Friday, May 25, 2007
Sectarian deaths in Baghdad increasing again
Security
(KUNA) - Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Peter Pace on Thursday confirmed that the rate of sectarian deaths in Baghdad has begun increasing again. Looking at the numbers since President George W. Bush announced a U.S. troop surge into Baghdad early this year, Pace reported that there were more than 1,400 murders in Baghdad in January, which he attributed to "sectarian violence, et cetera." That number fell to 800 in February, and to just over 500 in March, he said. The number remained fairly constant in March and April with just over 500 in each of those months, he said.
"This month it is a little bit higher, maybe about 20 or 30 higher than it was at this time last month," Pace said during a joint Pentagon briefing with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates. "But inside of those numbers it is very difficult to parse out which death is caused by what kind of activity," Pace said. "But clearly the overall violence levels are down, whereas inside there may be a bomb one month that goes off that takes a larger toll than another one." One of the main goals of the U.S. troop surge was to help quell sectarian violence in Baghdad order to allow the Iraqi government a better opportunity to achieve political reconciliation.
"This month it is a little bit higher, maybe about 20 or 30 higher than it was at this time last month," Pace said during a joint Pentagon briefing with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates. "But inside of those numbers it is very difficult to parse out which death is caused by what kind of activity," Pace said. "But clearly the overall violence levels are down, whereas inside there may be a bomb one month that goes off that takes a larger toll than another one." One of the main goals of the U.S. troop surge was to help quell sectarian violence in Baghdad order to allow the Iraqi government a better opportunity to achieve political reconciliation.
Labels: sectarian assassinations, Staff Chairman General Peter Pace
Thursday, May 03, 2007
85 dead nationwide
Security
(AP) - A suicide car bomber struck in the main Shiite district of the capital Wednesday, killing at least nine people as the U.S. military said its troop buildup in Baghdad was nearly complete. Three more U.S. soldiers were killed by bombs in the capital. At least 85 Iraqis were killed or found dead nationwide, police reported. They also included eight people who lost their lives when a roadside bomb destroyed their minibus about 20 miles south of Baghdad.
The suicide attack occurred at dusk near a police station in Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia. Three policemen and six civilians were killed and 34 people were wounded, police said. No group claimed responsibility, but suicide bombings are generally associated with Sunni religious extremists led by al-Qaida. Such extremists consider Shiites heretics and collaborators with the Americans.
Also Wednesday, two U.S. soldiers were killed and two others were wounded when a bomb devastated their vehicle in southern Baghdad, the U.S. command said. Another soldier died in a blast in western Baghdad, the command said. At least 3,354 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. Last month, at least 104 U.S. service members died — the highest monthly figure since December.
U.S. officials also fear the bombings will provoke a violent response from Shiite militiamen, who have generally assumed a lower profile in the capital since the crackdown began Feb. 14. Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, an Iraqi military spokesman, said, "Next week will witness more military operations in both halves of Baghdad," he said, referring to the two sides of the Tigris River that divides the city. "Almost all our military operations are now taking place on Baghdad's outskirts."
On Wednesday, the U.S. military announced that its buildup of forces was nearly complete with the arrival this week of the fourth of five brigades ordered to Baghdad by President Bush in January. About 3,700 soldiers from the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, based in Fort Lewis, Washington, will be deployed in the Baghdad area and in northern Iraq, the military said. When the fifth brigade arrives by next month, the U.S. command will have about 160,000 American troops in the country.
On Wednesday, police reported finding the bullet-riddled bodies of 55 people apparently slain by sectarian death squads. They included 30 in Baghdad and 10 in Baqouba, where U.S. troops are trying to wrest control of the city from al-Qaida and its allies. The other killings were reported in Mosul, Baghdad and communities south of the capital, police said.
The suicide attack occurred at dusk near a police station in Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia. Three policemen and six civilians were killed and 34 people were wounded, police said. No group claimed responsibility, but suicide bombings are generally associated with Sunni religious extremists led by al-Qaida. Such extremists consider Shiites heretics and collaborators with the Americans.
Also Wednesday, two U.S. soldiers were killed and two others were wounded when a bomb devastated their vehicle in southern Baghdad, the U.S. command said. Another soldier died in a blast in western Baghdad, the command said. At least 3,354 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. Last month, at least 104 U.S. service members died — the highest monthly figure since December.
U.S. officials also fear the bombings will provoke a violent response from Shiite militiamen, who have generally assumed a lower profile in the capital since the crackdown began Feb. 14. Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, an Iraqi military spokesman, said, "Next week will witness more military operations in both halves of Baghdad," he said, referring to the two sides of the Tigris River that divides the city. "Almost all our military operations are now taking place on Baghdad's outskirts."
On Wednesday, the U.S. military announced that its buildup of forces was nearly complete with the arrival this week of the fourth of five brigades ordered to Baghdad by President Bush in January. About 3,700 soldiers from the 4th Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division, based in Fort Lewis, Washington, will be deployed in the Baghdad area and in northern Iraq, the military said. When the fifth brigade arrives by next month, the U.S. command will have about 160,000 American troops in the country.
On Wednesday, police reported finding the bullet-riddled bodies of 55 people apparently slain by sectarian death squads. They included 30 in Baghdad and 10 in Baqouba, where U.S. troops are trying to wrest control of the city from al-Qaida and its allies. The other killings were reported in Mosul, Baghdad and communities south of the capital, police said.
