25 Apr 2011 16:26
Source: reuters // Reuters
* Protests against U.S. troops in Iraq beyond 2011 rising
* Police use batons, water cannons to stop demonstrators
* Mosul seen as al Qaeda's last remaining urban base
By Jamal al-Badrani
MOSUL, Iraq, April 25 (Reuters) - At least 10 people were wounded on Monday in clashes between Iraqi security forces and people protesting in the northern city of Mosul against the U.S. troop presence in the country, a medic and witnesses said.
The fighting erupted when security forces used water cannon and fired shots in the air to prevent around 3,000 protesters from reaching the city's main square, the witnesses said.
Rallies in the square have been growing since April 9, with demonstrators protesting against any extension of the U.S. troop presence in Iraq beyond the end of the year.
"We received 10 wounded people, including some policemen. Their injuries were caused by batons and stones," said a medical source at Mosul hospital, who declined to be named.
The United States is due to withdraw its remaining troops by Dec. 31 as part of a joint security agreement with Iraq, more than eight years after the U.S.-led invasion, but some Iraqis suspect the deadline may be extended.
Two rallies against a U.S. troop extension have been held in Baghdad in recent days by followers of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who has vowed to unleash his Mehdi Army militia unless the Americans leave on schedule.
The top U.S. military officer said last Friday that Iraq had only weeks to decide if it wants to keep U.S. troops beyond the deadline. [ID:nLDE73L0HS]
Although some concerns remain about Iraqi security forces' capability to halt a weakened but still dangerous Islamist insurgency, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has said foreign troops will no longer be needed after the end of this year.
In Mosul, seen as al Qaeda's last urban base in Iraq, witnesses said clashes occurred when hundreds of members of the security forces took control of the main square overnight and tried to prevent protesters from reaching it.
"They used water cannon and batons against us. They even shot bullets in the air," said demonstrator Qassim al-Hadeedi.
Iraqis, inspired by rallies elsewhere in the region, have staged protests since February against corruption and a lack of basic services, but most have so far not demanded a complete change of their democratically elected government.
Mosul Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi criticised the use of force by Iraqi police and soldiers.
"As long as they express their opinion in a peaceful way, no one has the right to use violence against them," he said. (Writing by Waleed Ibrahim; Editing by Serena Chaudhry and Mark Trevelyan)
===
Posted 20 April 2011 - 04:56 AM
It is not a secret that the Americans want to keep as many troops as they can afford beyond the end of 2011. During his visit to Iraq on 6-8 April, 2011, defence secretary Robert Gates, hinted to the Iraqis that they should ask the USA formally to extend the stationing of US troops in the country beyond 2011. That is despite strong opposition from the Iraqi people. In Iraq there are those who entered Baghdad behind US Tanks and who are currently ruling the country in a coalition (Kurds-Sunni-Shiite), want the Americans in the country for their own protection.
Under the pretext of training or to protecting Iraq from foreign attacks, the Americans want to remain in the country in order to ensure fat oil contracts for US corporations, American hefty weapon sales, protecting the back of Israel and to rendering support for CIA sabotage and dirty work squads operating against Iran.
Like Israeli MOSSAD agents, Al-Qaeda was grateful for the Americans for toppling Saddam police state and for dismantling Iraq tightly controlled borders, which allowed them to operate freely and with impunity.
Right now, the Iraqis have started a campaign against any American military presence in the country, including the so-called armed civilian contractors. The peaceful demonstrations started to be increasingly accompanied by severe terrorist attacks; some of these bear the hallmark of Al-Qaeda. It seems that there is a tacit agreement between Al-Qaeda, MOSSAD agents and American dirty-work squads to carry out terrorist attacks in order to justify keeping the American forces in the country to help in the law and order.
One can easily question the validity of such statement as the Americans have failed to stop Al-Qaeda attacks despite having at one time over 175000 combat troops supported by 125000 mercenaries and CIA-and DIA agents.
It is not the first time that Al-Qaeda and the Americans have found themselves in the same trench. During the Russian invasion of Afghanistan (24.12.1979 to 15.05-1988) the Muslim Mujahideen force that included 30,000 CIA-recruited, financed, trained and armed Afghan Arabs which later became Al-Qaeda force led by Bin Laden. The Israeli MOSSAD never dreamt of a chance to setting a foot in the country let alone to operating openly in Iraq (especially in the Kurdish areas) and to eliminating Iraqi scientists and intelligence officers in charge of the Israeli section.
The Iraqis are known throughout history for the harsh treatment of those who betray them. The current Iraqi government and their Kurdish allies may not escape punishment, regardless whether the American troops are in or out of the country. The scorching summer heat in Baghdad might be accompanied this time by extremely hot political developments.
Less people will die if America is bankrupted!!!
The USA has always found an excuse to interfer in the affairs of others. In many cases, the Americans have died and killed others on false pretexts. Yesterday, its was Saddam. Today it is Ahmedinejad. America has been bankrupted by irresponsible spending and wars. I can say with confidence that the American Jews are fleecing the Americans from Hollywood to Wall Street and are sending US soldiers to die fighting Jewish wars. We are grateful for the Jews for bankrupting America, as there will be less wars and killing.
Adnan Darwash, Iraq Occupation Times
Reidar Visser said
Sunday, 17 April 2011 15:25 at 15:25
It is not unusual for US congressmen to make visits abroad during the Easter recess. I would ascribe greater significance to the recent visits by Khalilzad, Gates and Feltman.
===
US base in Iraq under rocket attack
Sun Apr 24, 2011 3:57PM
US forces in Iraq
Security sources say a Untied States military base in eastern Iraq has come under a second rocket attack in less than a week.
Three Katyusha rockets hit the Echo Army base near the city of Diwaniyah late on Saturday, Fars News Agency reported on Sunday. The projectiles are reported to have been fired from the southern parts of the city.
American helicopters were dispatched on a search mission soon after the incident. No human or material losses have been reported so far.
Last Sunday, three rockets were similarly fired at the base. The incident was described as the third attack to take place over a week.
Militancy rages on in Iraq in the eighth year of the US-led military presence in the violence-wrecked country.
In August 2010 Washington's combat mandate expired but it left 50,000 troops in Iraq for what it called 'advising and training' purposes.
The US military released statements on separate dates earlier in the year, saying its soldiers had died during 'operations' across Iraq in contradiction to Washington's claims that it has wrapped up military action in the country.
The deaths took to 4,450 the number of the American forces killed since 2003, when the US led the invasion of the violence-wrecked country.
Over one million Iraqis have suffered violent deaths as a result of the occupation, according to a study conducted by the prestigious British polling group, Opinion Research Business.
The US is obligated to withdraw the forces by the end of the year in line with a bilateral accord.
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has, however, pled for extension of the military presence.
The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen also said recently that Washington would "keep some American troops in the country” at, what he called, Baghdad's request.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office said on Saturday that the US military presence will not be extended.
=====
Iraq must decide in "weeks" on US troops - Mullen22 Apr 2011 18:44
Source: reuters // Reuters
* Talks need to start soon if Iraq wants US troops to stay
* Maliki says Iraqi army and police ready to handle security
* Sadr threat to unleash army "irresponsible" - Mullen
(Adds quotes, details)
By Phil Stewart
BAGHDAD, April 22 (Reuters) - Iraq has only weeks to decide if it wants to keep U.S. troops beyond an end-2011 deadline for their withdrawal, the top U.S. military officer said on Friday in Baghdad following talks with Iraq's prime minister.
The comments by Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, are the strongest so far by U.S. officials warning Baghdad that Washington will soon have to initiate the withdrawal of its 47,000 forces under the terms of a bilateral security pact.
