Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Bush in attempt to highlight Al Anbar 'success' story
Security
(Al Jazeera) - US military tactics in Iraq's al-Anbar province are working and troop levels could be cut if similar "successes" are repeated across the country, the US president has insisted. George Bush spoke during a surprise Iraq visit on Monday before a key military report is presented to the US congress on the increase in American troop levels.
Amid a rising death toll among US soldiers, currently estimated at 3,700, and growing calls from the Democratic party and some fellow Republicans for a troop withdrawal, Bush is under increasing pressure to withdraw American troops from Iraq. The US president told marines at al-Asad air base: "Anbar is a huge province. It was once written off as lost. It is now one of the safest places in Iraq."
However, David Isenberg, a national security expert based in Washington, said: "Any place can be saved temporarily if you pump enough troops into it. "Anbar province has had a reduction in violence but that has very little to do with the 'surge'." Bush said any troop reduction would be based on "a calm assessment by our military commanders on the conditions on the ground" and "made from a position of strength".
At the air base, Bush also held what he called "good, frank" talks with leaders of Iraq's Shia Muslim, Sunni Arab and Kurdish communities, including Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister, and Jalal Talabani, the president. Bush's trip to Iraq coincided with the withdrawal of British troops from their last base in the southern city of Basra amid tensions between Washington and its main ally over their policy in Iraq.
Isenberg said: "Factions still run the city [Basra] - there is no rule of law. "People feel compelled to join factions for their own safety. The region is still essentially a Wild West." The US president departed from Iraq shortly before 20:00 GMT on Monday, Cynthia Bergman, a White House spokeswoman, said.
Bush made the trip primarily to hold a "war council" with senior US and Iraqi officials before a report by General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, on the effect of the "surge" in US troop levels. "You are denying al-Qaeda a safe haven from which to plot and plan and carry out attacks against the United States of America," he told US soldiers who roared their approval.
He landed in al-Anbar province, once a Sunni Arab fighter stronghold now seen by the US military as a success story. The drop in violence in al-Anbar has been attributed to Sunni Arab leaders joining forces with the US military to combat al-Qaeda fighters. But security officials said that shortly before Bush's arrival, two car bombs went off in Ramadi, the provincial capital, killing four people and wounding 10. In Baghdad, police found 15 corpses of men shot dead.
Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, said it would be political suicide for Bush to begin a real troop withdrawal in Iraq. "The US cannot withdraw from the Iraq because it will be humiliating for the American empire."
Amid a rising death toll among US soldiers, currently estimated at 3,700, and growing calls from the Democratic party and some fellow Republicans for a troop withdrawal, Bush is under increasing pressure to withdraw American troops from Iraq. The US president told marines at al-Asad air base: "Anbar is a huge province. It was once written off as lost. It is now one of the safest places in Iraq."
However, David Isenberg, a national security expert based in Washington, said: "Any place can be saved temporarily if you pump enough troops into it. "Anbar province has had a reduction in violence but that has very little to do with the 'surge'." Bush said any troop reduction would be based on "a calm assessment by our military commanders on the conditions on the ground" and "made from a position of strength".
At the air base, Bush also held what he called "good, frank" talks with leaders of Iraq's Shia Muslim, Sunni Arab and Kurdish communities, including Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister, and Jalal Talabani, the president. Bush's trip to Iraq coincided with the withdrawal of British troops from their last base in the southern city of Basra amid tensions between Washington and its main ally over their policy in Iraq.
Isenberg said: "Factions still run the city [Basra] - there is no rule of law. "People feel compelled to join factions for their own safety. The region is still essentially a Wild West." The US president departed from Iraq shortly before 20:00 GMT on Monday, Cynthia Bergman, a White House spokeswoman, said.
Bush made the trip primarily to hold a "war council" with senior US and Iraqi officials before a report by General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, on the effect of the "surge" in US troop levels. "You are denying al-Qaeda a safe haven from which to plot and plan and carry out attacks against the United States of America," he told US soldiers who roared their approval.