Labels: roadside bombs, Sadr City, sectarian assassinations
Monday, March 19, 2007
Al-Maliki says sectarian killing 'has come to an end'
Security, Politics
(AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki insisted sectarian killing had come to an end in his country, blaming ongoing daily violence on Al-Qaeda in a television interview Monday. "I would say that the sectarian killing is over," Maliki said, in comments to be broadcast Monday on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the United States-led and British-backed invasion of Iraq. "It threatened the breakout of a sectarian war, but this has been ended by two factors -- the first one is the national reconciliation on which we still insist.
"The second thing is the ability of the security services in arresting those who are provoking the sectarian unrest," he told ITV television, according to extracts released in advance of the broadcast. He added that Al-Qaeda posed the "biggest threat" to Iraq and the Middle East. "This situation will continue but the continuation of the increasing effort of this operation will deplete all the efforts of Al-Qaeda," he said. "We have accurate intelligence information that Al-Qaeda and the remains of the former regime are being scattered and chased and losing the secure conditions under which they used to operate.
"There are still some incidents but in comparison to what it used to be like, it is nothing in comparison to what used to happen before." Al-Qaeda operatives with "sick minds" were targeting both Sunni and Shia areas, he said. "Al-Qaeda is still the biggest threat for Iraq and the region," he said. And he added: "Everyone agrees on this. It is not a threat towards only one part of the population. "They are carrying out killings and crimes in Sunni areas in the same way they target Shia areas...they have sick minds. They believe that anyone who works for the government deserves to be killed." But Maliki said that most Iraqis were "happy and delighted" because "this mysterious sectarian killing and kidnapping is over in their neighbourhoods".
"The second thing is the ability of the security services in arresting those who are provoking the sectarian unrest," he told ITV television, according to extracts released in advance of the broadcast. He added that Al-Qaeda posed the "biggest threat" to Iraq and the Middle East. "This situation will continue but the continuation of the increasing effort of this operation will deplete all the efforts of Al-Qaeda," he said. "We have accurate intelligence information that Al-Qaeda and the remains of the former regime are being scattered and chased and losing the secure conditions under which they used to operate.
"There are still some incidents but in comparison to what it used to be like, it is nothing in comparison to what used to happen before." Al-Qaeda operatives with "sick minds" were targeting both Sunni and Shia areas, he said. "Al-Qaeda is still the biggest threat for Iraq and the region," he said. And he added: "Everyone agrees on this. It is not a threat towards only one part of the population. "They are carrying out killings and crimes in Sunni areas in the same way they target Shia areas...they have sick minds. They believe that anyone who works for the government deserves to be killed." But Maliki said that most Iraqis were "happy and delighted" because "this mysterious sectarian killing and kidnapping is over in their neighbourhoods".
COMMENT: Al-Maliki is trying to persuade the public, the U.S. and other members in his government that the sectarian violence is coming under control thanks to measures he has taken. Whereas sectarian deaths and death squad activity is down, it is still going on. The Ministry of Interior releases figures on mutilated bodies found, as do the morgues. However, one of the aims of the insurgents is to trigger sectarian warfare through their mass casualty attacks targeting mainly Shias. That said, the likelihood of anyone agreeing with al-Maliki's statement is unlikely. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Al Qaeda in Iraq, al-Maliki, sectarian assassinations
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Sharp drop in execution syle killings
Security
(AP) Execution-style killings have fallen sharply in Baghdad since the security crackdown began this month, the No. 2 U.S. commander said Tuesday. Figures compiled by The Associated Press from police reports show that the number of bullet-riddled bodies found in the streets this month totaled 628 as of Monday night. That was down from the 1,079 in January and 1,379 in December.
Such killings have generally been attributed to sectarian death squads - including Shiite militiamen, Sunni insurgents or rogue elements within the mostly Shiite army and police. The security crackdown officially began Feb. 14, although some U.S. and Iraqi units had been stepping up patrols and searches since earlier in the month.
Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the operational commander for U.S. forces in Iraq, suggested the drop could be due to more security forces on the streets but added it may be only temporary. "We have had short periods of time before when there's been some success and then it changes," he said. Many of the killings were believed to be the work of the Mahdi Army, led by the anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The cleric is a political ally of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who pressured him to pull his fighters off the streets to avoid a confrontation with the Americans.
Such killings have generally been attributed to sectarian death squads - including Shiite militiamen, Sunni insurgents or rogue elements within the mostly Shiite army and police. The security crackdown officially began Feb. 14, although some U.S. and Iraqi units had been stepping up patrols and searches since earlier in the month.
Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, the operational commander for U.S. forces in Iraq, suggested the drop could be due to more security forces on the streets but added it may be only temporary. "We have had short periods of time before when there's been some success and then it changes," he said. Many of the killings were believed to be the work of the Mahdi Army, led by the anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The cleric is a political ally of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who pressured him to pull his fighters off the streets to avoid a confrontation with the Americans.
Odierno, the operational commander for U.S. forces in Iraq, suggested the drop could be due to more security forces on the streets but added it may be only temporary. Although sectarian assassinations are down, the capital has been hit by a series of deadly bombings that have killed scores of people. Most target Shiite civilians and appear to be part of the sectarian violence. Many Shiites have complained that the Mahdi Army's absence has left them vulnerable to such attacks by Sunni extremists.
Labels: Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno, Mahdi Army, sectarian assassinations
