18 Apr 2011 17:36
Source: reuters // Reuters
* Iraqi soldiers say will not develop without U.S. help
* Troops say government should extend U.S. presence
* U.S. forces expected to fully withdraw by end-2011
By Serena Chaudhry and Muhanad Mohammed
BESMAYA, Iraq, April 18 (Reuters) - Some Iraqi soldiers are worried about the U.S. troops' withdrawal from Iraq at the end of the year and say the country's security forces need more training to use the modern tanks and jets it has bought.
The U.S. military moved into an advisory and assistance role to Iraq's 660,000-strong police and military after ending combat operations last August. But the readiness of Iraqi troops to fend off a still-potent insurgency remains a concern among many.
Eight years after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, the U.S. military is due to depart by Dec. 31 under a security agreement between the two countries.
"The Iraqi army needs the Americans for training because most of the weapons are modern and we need training to use them," Iraqi soldier Karim Saleh told Reuters on Monday during a live fire exercise at Besmaya training camp, 90 km (55 miles) southeast of Baghdad.
Iraqi Army Brigadier Abbas Fadhil, the base commander at Besmaya agreed. "I don't get involved with policy, that depends on the government ... (but) we need this training. We need this for the people," he said. "For us, it's important (to have U.S. training beyond 2011)."
Iraq has bought a range of modern military equipment to boost its forces, including armoured personnel carriers, patrol boats, M1A1 Abrams tanks and towed and self-propelled howitzers.
It is expected to receive 99 out of 140 M1A1 Abrams tanks by the end of this month and the rest by the end of the year. However, some equipment will be delivered after 2011, and some Iraqi officials are worried the training received by the time U.S. troops depart will not be sufficient to operate it.
Much of the U.S. troops' training has been focused on Iraq's army and police. Its navy and air force -- which suffered a major setback earlier this year after Iraq diverted funds for the purchase of F-16 fighter jets to its national food ration scheme -- are underdeveloped comparatively.
MODERNISE FORCE
Bombings and killings remain a daily occurrence and although violence has subsided from the height of sectarian fighting in 2006-07, Shi'ite militia and Sunni insurgents are still able to carry out lethal attacks.
Two suicide car bombers killed five people and wounded 20 others on Monday near the western gate of Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, where Iraq is scheduled to host an Arab League summit next month. [ID:nLDE73H05D]
On a recent trip to Iraq, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates pushed the Iraqi government to decide quickly whether it wanted U.S. forces to stay longer. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has said his police and army are ready and U.S. troops will not be needed beyond the year's end.
On Monday, Iraqi forces at Besmaya demonstrated their capability with an exercise showing how units of the air force and army can work together.
Saleh, who was trained at Besmaya by U.S. soldiers, said the U.S. military had made a big impact in developing the Iraqi army's combat abilities but stressed the need for further training beyond 2011 to help modernise the security forces.
"Iraqi trainers have become experienced but not at the same level as American trainers," he said. "Without them, the Iraqi army will remain unchanged and will not develop ... the Iraqi government has to keep the Americans to train our army." (Writing by Serena Chaudhry; Editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)
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Car bombs kill 5 at entrance to Baghdad Green Zone
18 Apr 2011 09:35
Source: reuters // Reuters
A policeman uses a scanning device to inspect a vehicle after reopening a main street due to improvements in the security situation in Baghdad's Saidiya district April 17, 2011. REUTERS/Saad Shalash
BAGHDAD, April 18 (Reuters) - Two powerful car bombs exploded near a security checkpoint at a crowded entrance to Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone on Monday, killing five people and wounding at least 15, a security official said.
Baghdad security spokesman Qassim al-Moussawi said two suicide bombers struck during the morning rush hour in a line of vehicles queuing at the western entry to the Green Zone, where government buildings and foreign embassies are located in central Baghdad.
The bombers' vehicles were packed with large quantities of explosives and blew up near two motorcades carrying a senior army commander and an official with Iraq's presidential council, Moussawi said. It was not immediately clear if they were the targets.
"The two suicide bombers were targeting a security checkpoint at a time when it was very crowded," he said.
In a statement, the media office of the Iraqi parliament said one of the explosions hit the motorcade of Amjad Abdul Hameed, an adviser to parliamentary speaker Osama al-Nujaifi.
Hameed was not injured but one of his bodyguards was killed and three others were wounded, the statement said.
The blasts destroyed an Iraqi army Humvee and set fire to several other vehicles at the scene.
An Interior Ministry source said the explosions killed three people and wounded 20, including some Iraqi soldiers.