He landed in al-Anbar province, once a Sunni Arab fighter stronghold now seen by the US military as a success story. The drop in violence in al-Anbar has been attributed to Sunni Arab leaders joining forces with the US military to combat al-Qaeda fighters. But security officials said that shortly before Bush's arrival, two car bombs went off in Ramadi, the provincial capital, killing four people and wounding 10. In Baghdad, police found 15 corpses of men shot dead.
Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, said it would be political suicide for Bush to begin a real troop withdrawal in Iraq. "The US cannot withdraw from the Iraq because it will be humiliating for the American empire."
Bush was accompanied by Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, and Stephen Hadley, his national security adviser. Waiting for them at the air base were Robert Gates, the defence secretary, and General Peter Pace, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesman, said: "This is the last big gathering of the president's military advisers and the Iraqi leadership before the president decides on the way forward."
Next week, Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador in Baghdad, are to testify before congress. They will focus on the impact of Bush's decision to send an additional 30,000 US soldiers to Iraq, a so-called "surge" that increased force numbers to 160,000.Their assessment of the conflict, along with a progress report the White House must hand legislators by September 15, is expected to determine the next phase of US military involvement in Iraq.
Next week, Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador in Baghdad, are to testify before congress. They will focus on the impact of Bush's decision to send an additional 30,000 US soldiers to Iraq, a so-called "surge" that increased force numbers to 160,000.Their assessment of the conflict, along with a progress report the White House must hand legislators by September 15, is expected to determine the next phase of US military involvement in Iraq.
Labels: Al Anbar, car bombs, General David Petraeus, George Bush, Jalal Talabani, Nouri Al-Maliki, Ryan Crocker
Monday, July 23, 2007
Triple car bomb attack in Baghdad kills 12
Security
(AP) - Three parked cars exploded within 30 minutes in a predominantly Shiite area in Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 12 people, police said, the deadliest in a series of bombings and shooting attacks nationwide. Two of the blasts in the Baghdad neighborhood of Karradah struck nearly simultaneously. One targeted a passing police patrol, killing three officers and three pedestrians and wounding nine other people, a police officer said, adding that at least seven cars also were damaged in the blast, which struck near to the Interior Ministry's nationality and social affairs directorate and the 14th of July bridge, he added.
Another parked car bomb about 500 yards away struck at about the same time, ripping through a bustling market of vegetables and household goods, killing three civilians and wounding five others, the policeman added. Another car packed with explosives struck a police patrol in Elwiyah square at about 11:30 a.m. in another part of Karradah, killing two policemen and a civilian and wounding five people, police said.
Karradah, a popular shopping area, has been hit by several high-profile bombings, and Monday's attack occurred despite a 5-month-old U.S.-Iraqi security operation aimed at stopping such violence in the capital.
Another car packed with explosives blew up on the main road about 200 yards from an entry point to the U.S.-controlled Green Zone, killing at least four Iraqis and wounding seven, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. The heavily fortified Green Zone is home to the U.S. and British embassies as well as Iraqi government offices and thousands of American troops and contractors.
Another parked car bomb about 500 yards away struck at about the same time, ripping through a bustling market of vegetables and household goods, killing three civilians and wounding five others, the policeman added. Another car packed with explosives struck a police patrol in Elwiyah square at about 11:30 a.m. in another part of Karradah, killing two policemen and a civilian and wounding five people, police said.
Karradah, a popular shopping area, has been hit by several high-profile bombings, and Monday's attack occurred despite a 5-month-old U.S.-Iraqi security operation aimed at stopping such violence in the capital.
Another car packed with explosives blew up on the main road about 200 yards from an entry point to the U.S.-controlled Green Zone, killing at least four Iraqis and wounding seven, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. The heavily fortified Green Zone is home to the U.S. and British embassies as well as Iraqi government offices and thousands of American troops and contractors.
Labels: car bombs, Elwiyah square, Green Zone, Karrada, police officers
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Twin bombs kill seven in Baghdad
Security
(Reuters) - At least seven people were killed and 25 wounded when bombs in two parked cars exploded in quick succession in a Shi'ite district in northeastern Baghdad on Wednesday, police said. The cars were parked by the roadside near a central square in Kadhimiya. The bombs went off about two minutes apart, police said.
