Monday, May 14, 2007
Round-up of violence across Iraq
Security
Roundup of violence in Iraq - 13 May 2007
(McClatchy Newspapers) - The daily Iraq violence report is compiled by McClatchy Newspapers in Baghdad from police, military and medical reports. This is not a comprehensive list of all violence in Iraq, much of which goes unreported. It’s posted without editing as transmitted to McClatchy’s Washington Bureau.
(McClatchy Newspapers) - The daily Iraq violence report is compiled by McClatchy Newspapers in Baghdad from police, military and medical reports. This is not a comprehensive list of all violence in Iraq, much of which goes unreported. It’s posted without editing as transmitted to McClatchy’s Washington Bureau.
(Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq at 1400 GMT on Monday:
* Denotes new or updated item.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed one person and wounded 13, including four policemen, in Zaafaraniya district of southern Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - A car bomb in a parking lot killed one person and wounded four others in the central Karrada district of Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed one person and wounded three others in Palestine Street in northeastern Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - The bodies of 22 people were found in different districts of Baghdad on Sunday, police said.
* BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber killed two Iraqi soldiers and wounded four others at a major intersection in western Baghdad, police said.
* NEAR BASRA - A roadside bomb wounded six Danish soldiers just north of Basra, British military spokesman Major David Gell said.
MOSUL - The bodies of six people, including a policeman, were found shot in different districts of the northern city of Mosul on Sunday, police said.
MOSUL - Gunmen killed two former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party in Mosul on Sunday, police said.
* Denotes new or updated item.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol killed one person and wounded 13, including four policemen, in Zaafaraniya district of southern Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - A car bomb in a parking lot killed one person and wounded four others in the central Karrada district of Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - A car bomb killed one person and wounded three others in Palestine Street in northeastern Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - The bodies of 22 people were found in different districts of Baghdad on Sunday, police said.
* BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber killed two Iraqi soldiers and wounded four others at a major intersection in western Baghdad, police said.
* NEAR BASRA - A roadside bomb wounded six Danish soldiers just north of Basra, British military spokesman Major David Gell said.
MOSUL - The bodies of six people, including a policeman, were found shot in different districts of the northern city of Mosul on Sunday, police said.
MOSUL - Gunmen killed two former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party in Mosul on Sunday, police said.
Labels: Baath Party, Basra, car bomb, Danes, IED, Karrada, Mosul, police, Zaafaraniya
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Tal Afar victims families want policemen arrested
(Azzaman) - The carnage of Telafar is now seen is the deadliest single incident since the 2003 U.S. invasion with at least 150 Iraqis killed by car bombings or executed in retaliation. Telafar to the west of the northern city of Mosul was hit by several bombings late last month targeting a densely populated district in the mixed town. Telafar has always been a hotbed of anti-U.S. rebellion but also a stronghold breeding ground for al-Qaeda operatives believed to be behind most of the deadly attacks on civilians.
Iraqi politicians and clergy across the country, whether Shiites or Sunnis, Kurds or Arabs, strongly denounce attacks targeting civilians whether mounted by terrorist groups like al-Qaeda or foreign and Iraqi troops fighting it. But amid rising sectarian strife, the confusion that resulted from U.S. invasion and the division of the country’s institutions along sectarian lines, anything happening in Iraq is being interpreted within a sectarian or ethnic context.
Immediately after the bombings in Telafar, Iraqi police, who are supposed to protect the civilian population, in apparent reprisal, killed in cold blood 70 people, mainly young men before the eyes of their families. The government initially arrested a few policemen but they were released shortly after.
The families of the victims are pressing the authorities in the province of Nineveh of which Mosul is the capital and Telafar a major town, to arrest the policemen involved in the summary executions. Tensions in Telafar have been rising and the town has seen no effective authority to restore law and order despite two massive U.S. attacks to subdue it.
Iraqi politicians and clergy across the country, whether Shiites or Sunnis, Kurds or Arabs, strongly denounce attacks targeting civilians whether mounted by terrorist groups like al-Qaeda or foreign and Iraqi troops fighting it. But amid rising sectarian strife, the confusion that resulted from U.S. invasion and the division of the country’s institutions along sectarian lines, anything happening in Iraq is being interpreted within a sectarian or ethnic context.
Immediately after the bombings in Telafar, Iraqi police, who are supposed to protect the civilian population, in apparent reprisal, killed in cold blood 70 people, mainly young men before the eyes of their families. The government initially arrested a few policemen but they were released shortly after.