Asked what Iraq's deadline was for deciding, Mullen said: "I think the timeline is in the next few weeks."
"Because there, for the withdrawal, there is what I call a physics problem with 47,000 troops here, lots of equipment and physically it just takes time to move them."
Mullen did not speculate how many troops would be irreversibly committed to withdrawing after that time, saying only the Pentagon would need to make some "irrevocable" logistics and operational decisions.
More than eight years after the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, Iraq is struggling to halt a weakened but still lethal Islamist insurgency and put an end to a long period of political instability after general elections in March 2010.
Amid media speculation about backroom talks to clinch an agreement, Mullen said there have been no official discussions on the extended presence of U.S. forces beyond December.
He said the U.S. military would fully meet its obligations under the security pact to move troops out of Iraq by year-end.
"There are no plans -- nor have there been any requests from the Iraqi government -- for any residual U.S. force presence here after this December," he said.
Any decision by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to extend the presence of U.S. troops is risky. Anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose Sadrist bloc is part of Maliki's government, will unleash his Mehdi Army militia if U.S. troops fail to leave Iraq by year-end, his aides said earlier this month.
Mullen criticised those comments as "irresponsible."
"The extension of that statement is to essentially threaten violence in the future and Iraq has seen more than its fair share of violence and death," Mullen said.
FUTURE RELATIONS
Sadr's political movement won strong support in elections last year and overcame animosity towards Maliki to join his coalition government.
"So I think a statement like that ... is irresponsible in terms of taking care of Iraqi citizens in the future," Mullen said.Sadr's Mehdi Army fought U.S. troops after the 2003 invasion and during the height of Iraq's sectarian violence in 2006-7. Maliki sent government troops to crush the militia in 2008.
Mullen also acknowledged Iraq's political leaders had to take "everything into consideration" when reviewing the future of the U.S.-Iraq relationship. But he also noted Iraqi "vulnerabilities," including in air defence and intelligence.
Maliki said in a statement released on his website late on Thursday after his talks with Mullen the government was keen to develop relations with the United States, particularly with regards to training and arming its security forces.
"Our security forces are now able to hold the responsibility, preserve the security and to act professionally and patriotically," Maliki said.
"We will enhance its combat ability through supplying it with modern arms and equipment." (Editing by Jim Loney and Sophie Hares)
==
21 Apr 2011 18:04
Source: reuters // Reuters
BAGHDAD, April 21 (Reuters) - The top U.S military officer arrived in Baghdad on Thursday warning Iraqi leaders would need to start serious discussions if they wanted U.S. forces to stay beyond a scheduled withdrawal by year's end.
Admiral Mike Mullen, speaking ahead of talks with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, said the United States still planned to withdraw its remaining force of around 47,000 troops by the end of 2011. Any decision to change that was up to Iraq, he said.
"If the leadership and the Iraqi people want that to be different ... we have to initiate that dialogue in a meaningful way," he told reporters on his flight to Baghdad.
The trip comes just two weeks after a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who pressed the Iraqi government to decide if it wanted U.S. troops to stay on and help fend off a festering insurgency.
More than eight years after the U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, Iraq is struggling to halt violence from a weakened but still lethal Islamist insurgency and put an end to a long period of political instability following general elections more than a year ago.
Kurd-Arab tensions also remain unresolved.
Any extended U.S. troop presence is politically tricky for Iraqi leaders. Iraq's fiery anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr will "escalate military resistance" and unleash his Mehdi Army militia if U.S. troops fail to leave Iraq as scheduled this year, his aides said earlier this month.
U.S. officials have said they expect to accelerate the removal of remaining U.S. troops in the late summer or autumn, so that, barring a deal to extend the U.S. presence, the entire force can be removed by the end of the year.
The United States has also been dismantling bases, removing equipment and handing over facilities to Iraqi forces.
General Lloyd Austin, who commands U.S. forces in Iraq, told reporters earlier this month there might be a drop-dead point after which it would be too expensive or difficult to keep troops in Iraq, or send them back once they have left.
U.S. taxpayers may be hesitant to stomach a longer presence in Iraq -- an unpopular war President Barack Obama had opposed -- particularly as the United States is engaged in Libya and struggles with a tenacious Taliban in Afghanistan. (Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Sophie Hares)
===
Iraqi cleric's followers demand U.S. troops leave23 Apr 2011 17:13
Source: reuters // Reuters
* Followers say they are ready to fight again
* Sadr said he will unleash militia if U.S. doesn't leave
By Muhanad Mohammed
BAGHDAD, April 23 (Reuters) - Hundreds of followers of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr took to the streets of Baghdad on Saturday, trampling U.S. flags and vowing to escalate military resistance if U.S. troops fail to leave Iraq this year.
It was the second major demonstration by Sadr's followers in recent days after the cleric issued a warning on April 9 he would unleash his Mehdi Army militia if U.S. troops were not out of Iraq by Dec. 31. More than 5,000 marched in the streets of Basra, Iraq's southern oil hub, on Thursday.
"I am ready to fight an American again and I am ready to die for Iraq," Haider al-Bahadili, a 33-year-old Mehdi Army member, said at Saturday's demonstration in western Baghdad's Shula district. "Decisions of Moqtada are orders. We must apply them."
The rally came a day after Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a visit to the capital Iraq's leaders must move quickly if they want U.S. forces to stay beyond year-end. [ID:nLDE73L0HS]
About 47,000 American troops remain to advise and train Iraqi forces. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has said his police and army are ready to provide security and foreign troops will no longer be needed after Dec. 31.
The march marked the seventh anniversary of the formation of the Mehdi Army, which fought U.S. forces after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. [ID:nIBR924523]
Men, women and children, some dressed in the black clothing of the Sadrist movement, trampled U.S. and Israeli flags and chanted slogans of loyalty to Sadr.
"If the occupier doesn't leave Iraq, we will face him militarily, culturally and in all fields," said Sheikh Nasir al-Saedi, a Sadr aide.
Sadr's militia fought U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion. U.S. commanders blamed the Mehdi Army for much of the bloodshed, which saw tens of thousands of Iraqis killed during the height of sectarian violence in 2006-07.
Maliki sent government troops to crush the militia in 2008.
Sadr's political movement won strong support in elections last year and overcame animosity toward Maliki to join his coalition government, formed in December after nine months of tense negotiations between Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish factions.
Politicians from Sadr's movement took part in the rally and expressed optimism U.S. forces would leave on schedule, but said the militia would be ready to fight.
"If there is an extension of the occupation forces, our position is clear -- lift the freeze on the Mehdi Army and restore its military activities," said Asmaa al-Moussawi, a Sadrist member of parliament. Sadr has been living and studying in Iran for years but returned to Iraq on Friday, a source close to the cleric said.
In Basra on Thursday, Mehdi army members staged a peaceful rally during which hundreds waved Iraqi flags and one protester dragged an effigy of a U.S. soldier through the streets. (Editing by Jim Loney and Sophie Hares)
=====
Two US troopers died in Iraq
Sat Apr 23, 2011 2:37PM
Share | Email | Print
US forces in IraqThe American soldiers have dies in an operation in southern Iraq, despite the United States claim that it is not involved in combat operations in the country anymore.
"Two US service members were killed yesterday (Friday) while conducting operations in southern Iraq," the forces said without giving further details, Xinhua reported.
The deaths took to 4,450 the number of the American forces killed ever since 2003, when Washington led the invasion of the violence-wrecked country.
Last year alone, militancy in Iraq claimed the lives of 60 US troops.