The Green Zone, a high-security area that to some Iraqis symbolises foreign military occupation of their country, is a frequent target of insurgent mortar and rocket attacks.
Among the prominent buildings in the area is the Republican Palace, a former home of dictator Saddam Hussein where the Arab League summit is scheduled to be held next month.
Violence has fallen sharply in Iraq since the height of sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007 but militants are still responsible for hundreds of bombings and other attacks each month. (Reporting by Khalid al-Ansary, Ahmed Rasheed, Waleed Ibrahim and Reuters Television; Writing by Jim Loney; Editing by Andrew Dobbie)
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By HAMID AHMED, Associated Press Hamid Ahmed, Associated Press – 38 mins ago
BAGHDAD – Suicide bombers detonated two explosives-packed cars Monday outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, killing at least nine people and wounding 23, officials said.
Baghdad military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said the bombers appeared to be targeting the motorcades of two senior government officials — one from the military, the other from the Cabinet — who were headed to work. He declined to elaborate.
The cars blew up shortly after 8 a.m., in a line of vehicles that were waiting to be cleared into the Green Zone, which houses Iraq's parliament and ministry offices, as well as several foreign embassies.
Two police officers and an official at al-Yarmouk hospital said nine people, including five Iraqi soldiers, were killed and 23 people were wounded in the attack. Al-Moussawi put the number of dead at six, with 14 wounded, but added that "this is not a final death toll."
Conflicting casualty numbers are common in the immediate aftermath of attacks.
The vehicles blew up about 400 meters (yards) from the security checkpoint on a western road between the Green Zone and Baghdad's international airport. The explosion set ablaze some of the cars that were waiting to enter the Green Zone, al-Moussawi said.
A few miles (kilometers) away, two more roadside bombs exploded a few minutes later in what appeared to be an unrelated strike. Police said nine passers-by were wounded in the attack outside a restaurant in Jadriyah, a mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhood on the southeastern side of the Tigris River.
Violence has ebbed across Iraq since the days of sectarian fighting just a few years ago that brought the country to the brink of civil war. But deadly bombings and shootings still occur on a near daily basis as insurgents seek to highlight Iraq's continued instability as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw by the end of the year.
9 killed in Baghdad's Green Zone blasts
Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:35AM
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Vehicles burn as fire fighters douse the flames following a car bomb in Iraq's restive northern city of Kirkuk on March 16.At least nine people have lost their lives and 23 others have been wounded after two car bombs exploded in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, security officials say.
The attacks took place at around 8:30 a.m. (0530 GMT) on Monday near a security checkpoint at the entrance of the heavily-fortified Green Zone, the officials added.
Many foreign embassies and Iraqi government offices are located in the city's strategic area.
According to the Associated Press, five Iraqi soldiers were among the casualties. The police also said that 13 Iraqi troops were among the wounded.
Several cars also caught fire due to the twin car bombs, the report says.
On Wednesday, one civilian was killed and 16 others, including three children, were injured in a car bomb blast in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk.
A senior Iraqi police official, Colonel Kamel Ahmad, said that the explosion happened near Sulaimaniya restaurant in Raas al-Damiz region in southern Kirkuk.
"One man was killed and 16 others, including three children, two women and three policemen, wounded," the officer said.
"The four wounded persons are in critical condition," Ahmad further explained.
The new wave of violence came as there are about 47,000 US troops in the war-torn country to provide security for Iraqi people.
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Car bombs kill 3 near Baghdad Green Zone -sources
18 Apr 2011 06:29
Source: reuters // Reuters
* Bombs explode near western entrance to Green Zone
* Cars queuing to enter fortified area
(Adds details and quote)
BAGHDAD, April 18 (Reuters) - Two car bombs exploded near an entrance to Baghdad's fortified Green Zone on Monday, killing three people and wounding at least 10, security sources said.
The blasts occurred near a security checkpoint at the western entry to the Green Zone, where government buildings and foreign embassies are located in central Baghdad.
An Interior Ministry source said the explosions killed three people and wounded 10, including some Iraqi soldiers.
A police source put the toll at three dead and 12 wounded.
Baghdad security spokesman Qassim al-Moussawi said the blasts occurred about 150 to 200 metres from the western gate to the Green Zone, an area frequently targeted by mortar and rocket attacks by insurgents.
"The two cars have burned. They were queuing in a line to enter the Green Zone," he said. "It's possible they were carrying either roadside bombs or they were packed with explosives and driven by suicide bombers."
Violence has fallen sharply in Iraq in recent years but militants still carry out daily attacks. (Reporting by Reuters television; Writing by Jim Loney; editing by Andrew Dobbie)
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