Gunmen attack Baghdad liquor stores, 12 killed

Gunmen attack Baghdad liquor stores, 12 killed Tue, May 14 15:25 PM EDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Gunmen using silenced weapons attacked at least nine liquor stores in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 12 people, police and medical sources said. Police sources said the attack targeted a row of stores selling alcohol in Zayona district of eastern Baghdad, which has a majority Shi'ite population. Even though most people shun alcohol, forbidden under Islamic law, Iraq is a generally less conservative Muslim society than neighbors such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, thanks to its mix of Shi'ites, Sunnis, ethnic Kurds and Christians. But Islamist parties have risen to the fore since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 after the U.S.-led invasion and many fear they could encourage hardline Islamists to exert more influence over aspects of Iraqi life. Saddam legally allowed shops to sell alcohol, although bars and nightclubs were banned towards the end of his rule. "Gunmen in four SUV vehicles stopped near the liquor stores and gunmen equipped with silenced weapons started shooting at everybody near the stores," Furat Ahmed, a policeman at the scene, said. Police and medical sources said at least nine customers and three liquor store owners were killed, and three others were seriously wounded. Violence is still well below its height in 2006-7, but provisional figures from rights group Iraq Body Count put violent deaths in April at more than 400 - the highest monthly toll since 2009. About 1,500 people have been killed this year. (Reporting by Kareem Raheem; Wriring by Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by) ========================= Car bombs target Iraq Shi'ites, killing 43 Mon, May 20 09:04 AM EDT 1 of 5 By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 43 people were killed in car bomb explosions targeting Shi'ite Muslims in the Iraqi capital and the southern oil hub of Basra on Monday, police and medics said. The attacks brought the number of people killed in sectarian violence in the past week to almost 200. Tensions between Shi'ites, who now lead Iraq, and minority Sunni Muslims have reached their highest level since U.S. troops pulled out in December 2011. No group claimed responsibility for the bombings. Iraq is home to a number of Sunni Islamist insurgent groups, including the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, which has previously targeted Shi'ites in a bid to provoke a wider sectarian confrontation. Nine people were killed in one of two car bomb explosions in Basra, a predominantly Shi'ite city 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police and medics said. "I was on duty when a powerful blast shook the ground," said a police officer near the site of that attack in the Hayaniya neighborhood. "The blast hit a group of day laborers gathering near a sandwich kiosk," he told Reuters, describing corpses littering the ground. "One of the dead bodies was still grabbing a blood-soaked sandwich in his hand." Five other people were killed in a second blast inside a bus terminal in Saad Square, also in Basra, police and medics said. In Baghdad, a parked car exploded in a busy market in the mainly Shi'ite eastern district of Kamaliya, killing seven people, police said. A further 22 people were killed in blasts in Ilaam, Diyala Bridge, al-Shurta, Shula, Zaafaraniya and Sadr City - all areas with a high concentration of Shi'ites. CORPSES FOUND In the western province of Anbar, the bodies of 14 people kidnapped on Saturday, including six policemen, were found dumped in the desert with bullet wounds to the head and chest, police and security sources said. When Sunni-Shi'ite bloodshed was at its height in 2006-07, Anbar was in the grip of al Qaeda's Iraqi wing, which has regained strength in recent months. In 2007, Anbar's Sunni tribes banded together with U.S. troops and helped subdue al Qaeda. Known as the "Sahwa" or Awakening militia, they are now on the government payroll and are often targeted by Sunni militants as punishment for co-operating with the Shi'ite-led government. Three Sahwa members were killed in a car bomb explosion as they collected their salaries in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad, police said. Iraq's delicate intercommunal fabric is under increasing strain from the conflict in neighboring Syria, which has drawn Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims from across the region into a proxy war. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main regional ally is Shi'ite Iran, while the rebels fighting to overthrow him are supported by Sunni Gulf powers Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Iraq says it takes no sides in the conflict, but leaders in Tehran and Baghdad fear Assad's demise would make way for a hostile Sunni Islamist government in Syria, weakening Shi'ite influence in the Middle East. The prospect of a shift in the sectarian balance of power has emboldened Iraq's Sunni minority, embittered by Shi'ite dominance since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by U.S.-led forces in 2003. Thousands of Sunnis began staging street protests last December against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whom they accuse of marginalizing their sect. A raid by the Iraqi army on a protest camp in the town of Hawija last month ignited a bout of violence that left more than 700 people dead in April, according to a U.N. count, the highest monthly toll in almost five years. At the height of sectarian violence in 2006-07, the monthly death toll sometimes topped 3,000. (Additional reporting by Kamal Naama in Ramadi and Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad; Writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by Angus MacSwan) ============== Bomb attacks kill more than 70 Shi'ites across Iraq Mon, May 20 14:15 PM EDT 1 of 7 By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than 70 people were killed in a series of car bombings and suicide attacks targeting Shi'ite Muslims across Iraq on Monday, police and medics said, extending the worst sectarian violence since U.S. troops withdrew in December 2011. The attacks increased the number killed in sectarian clashes in the past week to more than 200. Tensions between Shi'ites, who now lead Iraq, and minority Sunni Muslims have reached a