Over one million Iraqis have suffered violent deaths as a result of the military presence, according to a study conducted by the prestigious British polling group, Opinion Research Business.
The US is obligated to withdraw its forces that currently number around 50,000 by the end of the year in line with a bilateral accord.
The agreement also forced Washington to end its combat operations in Iraq in August 2010.
The US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen said recently that Washington would "keep some American troops in the country” at, what he called, Baghdad's request.
Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has, however, warned against any extension beyond the deadline to the foreign presence on the country's soil.
===
Five US troops killed in central Iraq-US military
06 Jun 2011 10:49
Source: reuters // Reuters
(Adds details on U.S. troops, background)
BAGHDAD, June 6 (Reuters) - Five U.S. service members were killed on Monday in central Iraq, the U.S. military said, in one of the worst single tolls for American troops in the country this year.
The U.S. statement gave no more immediate details, but local media earlier reported a rocket attack on a U.S. military base in Baghdad.
U.S. forces officially ended combat operations in Iraq last August ahead of a scheduled U.S. military withdrawal at the end of this year. U.S. fatalities in Iraq since last year have become more sporadic.
U.S. troops are now mainly involved in a support and training role.
Violence in Iraq has generally dropped since the height of sectarian conflict in 2006-2007, but gun and bomb attacks still occur daily, often targeting local Iraqi security forces. (Reporting by Patrick Markey; Editing by Jon Boyle)
===
Iraqi youth fret over scarce jobs, tired of war
02 Jun 2011 08:00
Source: reuters // Reuters
RTR2889T
Zahraa, 21,(R), and Rawaq, 20, young Iraqi women who were injured during the Iraq war, take photos for their friend during an Eid al-Fitr party organized by the French aid organization Medicins Sans Frontieres, September 24, 2009. REUTERS/Ali Jarekji
* Youth say their biggest concern is finding employment
* Many want to move past sectarianism, war
* Internet, Facebook open window to wider world
By Serena Chaudhry and Khalid al-Ansary
BAGHDAD, June 2 (Reuters) - Like most Iraqi university students, Dalia Muthanna is more concerned about finding a job than worrying about bomb attacks or a return of sectarian fighting in her homeland.
More than eight years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein, young people are weary of war and more interested in discussing how the country is going to get back on its feet and rebuild its battered infrastructure.
Their biggest worry and frustration is finding jobs.
"Any student you talk to will tell you that he or she dreams of graduating and getting a job, or travelling. But talking about the wars and sectarian issues we went through, they won't discuss them," said Muthanna, a 20-year-old computer studies student at Baghdad's Mustansiriya University.
"We rarely speak of these issues, as we talked about them in the past, and we have suffered enough because of them. We try not to speak about issues like war," she said.
Iraq's official unemployment rate stands at 15 percent although the real figure is believed to be around 30 percent. Around 60 percent of the population relies on a government national food ration programme.
The high level of unemployment fuels concerns about frustrated young people turning towards militias and insurgent groups, which remain capable of lethal attacks in Iraq, although overall violence has subsided from the peak of sectarian warfare in 2006-7.
The country needs massive investment in every sector. Private industry remains relatively small compared to state-owned enterprises and the government is still the biggest employer. Iraq depends on oil exports for 95 percent of government revenues.
Mehdi al-Alak, a deputy planning minister and head of the statistics office, has said at least 25 percent of Iraqis aged 16-29 are unemployed.
"MORE OPEN TO OUTSIDE WORLD"
Some Iraqi students said there was evidence of influence and recruitment by insurgents' groups at universities.
But they said most young Iraqis saw campus as a place where they could escape from sectarian issues and violence and talk more about the latest fashion and art.
"After the fall of the (Saddam Hussein) regime, there was the influence of a certain Islamic sect on the university," said oil engineering student Ammar Naiem, 22.
"There are some who join it for benefits and some join it because of their beliefs. But they can't divide the students ... Religion should be out of the university campus in general."
Naiem declined to name the sect concerned, saying he feared retribution. In the still charged sectarian atmosphere of Iraq, religious and political groups compete for supporters among the country's disgruntled and restless youth.
Dr Qassim Shakir, head of the geography department at Mustansiriya's Arab and International Studies centre, said Iraqi youth were able to move away from the past by making connections with other countries and their young people through Facebook and the Internet.
"Most of them (students) are liberal. They are not conservative," he said. "The Internet has become a connecting point between the youth of the world. The young men learn a lot from other people's cultures and civilisations."
"Now the university student spends at least 3-4 hours a day surfing on the Internet to acquire information ... They are now more open to the outside world," Shakir said.
Like the rest of the Arab world this year, Iraq has not been immune to popular protests that have mainly been organised through social media platforms like Facebook.
Although Iraqis have not called for a complete overhaul of their democratically-elected cross-sectarian government, many have voiced frustrations over a lack of basic services and jobs.
Iraq's five-year economic development plan, which aims to create 3 to 4 million new jobs by 2014, has done little to ease such concerns.
Critics say the ambitious job-creation goal seems to exist only on paper and shows little sign of becoming reality. For example, they say, the ongoing expansion of the oil sector has not yet created the surge in jobs for Iraqis that was promised.
"The problem, we, the youth, suffer is that when we graduated we don't get a job," said 21-year-old Muhammad Sameer Abbas, a second-year arts student studying French. "What is the government doing?" (Writing by Serena Chaudhry; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Jon Hemming)
===
5 US soldiers killed in Baghdad rocket attack
AP
Security contractors inspect their armored vehicles after a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, June 6, 2011. A suicide bomber in the north AP – Security contractors inspect their armored vehicles after a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, …
* Iraq Slideshow:Iraq
* Families say goodbye to soldiers heading to Iraq Play Video Video:Families say goodbye to soldiers heading to Iraq WHAS TV11 Louisville
* Congress, President Obama maneuver on debt ceiling, Medicare Play Video Barack Obama Video:Congress, President Obama maneuver on debt ceiling, Medicare 13 News, WVEC Hampton Roads
By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press Rebecca Santana, Associated Press – 36 mins ago
BAGHDAD – Five American troops serving as advisers to Iraqi security police in eastern Baghdad were killed Monday when rockets slammed into the compound where they lived. The deaths were the largest single-day loss of life for American forces in two years.
The U.S. force announced the deaths in a brief statement, excluding details. Two Iraqi security officials later said the troops died when three rockets hit near the U.S. forces' living quarters at a joint U.S.-Iraqi base in the Baladiyat neighborhood where U.S. forces were partnering with Ministry of Interior troops. The Iraqi officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
American forces said the incident is under investigation. Names of the dead were withheld pending notification of family. The deaths raised to 4,459 the number of American service members who have died in Iraq, according to an Associated Press count.
With the 46,000 U.S. forces still in Iraq scheduled to depart by year's end, American troops and their bases in Baghdad and southern Iraq have increasing come under attack and threats from Shiite Muslim militias, hoping to construct a narrative that they were responsible for driving out the Americans.
At the height of the sectarian violence that was tearing Iraq apart five years ago, there were about 170,000 American forces in the country. The number then was gradually drawn down to below 50,000 when Washington announced it had ended its combat operations ten months ago.
U.S. troops still in the country focus on training and assisting Iraqi security personnel, but are to shun combat. Nevertheless, the American forces still come under almost daily attack by rockets and mortars in their bases and gunfire and roadside bombs when moving around the country.
The five fatalities Monday were the largest on a single day since May 11, 2009, when five forces died in a noncombat incident. On April 10, 2009, six U.S. troops died — five in combat in the northern city of Mosul and one north of Baghdad in a noncombat related incident.