The first exploded close to al-Zahra square, a commercial area in central Kadhimiya. The second bomb exploded near a parking lot, commonly used by shoppers, close to a women's jail.
Thousands of extra U.S. and Iraqi troops have been deployed in Baghdad and other areas as part of a security crackdown aimed at averting all-out sectarian civil war between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs dominant under Saddam Hussein. U.S. military officials have said those forces now control about a third of Baghdad's neighborhoods. The crackdown began in mid-February. The number of targeted sectarian killings fell during the early stages of the crackdown but has begun to rise again, military officials say. Large-scale bombings, many blamed on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda, remain common.
The first exploded close to al-Zahra square, a commercial area in central Kadhimiya. The second bomb exploded near a parking lot, commonly used by shoppers, close to a women's jail.
Thousands of extra U.S. and Iraqi troops have been deployed in Baghdad and other areas as part of a security crackdown aimed at averting all-out sectarian civil war between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs dominant under Saddam Hussein. U.S. military officials have said those forces now control about a third of Baghdad's neighborhoods. The crackdown began in mid-February. The number of targeted sectarian killings fell during the early stages of the crackdown but has begun to rise again, military officials say. Large-scale bombings, many blamed on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda, remain common.
Labels: al-Zahra square, car bombs, Kadhimiya
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Political parties in Kurdistan targeted by insurgent groups
Security, Politics
(Azzaman) - Kurdish political factions operating in the Sunni Arab-dominated Province of Nineveh have become a main target for attacks by insurgent groups in the area. In the past few weeks, offices of Kurdish parties which are heavily protected by Kurdish peshmerga or militias were hit by a series of car bomb attacks in which scores of Kurdish fighters were killed and many injured.
The insurgents have so far destroyed three main offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of the Massoud Barazin, the president of the Kurdish region. The Kurds have extended their influence and control to the peripheries of Mosul, the provincial capital. Kurdish militias patrol the city’s outlying towns and villages and set up checkpoint on main roads leading to it. Mosul is a major insurgent stronghold and insurgent leaders fear Kurdish practices might choke their supply routes.
A senior Kurdish official is number two in Nineveh provincial council to represent a sizeable Kurdish community in the city. The official, Khisro Koran, a senior KDP member and deputy governor of Nineveh, said the attacks were meant to “embroil the Kurds in the current sectarian fighting” in the country. He said Kurds in Mosul and other areas were being subjected “to a campaign of liquidation,” forcing thousands of them to flee. The insurgents operate conspicuously in Mosul and kidnap or kill officials or residents who do not heed their instructions.
The insurgents have so far destroyed three main offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of the Massoud Barazin, the president of the Kurdish region. The Kurds have extended their influence and control to the peripheries of Mosul, the provincial capital. Kurdish militias patrol the city’s outlying towns and villages and set up checkpoint on main roads leading to it. Mosul is a major insurgent stronghold and insurgent leaders fear Kurdish practices might choke their supply routes.
A senior Kurdish official is number two in Nineveh provincial council to represent a sizeable Kurdish community in the city. The official, Khisro Koran, a senior KDP member and deputy governor of Nineveh, said the attacks were meant to “embroil the Kurds in the current sectarian fighting” in the country. He said Kurds in Mosul and other areas were being subjected “to a campaign of liquidation,” forcing thousands of them to flee. The insurgents operate conspicuously in Mosul and kidnap or kill officials or residents who do not heed their instructions.
Labels: car bombs, insurgent groups, KDP, Khisro Koran, Kurdish parties, Ninevah, Peshmerga
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Car bombs explode near Iranian Embassy
Security
(AP) - Two car bombs exploded near the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, police said, and a Sunni Arab insurgent group claimed responsibility for a similar attack the day before. Tuesday's two car bombs exploded within two minutes of each other at about 10 a.m. in a public parking lot located about 150 yards from the front of the Iranian Embassy, wounding six civilians but causing no damage to the embassy or its guards, a police officer said on condition of anonymity out of concern for his own security.
