police said. In a second attack, a roadside bomb exploded by a police patrol, killing two people and wounding 40 bystanders, in the nearby district of Zafaraniyah, a security official 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, police said. In a separate incident, one person was killed and another seven injured in a car bomb explosion in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, police said.
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."As displaced families return home peacefully, and hopes are raised by 'Operation Fardh al-Qanoon', criminal terrorists are not happy to see life returing to normal in Baghdad," Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, said, blaming Sunni fighters and supporters of Saddam Hussein for the attacks. Soldiers deploying to new security posts had met little organised resistance, although two US troops have been killed, and the number of corpses of murder victims found every day had dropped dramatically. US forces reportedly came under attack north of Baghdad after a suicide bomber apparently tried to break through barriers around a joint base with Iraqi forces.
Outside the capital, two suicide car bombers blew themselves up in Ramadi, killing at least 11 people and wounding four, police and witnesses said. The first explosion hit the blast walls outside the house of Abdul Setar Abu Risha, a tribal leader who has led a government-backed campaign to fight al-Qaeda-linked fighters in al-Anbar province. The second suicide bomber crashed his vehicle into the house before blowing himself up. Five police officers and six civilians were killed in the blasts, witnesses said.
Outside the capital, two suicide car bombers blew themselves up in Ramadi, killing at least 11 people and wounding four, police and witnesses said. The first explosion hit the blast walls outside the house of Abdul Setar Abu Risha, a tribal leader who has led a government-backed campaign to fight al-Qaeda-linked fighters in al-Anbar province. The second suicide bomber crashed his vehicle into the house before blowing himself up. Five police officers and six civilians were killed in the blasts, witnesses said.
Labels: bombings, operation Imposing Law