Elsewhere, a total of eight people were killed in the northern city of Tikrit and the capital Monday morning.
Four of them died when a bomb exploded at a checkpoint outside a government compound in Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein. It was the second attack in four days against the compound and the government employees who live and work there.
The deaths were announced by a media adviser to the provincial governor, Mohammed al-Asi. A military official in the Salahuddin Operations Command, which oversees security operations in the province, said a suicide car bomber blew himself up near the entrance to the compound. It had been a palace and support buildings constructed by Saddam, but now serves as a hub for government offices in the city.
Monday morning's attack is the second in Tikrit in recent days. On Friday, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque inside the government compound, killing 16 people. Hours later, another suicide bomber walked into the Tikrit hospital and blew himself up near the emergency room, where family members had gathered. Five people were killed and 16 were injured in that incident.
The four others killed Monday died in Baghdad, where officials said gunmen in speeding cars opened fire on two security checkpoints. The early morning attack took place in the Azamiyah district, a mostly Sunni Muslim enclave, according to military and medical officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
__
Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad contributed to this report.
===
Iraq govt struggles to cool anger over daily woes
08 Jun 2011 13:36
Source: reuters // Reuters
* PM, ministers bicker in televised cabinet meeting
* Power shortages, problems press on shaky coalition
* Recent U.S. troop deaths, bombs fuel security jitters
By Waleed Ibrahim and Aseel Kami
BAGHDAD, June 8 (Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister publicly bickered with ministers in a televised meeting about the country's poor public services that have sparked street protests and increased pressure on his shaky coalition government.
State-run television showed footage on Tuesday and Wednesday of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki discussing the country's chronic power shortages and other problems with ministers in an apparent bid to show the government was tackling the issues.
The broadcasts were unlikely to reassure citizens of the war-battered oil producer who have mounted protests against a range of public ills, including power blackouts, food ration shortages, corruption and security threats.
In the televised cabinet session, Electricity Minister Raad Shallal complained that his ministry had not received funds for multimillion-dollar generation projects.
"We have a big problem in financing," said Shallal, a member of the Sunni-dominated Iraqiya bloc in the ruling coalition that has been critical of the Maliki government's Shi'ite leadership.
At one point, an apparently irritated Maliki told Shallal: "We've always given you money before when you asked for it."
There has been increasing pressure on Maliki's shaky national unity coalition, which brings together representatives of the country's Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish groups, to deliver solutions as a 100-day deadline set by the premier for improved government performance expired this week. [ID:nLDE75019E]
Despite upbeat government reports of steadily rising oil output, exports and revenues, the lack of daily reliable power supply is one of Iraqis' biggest complaints as they struggle to restore some normality to their lives more than eight years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Deputy Prime Minister Hussain al-Shahristani told the cabinet meeting higher oil prices had helped Iraq earn an extra $8.7 billion, 34 percent more than budgeted, in the first five months of the year. [ID:nLDE7562B3]
These surplus funds were being used to cover a $13.4 billion budget deficit in 2011, but Shallal demanded they be directed to the power projects, which he said should be a priority.
Many Iraqis have resorted to using private neighbourhood generators instead of relying solely on the erratic state-run national grid.
"If people ever had any small hope of the electricity situation improving, after this cabinet session, that hope will have gone," Hashim al-Atrakchi, chairman of the Iraqi Federation of Industries, told Reuters.
SOME JITTERS OVER U.S. WITHDRAWAL
Some Iraqis said it was good that ministers had been asked to give a public account of their performance.
"The debate is good but the problem is putting things into action. Corruption will stop these projects from becoming reality," said Lamya Salim, 37, a housewife in Baghdad.
Minister of Municipalities Adel Mohoder told the cabinet meeting 70 percent of the projects in his ministry were stalled because of what he called bureaucracy and corruption.
With the government bracing for the prospect of more popular protests in Baghdad this Friday, there were also concerns about an apparent resurgence of violence as around 47,000 remaining U.S. troops in Iraq prepare to leave at the end of the year.
Five U.S. service members were killed in a rocket attack in Baghdad on Monday -- the biggest single death toll for American troops in the country for at least two years. [ID:nLDE75511H]
Over the last week, multiple bomb attacks in the volatile Sunni triangle to the west and north of Baghdad killed at least 40 people and wounded dozens more. At least one of the attacks was claimed by al Qaeda.
Although overall violence in Iraq has fallen sharply from the peak of the 2006-2007 sectarian slaughter, the attacks are seen by some U.S. officials as a message from militants intended to intensify pressure for a U.S. withdrawal as scheduled.
Senior U.S. officials and Iraqi military commanders are concerned Iraq's armed forces may not be fully ready to defend the country alone, and are suggesting some kind of U.S. military presence beyond 2011, if only in a training and advisory role.
At least one group in Maliki's coalition, the Sadr bloc led by anti-U.S. Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, fiercely opposes any U.S. troops staying on.
---
The US military says two American soldiers have been killed while conducting operations in southern Iraq.
At least ten people have been killed and 17 others injured when gunmen attacked headquarters of a provincial government in central Iraq.
The security command center in Diyala province's capital Baquba said the deadly incident took place at around 9:30 am (0630 GMT) when gunmen set off two car bombs at the perimeter wall of the province's government headquarters, AFP reported on Tuesday.
Officials at the command center said there had also been clashes between Iraqi security forces and insurgents armed with machine guns inside the compound.
Diyala province remains one of the most dangerous regions in Iraq. On Monday, unidentified gunmen opened fire at a checkpoint in Baquba, killing three policemen and injuring four others.
A similar attack by insurgents on Salaheddin governorate offices in Tikrit had left 58 people dead on March 29.
"Two US service members were killed yesterday while conducting operations in southern Iraq," the military said in a statement on Tuesday without giving further details.
The casualties raised the number of American troops killed in Iraq to eight this month.
Earlier in the day, gunmen attacked government offices in central Iraq with two car bombs, leaving at least 10 people killed and dozens others injured.
In Diyala's provincial capital of Baquba, the gunmen exchanged gunfire with Iraqi security forces, holding them at bay, and took hostages in the nearly three-hour siege.
The assailants set off two car bombs against the perimeter wall of the provincial government compound, opening the way for the militants to storm it, and set off twin blasts inside the building itself, Iraqi officials said.
There are currently about 50,000 US soldiers in Iraq, but must all withdraw by the end of the year.
Washington is adamant to keep them in war-torn Iraq for a longer period while Iraqi leaders say they should withdraw forces based on an agreement signed between the two nations.
--
Gunmen, suicide bombers storm Iraq council building
14 Jun 2011 11:00
Source: reuters // Reuters
RTR2NM5Q
Security personnel and rescue workers gather at the site of a bomb attack in Basra, 550 km (342 miles) south of Baghdad, June 13, 2011. REUTERS/Atef Hassan
* Car bomb explodes, followed by suicide bombers, shooting
* At least eight dead and 25 wounded in attack
* Local official says Iraqi troops backed by U.S. forces
(Recasts, adds bylines, details from witnesses, U.S. military)
By Suadad al-Salhy and Ahmed Rasheed
BAGHDAD, June 14 (Reuters) - Gunmen and suicide bombers stormed a provincial council in central Iraq on Tuesday after exploding a car bomb outside, killing at least 8 people before U.S.-assisted Iraqi forces regained control of the building.
The assault in Diyala province's capital Baquba, 65 miles (40 km) northeast of Baghdad, was the latest test for Iraqi forces as they prepare for a planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from the OPEC oil producer at the end of this year.