On Monday, two parked car bombs exploded outside the embassy in Karradah Mariam, an area of Baghdad that is about 200 yards from the heavily guarded Green Zone, where the Iraqi government and the U.S. and British embassies operate. One bomb exploded near the same public parking lot at about noon, killing one civilian and wounding another. At 4:30 p.m., the other parked car bomb exploded close to a police patrol near the Iranian Embassy, killing one civilian and wounding two officers, police said.
On Tuesday, the prominent Iraqi Sunni insurgent group Islamic Ansar al-Sunnah issued a statement on its Web site claiming responsibility for Monday's bombing near the parking lot. "Despite the failed and filthy security plan which is being carried by crusaders and renegades against Muslims in this country, your brother mujahedeen are determined to continue this long road," the group said. It said the attack targeted a parking lot used by Iraqi "renegades who work at the Green Zone."
U.S. officials have accused Iran, a mostly Shiite country, of training and arming Shiite militiamen in Iraq, fueling the country's sectarian war. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, leader of Iraq's Shiite-majority government, recently said efforts are under way to try to release five Iranians who were captured by U.S. forces on Jan. 11 in the city of Irbil in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. U.S. authorities have said the five detained Iranians included the operations chief and other members of Iran's elite Quds Force, which is accused of arming and training Iraqi militants.
On Monday, two parked car bombs exploded outside the embassy in Karradah Mariam, an area of Baghdad that is about 200 yards from the heavily guarded Green Zone, where the Iraqi government and the U.S. and British embassies operate. One bomb exploded near the same public parking lot at about noon, killing one civilian and wounding another. At 4:30 p.m., the other parked car bomb exploded close to a police patrol near the Iranian Embassy, killing one civilian and wounding two officers, police said.
On Tuesday, the prominent Iraqi Sunni insurgent group Islamic Ansar al-Sunnah issued a statement on its Web site claiming responsibility for Monday's bombing near the parking lot. "Despite the failed and filthy security plan which is being carried by crusaders and renegades against Muslims in this country, your brother mujahedeen are determined to continue this long road," the group said. It said the attack targeted a parking lot used by Iraqi "renegades who work at the Green Zone."
U.S. officials have accused Iran, a mostly Shiite country, of training and arming Shiite militiamen in Iraq, fueling the country's sectarian war. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, leader of Iraq's Shiite-majority government, recently said efforts are under way to try to release five Iranians who were captured by U.S. forces on Jan. 11 in the city of Irbil in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. U.S. authorities have said the five detained Iranians included the operations chief and other members of Iran's elite Quds Force, which is accused of arming and training Iraqi militants.
Labels: Ansar al-Sunnah, car bombs, Green Zone, Iranian embassy, Karradah Mariam
Friday, April 20, 2007
Iraqis to start using bomb detection equipment
Security
(VOI) – Equipment to detect explosive charges was delivered to Iraq to be used soon, a senior Iraqi official said on Thursday. "High tech sophisticated equipment for detecting car bombs and explosive charges was delivered to Iraqi authorities," director of the National Command Centre at the Interior Ministry General, Abdul Karim al-Juburi, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "The new equipment will be used throughout Iraq soon," he added. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed in explosions by car bombs and explosive charges.
Labels: Abdul Karim al-Juburi, bomb detection, car bombs, explosive charges
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Round-up of violence across Iraq
Security
(Reuters) - Security developments in Iraq as of 0845 GMT on Saturday. Follow link for further information.
KERBALA - A suicide car bomber killed up to 50 people and wounded more than 70 at a bus station next to a crowded market in the Iraqi holy city of Kerbala, police said.
BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed 10 civilians and wounded 15 when it exploded on southern Baghdad's Jadriyah Bridge, police said.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen attacked the deputy industry minister's convoy and wounded three of his bodyguards in Baghdad's southwestern Jihad neighbourhood, police said. Deputy Minister Mohammed Abdullah was present but unhurt from the attack.
TAL AFAR - A sniper shot dead a civilian woman in the religiously mixed town of Tal Afar on Friday, police said.
BAGHDAD - Five bodies were found in different parts of Baghdad on Friday, police said.