The families of the victims are pressing the authorities in the province of Nineveh of which Mosul is the capital and Telafar a major town, to arrest the policemen involved in the summary executions. Tensions in Telafar have been rising and the town has seen no effective authority to restore law and order despite two massive U.S. attacks to subdue it.
Labels: executions, police, Tal Afar
Friday, March 30, 2007
Tal Afar police 're-arrested'
Security
(Reuters) - Iraqi authorities have re -arrested 18 policemen who had been detained but then freed over the reprisal killing of up to 70 Sunni Arab men in the northern town of Tal Afar this week, police said on Friday. The governor of Nineveh province, which includes Tal Afar, had said on Thursday that policemen who took part in the shootings were released to prevent unrest.
Shi'ite gunmen including police went on the killing spree hours after truck bomb attacks in Tal Afar killed 85 people in a Shi'ite area on Tuesday. Police in the nearby city of Mosul said the 18 policemen had been re-arrested. It was unclear where they were being held.
Nineveh provincial governor Durad Kashmula had said the culprits would be brought to justice in due course.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, has ordered an inquiry into the involvement of police in the killings. Tal Afar was held up by U.S. President George W. Bush only a year ago as an example of progress towards peace in Iraq. Militia infiltration of security forces has long been a problem in restoring stability to Iraq, with many Sunni Arabs complaining they are unfairly targeted by police and army.
Shi'ite gunmen including police went on the killing spree hours after truck bomb attacks in Tal Afar killed 85 people in a Shi'ite area on Tuesday. Police in the nearby city of Mosul said the 18 policemen had been re-arrested. It was unclear where they were being held.
Nineveh provincial governor Durad Kashmula had said the culprits would be brought to justice in due course.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, has ordered an inquiry into the involvement of police in the killings. Tal Afar was held up by U.S. President George W. Bush only a year ago as an example of progress towards peace in Iraq. Militia infiltration of security forces has long been a problem in restoring stability to Iraq, with many Sunni Arabs complaining they are unfairly targeted by police and army.
Labels: arrest, Durad Kashmula, Nouri Al-Maliki, police, Tal Afar
Petraeus blames Al-Qaeda for instigating Tal Afar violence
Security
(AP) - A U.S. commander said Thursday that revenge-seeking police apparently were behind retribution killings in northwestern Iraq, but he blamed al-Qaida for starting the carnage with a bombing in its bid to foil a security sweep in Baghdad by stoking sectarian violence elsewhere. Gen. David Petraeus also said the surge in attacks in Tal Afar and other cities was posing a challenge to bringing long-term stability to Iraq, but he expressed confidence in the U.S.-Iraqi crackdown on violence, now in its seventh week.
He said al-Qaida fighters had failed to incite sectarian violence despite increased attacks in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, Anbar to the west, and the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul. "They did succeed in Tal Afar in killing a number of innocent civilians in a predominantly Shia marketplace that touched off ... we're still trying to get the exact details of what happened but it appears that there clearly were some kind of retribution killings by police," Petraeus told The Associated Press and another news agency in a brief interview.
His comments were the first military confirmation that Shiite-dominated police forces were among the militants who went on a shooting rampage against Sunnis Wednesday in the religiously mixed Turkomen city, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad. Iraqi officials said as many as 70 men were killed execution-style. Representatives from the government's security ministries had traveled to the city to investigate the events, Petraeus said, calling it "a horrific situation and a real tragedy for a community that has generally stayed together pretty much."
He said al-Qaida fighters had failed to incite sectarian violence despite increased attacks in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, Anbar to the west, and the northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul. "They did succeed in Tal Afar in killing a number of innocent civilians in a predominantly Shia marketplace that touched off ... we're still trying to get the exact details of what happened but it appears that there clearly were some kind of retribution killings by police," Petraeus told The Associated Press and another news agency in a brief interview.
His comments were the first military confirmation that Shiite-dominated police forces were among the militants who went on a shooting rampage against Sunnis Wednesday in the religiously mixed Turkomen city, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad. Iraqi officials said as many as 70 men were killed execution-style. Representatives from the government's security ministries had traveled to the city to investigate the events, Petraeus said, calling it "a horrific situation and a real tragedy for a community that has generally stayed together pretty much."
Labels: Al-Qaeda, General David Petraeus, police, Tal Afar