At least five gunmen disguised as Iraqi forces stormed the main gate after a car bomb exploded and a suicide bomber detonated his explosives outside.
A second suicide bomber blew himself up as the attackers clashed with police, witnesses and local officials said.
An Iraqi counter-terrorism official told Reuters the five gunmen who raided the council were killed in the attack, which he said bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda.
During the fighting, several council employees caught inside one part of the compound said they managed to escape through a side entrance with the help of Iraqi and U.S. forces.
"I heard four to five big explosions," Salim al-Zaidy, a local human rights worker who was inside the building during the attack, told Reuters. "The Iraqi army special forces and U.S. forces released us, using a back gate."
The U.S. military said in a statement that U.S. forces had only provided observation support from helicopters.
At least eight people were killed in the attack and around 25 more wounded, local government and hospital officials said.
More than eight years after the invasion that toppled former dictator Saddam Hussein, violence in Iraq has dropped since the peak of the bloody sectarian conflict in 2006 and 2007 when Sunni and Shi'ite groups fought each other and Iraqi forces.
Diyala is a volatile area where al Qaeda affiliates and other militia are still active.
"The terrorists intended to detain provincial council members and workers to demand the release of other terrorists in return. This is one of the tactics of al-Qaeda," the Iraqi counter-terrorism official told Reuters.
U.S. TROOP DEBATE
Sunni and Shi'ite militias still carry out daily bombings and killings, and insurgents have increasingly targeted local security forces and government officials in their attacks.
Gunmen stormed a provincial council headquarters in Tikrit in March, taking hostages before security forces ended the siege. At least 58 people were killed and Al Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate claimed responsibility. [ID:nMUH230534]
The U.S. officially ended combat missions last August and the remaining 47,000 American troops are scheduled to leave Iraq at the end of this year when a bilateral security pact finishes.
U.S. soldiers are now mainly engaged in advising, assisting and training local Iraqi forces. Five U.S. troops were killed in a rocket attack on a Baghdad base last week. [ID:nLDE75511H]
Iraqi government leaders are currently debating whether to ask some of the U.S. forces to stay on longer, a sensitive question that is testing the fragile cross-sectarian government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. [ID:nN09213791]
His Shi'ite-led government says local Iraqi forces can contain any internal threat, but officials acknowledge there are gaps in Iraqi military capabilities, especially in air and naval power and intelligence gathering. (Additional reporting Khalid al-Ansary in Baghdad; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Louise Ireland)
---
9 dead after gunmen assault Iraq gov't compound
AP
*
o
Share
o
retweet
o Email
o Print
Iraq abuse inquiry 'grossly incompetent' AFP/File – Soldiers prepare to raid a house on the outskirts of Baghdad in 2006. An inquiry into the alleged abuse …
* Iraq Slideshow:Iraq
* Jury selection begins in KBR, Halliburton gang rape lawsuit Play Video Iraq Video:Jury selection begins in KBR, Halliburton gang rape lawsuit 11 News Houston
* Suicide bomber kills five in Basra Play Video Iraq Video:Suicide bomber kills five in Basra Reuters
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Sinan Salaheddin, Associated Press – 7 mins ago
BAGHDAD – Assailants launched a complex strike on a government compound Tuesday, setting off a suicide car bomb outside and then breaching the building's perimeter. Nine people were killed, including at least three of the attackers.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the attack in Baqouba bore the hallmarks of the insurgent group, al-Qaida in Iraq. The assault also raised questions about how prepared Iraqi security forces are to protect the country when American troops leave by the end of this year.
"The aim of such an attack is to create more chaos and to hinder any attempts to push the country forward," said Abdullah Hassan, a member of the provincial council that had been scheduled to meet at the site Tuesday morning. He said that gathering was to start roughly an hour after the attack began but had been delayed.
The assault started when a suicide bomber exploded a car bomb at the entrance to the compound allowing the other attackers to enter the compound, according to the commander of the Iraqi army's 5th Division, which is in charge of Diyala province.
Gen. Dhiaa al-Danbos said two attackers were killed in the compound's yard surrounding the provincial government building, while a third person got into the building and began shooting.
The spokesman for Iraq's defense ministry, Gen. Mohammed al-Askari, told state TV that four militants entered the yard; three of them were killed and one managed to make it into the building.
The conflicting accounts could not immediately be reconciled. There also were conflicting information about whether the assailants who died were killed by Iraqi security forces or blew themselves up.
The attacker who made it into the building killed three civilians inside the reception area before he was wounded by security forces.
Al-Askari blamed al-Qaida for the attack and compared it to an assault carried out in March against a government compound in Tikrit.
Gunmen in that attack wore military uniforms over explosives belts and charged into a government building in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. The attack left 56 people dead, and the five-hour standoff ended only when the attackers blew themselves up in one of the bloodiest days in Iraq this year.
Violence in Iraq has dropped dramatically since the most vicious of the Shiite-Sunni sectarian fighting just a few years ago. But militant groups have demonstrated their continued capability to carry out violent attacks.
Two U.S. soldiers died Monday during operations in southern Iraq, U.S. military officials said. The soldiers were not identified pending notification of next of kin.
The new deaths bring to 4,462 the number of American service members who have died in Iraq since the war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count. And it brings to eight the number of U.S. troops killed in June so far.
Shiite Muslim militias have stepped up attacks on U.S. forces with the approach of the year-end withdrawal of all American troops.
___
Associated Press writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad and Yahya Barzanji in Sulaimaniyah contributed to this report.
(This version CORRECTS that no hostages taken and that there was one instead of two car bombs.)
===
US helicopters fire on attackers in Iraq oil hub -military
15 Jun 2011 17:29
Source: reuters // Reuters
* Southern oil port Basra has been relatively stable
* But attacks increasing as U.S. prepares planned withdrawal
BAGHDAD, June 15 (Reuters) - U.S. military helicopters fired on suspected militia fighters in southern Iraq on Wednesday, killing one, in a rare American air strike responding to a rocket attack on an airport, the U.S. military said. The U.S. response at Basra came at a sensitive time as Baghdad and Washington debate whether American soldiers need to stay past a planned withdrawal at the end of 2011 after they finished combat missions last year.
Basra, the strategic oil hub for the OPEC member country, has been relatively calm in recent years compared to the more restive northern and central parts of the country, where al-Qaeda affiliates are still more active.
The U.S. helicopter intervention came after seven rockets were fired at U.S. and Iraqi forces stationed at Basra airport.
"The helicopter team was airborne while conducting a routine mission when they received the report about the base attack," the U.S. military said in a statement.
"They viewed two males actively loading and launching the rockets and requested permission to engage."
After the U.S. strike, "a team of Iraqi security forces were alerted and dispatched to the site and found three of the men responsible for the attack -- one dead and two wounded," the U.S. military said.
Local Iraqi media reported a civilian was killed and three others wounded in the U.S. operation, and the U.S. military said it was investigating whether there had been civilian casualties.
U.S. troops ended combat missions in August, and the remaining U.S. forces are mainly engaged in advisory and training roles. But they retain the right to defend themselves.
Eight years after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, violence in Iraq has fallen since a peak of sectarian conflict, but Sunni Islamist insurgents linked to al-Qaeda and Shi'ite militias continue daily bombings and assassinations.
U.S. officials say attacks have increased, especially in the south, where militias are trying to take credit for appearing to have forced the U.S. military to leave the country.
A senior Iraqi security official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, said U.S. forces in Basra had grown frustrated with the Iraqi military response to recent attacks on their base.