Labels: assassination attempt, Baghdad, car bombs, Deputy Minister Mohammed Abdullah, Kerbala, sniper, Tal Afar
Monday, April 02, 2007
Truck bomb kills 13 in Kirkuk as 19 men kidnapped from Shia village
Security
(Reuters) - A suicide truck bomb killed 12 people and wounded 137 others in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Monday in the latest attack by insurgents using explosives-laden trucks. Many of the victims were women and children at a nearby school, police said. Insurgents have hit a string of northern Iraqi towns in the past 10 days in bombings that have killed hundreds of people. Officials have blamed the attacks on Sunni Islamist al Qaeda.
In other violence, the bodies of 19 men from a Shi'ite village kidnapped by gunmen at a fake checkpoint north of Baghdad were found on Monday, police said. All had been shot in the head in one of the biggest kidnappings in months. U.S. commanders say insurgents are shifting the focus of their attacks outside Baghdad because of a nearly seven-week-old crackdown in the capital. The U.S.-Iraqi offensive is seen as a final attempt to halt Iraq's plunge into sectarian civil war.
Police said the attacker in Kirkuk rammed his vehicle into the main gate of the police criminal investigation department and detonated the bomb, triggering a blast that echoed across the ethnically mixed city. The building was partially destroyed. In the mass kidnapping, gunmen seized the 19 men from a Shi'ite village near the city of Baquba after stopping cars at a fake checkpoint on Sunday. The bodies were found not far from Baquba, which lies 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad. A car bomb also killed two people and wounded nine others in the southern Bayaa district of Baghdad, police said.
In other violence, the bodies of 19 men from a Shi'ite village kidnapped by gunmen at a fake checkpoint north of Baghdad were found on Monday, police said. All had been shot in the head in one of the biggest kidnappings in months. U.S. commanders say insurgents are shifting the focus of their attacks outside Baghdad because of a nearly seven-week-old crackdown in the capital. The U.S.-Iraqi offensive is seen as a final attempt to halt Iraq's plunge into sectarian civil war.
Police said the attacker in Kirkuk rammed his vehicle into the main gate of the police criminal investigation department and detonated the bomb, triggering a blast that echoed across the ethnically mixed city. The building was partially destroyed. In the mass kidnapping, gunmen seized the 19 men from a Shi'ite village near the city of Baquba after stopping cars at a fake checkpoint on Sunday. The bodies were found not far from Baquba, which lies 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad. A car bomb also killed two people and wounded nine others in the southern Bayaa district of Baghdad, police said.
Labels: Baghdad, Baqouba, car bombs, kidnapping, Kirkuk, suicide truck bomber
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Bombings continue across Iraq
Security
(AP) - A parked car exploded near a hospital in Baghdad's main Shiite district on Saturday as a series of bombings killed at least 10 people and wounded dozens in Iraq, police said. The blast in Sadr City occurred about 10:30 a.m. and was targeting street vendors and pedestrians near the hospital. Police said at least five people were killed and 15 wounded.
Another parked car bomb struck a gas station an hour earlier in the Shiite city of Hillah, killing at least two people and wounding 22, provincial police said. The city, 60 miles south of Baghdad, has been the site of some of the deadliest blasts since the war started four years ago, including a double suicide bombing against a crowd of Shiite pilgrims that killed 120 people on March 6.
In northern Iraq, a car exploded about 7 a.m. after the driver parked it near Iraqis looking for work in the center of Tuz Khormato, 130 miles north of Baghdad. The driver and two workers were killed and 11 others wounded in the attack, police Col. Abbas Mohammed Amin said. He said the driver intended to wait until more workers had gathered before detonating the explosives but they went off prematurely, preventing a higher casualty toll.
Another parked car bomb struck a gas station an hour earlier in the Shiite city of Hillah, killing at least two people and wounding 22, provincial police said. The city, 60 miles south of Baghdad, has been the site of some of the deadliest blasts since the war started four years ago, including a double suicide bombing against a crowd of Shiite pilgrims that killed 120 people on March 6.