"During recent meetings with the Americans, they were complaining our security forces are not doing enough to stop bomb and rocket attacks targeting their base and ground troops," the security official said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says local forces are ready to contain any internal threat, but acknowledges gaps in air, naval and intelligence capabilities. U.S. officials say Maliki needs to ask soon if any troops are to stay. (Reporting by Patrick Markey in Baghdad and Aref Mohammed in Basra)
==
Basrah Suicide Attack
Posted on 14 June 2011. Tags: AKE, al-Qaeda, Basrah, bombing, Iraq, Police, safety, Security, suicide, terrorism
Basrah Suicide Attack
A suicide bomber killed at least five police officers when he rammed a car laden with explosives` into a compound in Basrah. The attack on 13 June also left several more people injured. Suicide bombings are a favoured tactic of violent jihadi and predominantly Sunni terrorist organisations. This bracket includes groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and other movements affiliated with al-Qaeda. A statement claiming responsibility may soon be publicised by one such group, potentially demonising the Iraqi police as apostates or subservient to either a politically corrupt government or morally corrupt west.
Recent Trends
These jihadi groups have a much more faint presence in the predominantly Shi’ah south of the country than they do in places like Anbar province or Mosul further north. Suicide attacks remain a very infrequent occurrence in the region as a result. In February 2010 the authorities managed to stop a mentally ill and possibly coerced man who was carrying an explosive suicide belt. He was believed to have been trying to attack Shi’ah pilgrims in Basrah city, but following the intervention there had been no further successful suicide bombings south of Karbala until the latest incident.
Other parts of the country continue to see suicide bombings on a far more regular basis. The Basrah attack constitutes the 400th suicide bombing in Iraq recorded by AKE since the beginning of 2008. This record signifies an average of around two such attacks every week in the country, although incidents were more common three years ago when al-Qaeda had a greater stranglehold over the central provinces.
Security and Safety
Security measures in the southern region have been described as more relaxed, mainly because violence is much less frequent an occurrence in Basrah than it is in Baghdad. Nonetheless, terrorist organisations still pose a risk. The Basrah attack highlights the fact that jihadis still have the ability to launch spectacular attacks, even in the south. This is despite the loss of key leaders of the organisation over the past two years, not least Osama bin Laden. Companies working in the south of the country are advised to ensure that their facilities are properly protected against the possibility of vehicle-borne explosive suicide attack. While there are numerous business opportunities available in the region and the situation remains far more stable than the rest of the country, there are no grounds for complacency.
John Drake is a senior risk consultant with AKE, a British private security firm working in Iraq from before 2003. Further details on the company can be found here while AKE’s intelligence and political risk website Global IntAKE can be accessed here.
You can obtain a free trial of AKE’s intelligence reports here.
You can also follow John Drake on twitter here.
---
FACTBOX-Security developments in Iraq, June 21
21 Jun 2011 07:51
Source: reuters // Reuters
June 21 (Reuters) - Following are security developments in Iraq as of 0745 GMT on Tuesday.
DIWANIYA - At least 21 people were killed and more than 30 wounded when bombs exploded at a checkpoint outside a provincial governor's house in Diwaniya, 150 km (95 miles) south of Baghdad, local authorities said.
One suicide bomber blew himself up and at least one car bomb exploded outside the governor's house, as guards changed shifts at the checkpoint. Most of the victims were bodyguards, officials said.
MUSSAYAB - Five people were killed and nine others wounded when a bomb left in a restaurant went off in Mussayab, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed an Iraqi solider and wounded five people, including three soldiers, in Palestine Street in northeastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - A bomb left in a minibus killed a civilian and wounded three others when it exploded in Baghdad's west-central Mansour district, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - Armed men in a speeding car using silenced weapons killed an Iraqi army brigadier while he was inside his car in Baghdad's northern Shaab district late on Monday, an Interior Ministry source said.
(Compiled by Baghdad newsroom)
----
U.S. Army patrol attacked by explosive charge in Babel, south Iraq
6/21/2011 11:35 AM
BABEL / Aswat al-Iraq: An explosive charge was blown up against a U.S.
Army patrol in southern Iraq’s Babel province on Tuesday, a Babel police source said.
“An explosive charge blew off against a U.S.
Army patrol, while passing through al-Shomaly township, 40 km to the south of Hilla, the center of southern Iraq’s Babel Province on Tuesday,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
He said the American troops have cordoned the venue of the blast, shooting fire in the air, whilst losses were not known.
SKH (PT)
==
UPDATE: Southern Iraq’s Diwaniya blasts’ casualties reach 23 killed and 40 injured
6/21/2011 11:48 AM
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The result of two booby-trapped cars blasts, targeted against the Province’s Council building in southern Iraq’s Diwaniya Province on Tuesday, has reached 23 persons killed and 40 others injured, according to a Diwaniya security source.
“The last result of the double booby-trapped car explosion, targeted against Diwaniya Province’s Council building early on Tuesday, has reached 23 killed, including Iraq’s Afaq TV Channel, Salem al-Gharbawi, and 40 others injured,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The security source said that the Province’s security forces “have taken strict security measures around the Province, stemming from information about possibilities for security violations.”
Diwaniya, the center of the province carrying the same name, is 180 km to the south of Baghdad.
SKH (ST)
==
Two civilians killed, 8 others injured, in Musayab, South Iraq
6/21/2011 10:37 AM
BABEL / Aswat al-Iraq: Two civilians have been killed and eight others injured, among them two policemen, in an explosive charge blast in a popular café in southern Iraq’s city of Musayab on Tuesday, a Babel security source said.
“An explosive charge blew off in a café in Musayab city, 45 km to the northwest of Hilla, the center of Babel Province on Tuesday, killing 2 civilians and wounding 8 others, among them a police officer and a cop,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq.
Hilla, the center of west Iraq’s Babel Province, is 100 km to the south of Baghdad.
=
Attacks continue on south oil sector
Excess gas is flared at the Rumaila oil field in Basra, as workers look on. (ATEF HASSAN/Reuters)
By Ben Lando of Iraq Oil Report
Published June 21, 2011
A roadside bomb injured one Iraqi and one British employee of a UK-based private security company servicing the international oil industry operating in Basra.
The attack, which took place Sunday morning, is the latest incident testing the resolve of Iraqi and foreign security forces supporting Iraq's massive planned increase in oil production and exports. Much of the increase is scheduled to come from 11 oil deals and three gas deals awarded over the past two years to the world's largest oil...
==
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press – 30 mins ago
BAGHDAD – Suicide bombers detonated two explosives-laden vehicles early Tuesday near a government compound by a southern Iraqi governor's home, killing at least 22 people and wounding dozens, Iraqi officials said.
The attacks come as Iraq's top political factions started to discuss in earnest whether to ask some of the U.S. troops to stay beyond the Dec. 31 withdrawal deadline because of the security situation.
While violence is well below what it was during the years that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, militants are still able to launch deadly attacks. The ongoing violence has led to concerns about what happens when the 47,000 remaining U.S. troops are withdrawn.
Still, such violence is rare in the mostly Shiite province of Diwaniyah, which is 80 miles (130 kilometers) outside of Baghdad and well south of most of the insurgent strongholds.
Diwaniyah Gov. Salim Hussien Alwan said he was leaving his house when a suicide bomber rammed into a police checkpoint outside his house.
"I was in the garage preparing to leave when the attacker hit the police barrier outside and crashed with their vehicle," Alwan told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
Minutes later, another suicide bomber attacked a compound housing the governor's office and other governmental buildings, according to a police officer and two medical officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to journalists.
At least 37 people were wounded in the attacks which occurred at about 7:30 a.m. when security forces were changing shifts, the officials said.