In northern Iraq, a car exploded about 7 a.m. after the driver parked it near Iraqis looking for work in the center of Tuz Khormato, 130 miles north of Baghdad. The driver and two workers were killed and 11 others wounded in the attack, police Col. Abbas Mohammed Amin said. He said the driver intended to wait until more workers had gathered before detonating the explosives but they went off prematurely, preventing a higher casualty toll.
Labels: car bombs, Hilla, Sadr City, Tuz Kharmatu
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Leaders of car-bombing ring captured
Security
(AP) - Leaders of a car-bombing ring believed responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Iraqis in the Shiite Sadr City enclave and elsewhere in Baghdad have been captured, the U.S. military said on Monday. The suspected bombers were rounded up last week by American forces during continuing security sweeps in Azamiyah, the Sunni stronghold in northern Baghdad, the military statement said.
The U.S. command said one of the detained men, Haitham al-Shimari, was suspected in the "planning and execution of the majority of car bombs which have killed hundreds of Iraqi citizens in Sadr City." The reported "second-in-command" of the Azamiyah-based cell, Haidar al-Jafar, was arrested the same day. The military said that group had "killed approximately 900 innocent Iraqi citizens" and wounded 1,950. Three other men believed connected to the bombing cell also were in custody, the military said.
The U.S. command said one of the detained men, Haitham al-Shimari, was suspected in the "planning and execution of the majority of car bombs which have killed hundreds of Iraqi citizens in Sadr City." The reported "second-in-command" of the Azamiyah-based cell, Haidar al-Jafar, was arrested the same day. The military said that group had "killed approximately 900 innocent Iraqi citizens" and wounded 1,950. Three other men believed connected to the bombing cell also were in custody, the military said.
Labels: Azamiyah, car bombs, Haidar al-Jafar, Haitham al-Shimari, Sadr City
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Karrada sealed off in security crackdown
Security
(Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi troops sealed off the Karrada district in the heart of Baghdad on Saturday, stopping all vehicles and pedestrians from entering the area, which has suffered a spate of deadly car bombs in recent weeks. The Karrada operation appeared to be part of a major U.S.- backed security crackdown aimed at quelling the daily bombings and shootings that have killed thousands and sparked fears Iraq is sliding into full-scale civil war.
While the crackdown has succeeded in reducing the number of sectarian shootings car bombs remain a major problem and U.S. officials say they are devoting more resources to curbing them. In the volatile southern Baghdad district of Dora, a suicide bomber driving a truck packed with explosives attacked a police station. Gunmen also attacked army checkpoints in Hay al-Jamiya, a Sunni area, in western Baghdad, on Saturday morning. Residents said they could hear the sound of intense gunfire. At least one woman was arrested in Saturday's operation in Karrada after about 20 weapons, including AK-47 rifles and belt -fed machineguns were found in her house, an Iraqi army officer said, showing Reuters plastic bags filled with the weapons.
The streets of Karrada, whose residents are mainly Shi'ite Muslims and Christians and include several top politicians, were largely empty. Convoys of Humvee armoured vehicles roamed the area, which is close to the international Green Zone. "There is an ongoing operation in the area," U.S. military spokesman Major Steven Lamb said, without elaborating. One American soldier manning a checkpoint told Reuters the operation could last several hours or several days.
While the crackdown has succeeded in reducing the number of sectarian shootings car bombs remain a major problem and U.S. officials say they are devoting more resources to curbing them. In the volatile southern Baghdad district of Dora, a suicide bomber driving a truck packed with explosives attacked a police station. Gunmen also attacked army checkpoints in Hay al-Jamiya, a Sunni area, in western Baghdad, on Saturday morning. Residents said they could hear the sound of intense gunfire. At least one woman was arrested in Saturday's operation in Karrada after about 20 weapons, including AK-47 rifles and belt -fed machineguns were found in her house, an Iraqi army officer said, showing Reuters plastic bags filled with the weapons.
The streets of Karrada, whose residents are mainly Shi'ite Muslims and Christians and include several top politicians, were largely empty. Convoys of Humvee armoured vehicles roamed the area, which is close to the international Green Zone. "There is an ongoing operation in the area," U.S. military spokesman Major Steven Lamb said, without elaborating. One American soldier manning a checkpoint told Reuters the operation could last several hours or several days.