Like most government buildings in Iraq, the governor's house and office are surrounded by walls, and visitors must pass through checkpoints manned by security forces to get inside. The attackers did not appear to make it through the security perimeter but blew themselves up at the checkpoints.
The last major attacks in Diwaniyah had been in 2009 when a bomb attached to a bus killed six people and 2007 when roadside bomb targeted a police patrol, killing at seven officers.
Hamid al-Mutlaq, a Sunni lawmaker and member of the parliament's security and defense committees, blamed Tuesday's attacks on political disputes that have delayed the selection of top security posts.
Iraq's prime minister has failed to fill the top posts at the interior and defense ministries more than five months after he seated his government for a second term. The country's warring political factions have been unable to agree on who should run the powerful and sensitive positions.
"We have said before that there is a failure in the security forces and they are infiltrated," al-Mutlaq said.
In Baghdad, a bomb attached to a minibus killed the driver while the bus was traveling Tuesday in the capital's western Harithiya neighborhood, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Mousawi said. It was not immediately known what was the motive was behind the attack.
Also Tuesday, an al-Qaida-linked group claimed responsibility for a brazen attack last week against a government compound in northeastern Iraq. Assailants set off a suicide car bomb and then stormed the compound in Diyala province, killing nine people.
The Islamic State of Iraq, a front group for al-Qaida in Iraq, has claimed responsibility for a number of recent attacks on government facilities similar to the one carried out last week in Baqouba.
___
Associated Press writers Hamid Ahmed and Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.
==
Bombs kill 21 at Iraqi governor's house
21 Jun 2011 09:20
Source: reuters // Reuters
1106212-iraq
Iraqi soldiers stands inspect the site of a bomb attack in Diwaniya, 150 km (95 miles) south of Baghdad, June 21, 2011. REUTERS/Imad al-Khozai
* Latest attack on local Iraqi government building
* Insurgents testing local forces before U.S. withdrawal
* Militants often target checkpoints during guard changes
(Adds details from the scene, bylines, official remarks)
By Aseel Kami and Suadad al-Salhy
BAGHDAD, June 21 (Reuters) - At least 21 people were killed on Tuesday when bombs exploded at a checkpoint outside a provincial governor's house in central Iraq, the latest attack targeting a government building, local authorities said.
One suicide bomber blew himself up and at least one car bomb exploded outside the Diwaniya governor's house, 150 km (95 miles) south of Baghdad, as guards changed shifts at the checkpoint. Most of the victims were guards, officials said.
"I heard a loud blast and then another one. I opened the door and I saw white smoke and smelled the blood... I looked to the side and I saw three guards dead on the ground," said Maha al-Sagban, a local resident whose house was damaged.
The initial toll was 21 killed at the checkpoint, said Fadhel Mawat, a spokesman for the provincial council.
A source at a hospital in Diwaniya said at least 22 people had been killed and more than 30 wounded in the attack.
Another five people were killed and nine wounded in a separate attack when a bomb exploded in a restaurant in the town of Mussayab, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
Bombings and killings in Iraq have fallen sharply since the height of sectarian violence in 2006-2007, but a stubborn Sunni Islamist insurgency linked to al Qaeda, other Sunni groups and rival Shi'ite militias still carry out daily attacks.
Violence has increasingly targeted security forces and provincial government officials as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw from the OPEC oil producer by a year-end deadline more than eight years after the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.
Diwaniya is a poor, mainly Shi'ite region and several of Iraq's armed groups are active in the area.
A series of bombings and attacks have hit local government buildings in the last four months. Security officials have said they expect increased attacks on provincial offices.
The Diwaniya attack followed a similar pattern to an attack on a checkpoint in Tikrit earlier this month when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives as army guards were handing over security duty to police. [ID:nLDE7550TV]
Gunmen and suicide bombers a week ago stormed a provincial council building in Baquba in the central province of Diyala, killing at least eight people before Iraqi forces retook the building with the help of U.S. troops. [ID:nLDE75D0KQ]
In March, gunmen stormed a provincial council headquarters in Tikrit, taking hostages before security forces ended the siege. At least 58 people were killed in the assault, claimed by a local al Qaeda affiliate. [ID:nLDE75D0KQ]
The remaining 47,000 U.S. troops are scheduled to leave at the end of the year, but Iraqi leaders are discussing the sensitive question of whether to ask at least some of them to stay on in a training and advising role. (Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Matthew Jones)
==
URGENT / Terrorist group involved in assassinations of high ranking officials detained in Baghdad
6/21/2011 1:31 PM
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: A terrorist gang, carrying out assassinations against high-ranking officers and judges, has been detained by Iraq’s Anti-Terrorism Body in western Baghdad on Tuesday, according to an urgent report by the semi-official al-Iraqiya TV Channel.
“A force, belonging to the Anti-Terrorism Body has managed to detain a terrorist network, responsible for the assassination of high-ranking officers and judges, using silencer guns, in west Baghdad’s al-Adel district,” the TV Channel reported.
Noteworthy is that Baghdad is witnessing the stepping up of security violations, reflected in attacks against Iraqi Army officers, police, state officials and university professors, by unknown gunmen, using explosive and sticking charges, along with guns fixed with silencers.
Doubts have spread about links between the said terrorist gangs and some security bodies, whilst part of the assassinations were linked to political assassinations, at a time when the naming of security cabinet ministers was not settled by the current government for more than 4 months.
==
Death squads have infiltrated Iraqi government, al-Maliki says
BAGHDAD — In a dramatic revelation after a series of major security breaches, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has linked the assassinations of security officials to his government and said a "militia" of more than 400 men had been set up within the Interior Ministry, answerable only to an outside political figure he didn't name.
Speaking before his Cabinet in a live television broadcast late Tuesday, al-Maliki said "investigations, investigating committees and confessions" had indicated that assassinations were carried out using "government weapons, government cars and government IDs."
Some operations "have been done under the cover of some officials, in some ministries," he said, without going into detail.
"It's one thing to face an enemy that doesn't have real capabilities," he said. "But if the enemy is within your lines, and doesn't believe in the political process, the enemy will take benefit from government facilities to carry out these actions."
Al-Maliki blamed the country's continuing insecurity on political interference in the security ministries during the period after the March 2010 elections, when Iraq's politicians were arguing about forming a government. "What happened of late is a clear reflection of the confusion in the political process," he said.
"Those who have destroyed the Ministries of the Interior and Defense are we, the (political) parties, who come with a list and tell the officials, 'Employ these people.'"
Al-Maliki said he found a list of 470 names that "one person," whom he didn't name, had presented to the Interior Ministry for hiring. "And they were employed!" he declared. "That means he formed a militia inside the ministry."
The individual in question had just been released from jail, where he'd been held on terrorism allegations, the prime minister said. He didn't identify the person, and government spokesman Ali al Dabbagh didn't respond to requests to elaborate.
http://www.kentucky.com/2011/06/15/1...#ixzz1PP5nJyIx
==
Bombs kill at least 15 in Iraqi capital
23 Jun 2011 16:43
Source: reuters // Reuters
BAGHDAD, June 23 (Reuters) - A series of bomb blasts in quick succession at a crowded market in Baghdad on Thursday killed at least 15 people and wounded 34 others, security sources said.
A police source put the toll at 15 dead and 34 wounded, while two Interior Ministry sources said 17 people were killed.
(Reporting by Reuters Television; Writing by Jim Loney)
==
Blasts rip through western Baghdad, killing 40
By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press – 2 hrs 45 mins ago
BAGHDAD – Four bombs ripped through Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad Thursday evening, killing at least 40 people in the worst violence the capital has seen in months, Iraqi officials said. An American civilian aid specialist working to improve education in Iraq was killed in a separate attack.
The violence underscored the fragile nature of the security gains in Iraq at a time when American forces are preparing to withdraw by the end of this year and the challenges facing the State Department personnel and American contractors who would continue on after the U.S. military is gone.
The first three bombs went off in quick succession in a southwestern Baghdad neighborhood shortly after 7 p.m. One targeted a Shiite mosque, another exploded just outside a popular market, while the third went off inside the market where people were doing their evening shopping ahead of the Muslim weekend, Iraqi police officials said.
The officials said 34 people died and 82 others were injured in the three blasts. An official from Baghdad's Yarmouk hospital confirmed the casualty figures.
An Iraqi resident, Jabir Ali, said he was about 200 yards (meters) away when one of the bombs went off near a barber shop where his cousin works.
"I saw many people killed and injured. I went to see my cousin. The glass at his shop was broken and he was injured in his head, chest and hand by the glass," said Ali, who drove his cousin to the hospital.
About an hour later, a parked car bomb targeting a police patrol killed six people, including one policeman and five bystanders in a different neighborhood in southwestern Baghdad, said hospital officials.
The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Sunni extremists such as al-Qaida in Iraq generally tend to target Shiite mosques and neighborhoods and Iraqi security forces.
It was the worst attack in the capital since a parked car bomb exploded near a mourning tent in a northern Baghdad neighborhood in January, killing 48 people.
The American civilian killed earlier Thursday was Dr. Stephen Everhart, said a U.S. State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland.
"Dr. Everhart was an American citizen who was working in Iraq for an implementing partner of the United States Agency for International Development's Mission in Iraq. He was killed while working on a project to introduce a new business curriculum to a Baghdad university in a program supported by the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education," she said in a statement.
"We are saddened by this tragedy and extend our thoughts and prayers to Dr. Everhart's family and loved ones, and to the three other injured victims and their families," she said.
Everhart worked at the American University in Cairo, where he was associate dean of the Business School and a finance professor. Before joining AUC, he worked extensively with the World Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a U.S. government agency designed to help businesses break into developing markets.
He also wrote articles on topics like international aid, corruption and financial markets.
Officials at Georgia State University said Everhart listed San Antonio, Texas, as his hometown on his registration paperwork. Everhart got both his master's and doctorate in economics at Georgia State in Atlanta.
Mary Beth Walker, dean of the School of Policy Studies, said Everhart met his wife, Stephanie, while in graduate school there. She described him as a "hard worker" with a good sense of humor.
Walker said Everhart had contact with Georgia State faculty members in the last two weeks about his work in Iraq and said he was planning to move to Vietnam soon to work at a university there.
The State Department gave no information about how he was killed, but an Iraqi police official said the American contractors were visiting a satellite office of Mustansiriyah University in eastern Baghdad when they were hit by a roadside bomb.
It was not known whether the assailants knew Americans were in the convoy or not. It is extremely rare for an American working so closely with the State Department to be killed.
Shiite militias who operate in the nearby neighborhood of Sadr City have stepped up attacks against the U.S. military in recent months and threatened violence against other American targets. Nine American soldiers have been killed in Iraq so far this month, one of the highest death tolls in two years.
The U.S. military has also accused Shiite militias of lobbing mortars and rockets at the U.S. Embassy in the Green Zone.
Shiite militias are trying to claim they are driving the U.S. military from Iraq and make the U.S. think twice before agreeing to have U.S. troops stay in the country past the Dec. 31 date by which they're slated to go home.
The attack against Everhart and the other contractors could have serious repercussions for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the ability to conduct operations in the country. Already, U.S. Embassy staff and contractors working with agencies such as USAID generally travel in armored vehicles with guards and sometimes with U.S. military assistance.
Earlier this week, a convoy carrying French Embassy staff was targeted by a roadside bomb in the Karradah neighborhood. No one was killed in that incident.
__
Associated Press writer Saad Abdul-Kadir in Baghdad and Dorie Turner in Atlanta contributed to this report.
==
Scores killed in Baghdad market blasts
Thu Jun 23, 2011 5:49PM
Bombings have been on the rise in Iraq since the beginning of the year.
At least 21 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded when three explosions blew up in a market south of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
"Explosives loaded in three shopping carts killed 21 people and wounded 107 at the Shurt al-Raba market," AFP quoted an interior ministry official as saying on Thursday
The official added that the attack happened at 6:45 p.m. (15:45 GMT) when the area was crowded with shoppers.
Also on Thursday, an American contractor with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Iraq was killed and three civilians, including another US citizen, were wounded in a bomb attack in Baghdad.
Reports show that bombings have been on the rise in Iraq since the beginning of 2011 and violent incidents averaged more than 10 a day in May, up from four to five a day in January.
On Tuesday, 25 people were killed and 30 injured when two car bombs exploded outside the residence of a local governor in central Iraq.
At least seven Iraqis were injured in an attack on a French embassy convoy in Baghdad on Monday.
Local security forces and provincial government officials in Iraq have been the target of attacks in recent months as US troops prepare to withdraw from the country by the end of this year.
Over one million Iraqis have died since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, according to the California-based media research group, Project Censored.
===
Deadly blasts hit Baghdad neighbourhood
At least 23 people killed and another 100 wounded in Iraqi capital as bombs appear to target Shia mosque and a market.
Last Modified: 23 Jun 2011 20:03
Twenty-three people have been killed and at least 100 others injured by three bomb explosions in southwest Baghdad, Iraqi officials say.
Two police officials said the bombs targeted a Shia Muslim mosque as well as a market on Thursday evening.
An Iraqi government official said: "Three improvised bomb explosions at the al-Shurta al-Rabaa market killed 17 people and wounded 35.
"There were a lot of people at the market because it is Thursday, the evening before the weekend", which begins on Friday.
An employee of Baghdad's Yarmouk hospital confirmed the casualty figure of 21.
Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Baghdad, said: "The perpetrators used three wooden carts which are common for carrying vendor materials to and from the market.
"Two were placed at the entrance and exit to the market, [and] a third was placed at the centre of the market."
Witness account
An Iraqi resident, Jabir Ali, said he was about 200 yards away when one of the bombs went off near a barber shop where his cousin works.
''I saw many people killed and injured," Ali said. "I went to see my cousin. The glass at his shop was broken and he was injured in his head, chest and hand by the glass."
Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh reports from Baghdad on the blasts
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, but armed anti-government groups like al-Qaeda in Iraq generally tend to target Shia mosques and neighbourhoods.
Two other blasts in Baghdad followed Thursday evening's market attack.
In one, a car bomb targeted street vendors in the city's southern Dora neighbourhood, killing two people and injured 10 others.
The other blast targeted an army patrol in the Jamaa neighbourhood. Three Iraqi soldiers were injured and an army vehicle sustained damage.
Earlier on Thursday, an American aid worker was killed in Baghdad, a US embassy official said.
"An American civilian working with an implementing partner of the United States Agency for International Development in Iraq was killed in a terrorist attack today in Baghdad. Three additional civilians were wounded in the attack, including one American citizen," David Ranz, the spokesperson for the US embassy, said.
The US state department later released a statement identifying the victim as Stephen Everhart and condemning the attack.
"Dr Everhart was an American citizen who was working in Iraq for an implementing partner of the United States Agency for International Development’s Mission in Iraq.
"He was killed while working on a project to introduce a new business curriculum to a Baghdad university in a program supported by the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education."
No comments:
Post a Comment