Labels: car bombs, Karrada, security crackdown
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Insurgents use children in new tactic - U.S. General
Security
(Reuters) - A U.S. general on Tuesday said Iraqi insurgents used children in a suicide attack this weekend, raising worries that the insurgency has adopted a new tactic to get through security checkpoints with bombs.
Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero, deputy director for regional operations in the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, said adults in a vehicle with two children in the backseat were allowed through a Baghdad checkpoint. The adults then abandoned the vehicle and detonated it with the children still inside, he said.
"Children in the back seat, lower suspicion, we let it move through," he said. "They parked the vehicle, the adults run out and detonate it with the children in the back. The brutality and ruthless nature of this enemy hasn't changed," Barbero said. The general called that incident a new tactic, but noted U.S. forces had only seen one such occurrence involving children.
The use of chemical bombings has increased and become a tool of the insurgency, as the three chlorine bombs detonated this past weekend brought the total to six such bombings since January, the general said. "High-profile" suicide and car bomb attacks by Sunnis against Shi'ites also have not abated, Barbero said. But he said increased force in Iraq's capital had yielded some success, such as a reduction in murders and executions of civilians. He also said hundreds of families have returned to Baghdad and the number of tips from Iraqi civilians about insurgent activity hit its highest mark ever in February.
Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero, deputy director for regional operations in the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, said adults in a vehicle with two children in the backseat were allowed through a Baghdad checkpoint. The adults then abandoned the vehicle and detonated it with the children still inside, he said.
"Children in the back seat, lower suspicion, we let it move through," he said. "They parked the vehicle, the adults run out and detonate it with the children in the back. The brutality and ruthless nature of this enemy hasn't changed," Barbero said. The general called that incident a new tactic, but noted U.S. forces had only seen one such occurrence involving children.
The use of chemical bombings has increased and become a tool of the insurgency, as the three chlorine bombs detonated this past weekend brought the total to six such bombings since January, the general said. "High-profile" suicide and car bomb attacks by Sunnis against Shi'ites also have not abated, Barbero said. But he said increased force in Iraq's capital had yielded some success, such as a reduction in murders and executions of civilians. He also said hundreds of families have returned to Baghdad and the number of tips from Iraqi civilians about insurgent activity hit its highest mark ever in February.
Labels: car bombs, children, insurgents, Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Rice lauds early progress in Baghdad
Politics, Security
(Reuters) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday lauded early progress in a military operation against militants in Baghdad, but said Iraqis had to use this "breathing space" to push ahead with reconciliation. Rice made an unannounced visit to Baghdad as U.S. and Iraqi troops make initial gains in an offensive seen as a final push to end sectarian bloodshed that threatens to tear Iraq apart.
While major car bombings and death squad killings in Baghdad have declined, a double car bombing on Saturday at a crowded market in the northern city of Kirkuk killed at least 10 people and wounded 60, police sources said. The explosions took place in the Rahim Awa district, a predominantly Kurdish area of the ethnically mixed city.
Rice said Iraq's leaders needed to speed up efforts to reconcile warring Shi'ite and Sunni groups, finalize an oil revenue sharing law and hold provincial elections. Rice said she would press those issues when she met Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi. "The wait for progress can't be endless. Those (issues) need to move along more quickly," said Rice, who last month said the Iraqi government was on "borrowed time. This is a group of leaders that need to deliver."
While major car bombings and death squad killings in Baghdad have declined, a double car bombing on Saturday at a crowded market in the northern city of Kirkuk killed at least 10 people and wounded 60, police sources said. The explosions took place in the Rahim Awa district, a predominantly Kurdish area of the ethnically mixed city.
Rice said Iraq's leaders needed to speed up efforts to reconcile warring Shi'ite and Sunni groups, finalize an oil revenue sharing law and hold provincial elections. Rice said she would press those issues when she met Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi. "The wait for progress can't be endless. Those (issues) need to move along more quickly," said Rice, who last month said the Iraqi government was on "borrowed time. This is a group of leaders that need to deliver."
Labels: al-Maliki, Baghdad, car bombs, Condoleezza Rice, Kirkuk, Talabani