point where some fear a return to all-out civil conflict. No group claimed responsibility for the bombings. Iraq has a number of Sunni Islamist insurgent groups, including the al Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, which has targeted Shi'ites in a bid to kindle a wider sectarian conflagration. Nine people were killed in one of two car bombings in Basra, a predominantly Shi'ite city 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police and medics said. "I was on duty when a powerful blast shook the ground," said a police officer near the site of that attack in the Hayaniya neighborhood. "The blast hit a group of day laborers gathering near a sandwich kiosk," he said, describing corpses littering the ground. "One of the dead bodies was still grabbing a blood-soaked sandwich in his hand." Five other people were killed in a second blast inside a bus terminal in Saad Square in Basra, police and medics said. In Baghdad, at least 30 people were killed by car bombs in Kamaliya, Ilaam, Diyala Bridge, al-Shurta, Shula, Zaafaraniya and Sadr City - all areas with a high concentration of Shi'ites. A parked car bomb also exploded in the mainly Shi'ite district of Shaab in northern Baghdad, killing 12 people and wounding 26 others, police and hospital sources said. In Balad, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, a parked car blew up near a bus carrying Shi'ite pilgrims from Iran, killing five Iranian pilgrims and two Iraqis who were travelling to the Shi'ite holy city of Samarra, police said. Eleven people were killed by a car bomb and a suicide bomber in Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, police and medics said. Both attacks occurred near a Shi'ite place of worship and an outdoor market. CORPSES FOUND In the western province of Anbar, the bodies of 14 people kidnapped on Saturday, including six policemen, were found dumped in the desert with bullet wounds to the head and chest, police and security sources said. When Sunni-Shi'ite bloodshed was at its height in 2006-07, Anbar was in the grip of al Qaeda's Iraqi wing, which has regained strength in recent months. In 2007, Anbar's Sunni tribes banded together with U.S. troops and helped subdue al Qaeda. Known as the "Sahwa" or Awakening militia, they are now on the government payroll and are often targeted by Sunni militants as punishment for co-operating with the Shi'ite-led government. Three Sahwa members were killed in a car bomb explosion as they collected their salaries in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad, police said. And a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt detonated himself at a Sahwa checkpoint, killing two fighters and wounded another seven in Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad. Iraq's fragile intercommunal fabric is under increasing strain from the conflict in nearby Syria, which has drawn Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims from across the region into a proxy war. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main regional ally is Shi'ite Iran, while the rebels fighting to overthrow him are supported by Sunni Gulf powers Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Iraq says it takes no sides in the conflict, but leaders in Tehran and Baghdad fear Assad's demise would make way for a hostile Sunni Islamist government in Syria, weakening Shi'ite influence in the Middle East. The prospect of a shift in the sectarian balance of power has emboldened Iraq's Sunni minority, which is embittered by Shi'ite dominance since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by U.S.-led forces in 2003. Thousands of Sunnis began staging street protests last December against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whom they accuse of marginalizing their sect. A raid by the Iraqi army on a protest camp in the town of Hawija last month ignited a spate of violence that left more than 700 people dead in April, according to a U.N. count, the highest monthly toll in almost five years. At the height of sectarian violence in 2006-07, the monthly death toll sometimes topped 3,000. (This story has been corrected to show that not all those killed in the attacks were Shi'ites) (Additional reporting by Aref Mohammed in Basra, Kamal Naama in Ramadi, Ghazwan Hassan in Tikrit, Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad and Ali al-Rubaie in Hilla; Writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by Mark ================= Attacks in Iraq kill over 40, sectarian tensions high Tue, May 21 17:21 PM EDT 1 of 4 By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - A series of bomb and gun attacks across Iraq killed more than 40 people on Tuesday, a day after over 70 died in violence targeting majority Shi'ites that has stoked fears of all-out sectarian war with minority Sunnis. Nearly 300 people have been killed in the past week as sectarian tensions, fuelled by the civil war in neighboring Syria, threaten to plunge Iraq back into communal bloodletting. Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq's Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds have yet to find a stable power-sharing deal and violence is again on the upswing. In the biggest single incident on Tuesday, a car bomb exploded near a Sunni mosque in the Abu Ghraib area of western Baghdad killing 11 people and wounding 21, police and medics said. "I heard a powerful bang and a fireball near the main gate of the mosque," said Uday Raheem, a policeman whose patrol was stationed near the mosque. "We held back a while fearing a second explosion and then rushed to the blast location. The bodies of worshippers were scattered and some were shouting for help. bleeding to death." Another bomb outside a cafe in the Doura district of southern Baghdad killed six more and wounded 18. In Diyala province northeast of the capital, at least eight people, including two policemen, were killed in bombs and shootings, and in Kanaan, also to the northeast, two roadside bombs detonated in quick succession claiming three lives. In the north of the country, three roadside bombs exploded near a livestock market in the ethnically-mixed city of Kirkuk, killing six people and shredding the bodies of humans and animals alike. Mahmoud Jumaa, whose cousin was killed in the multiple bombings, appeared bewildered by their random nature. "I heard the explosions, but never thought this place would be targeted since these animals have nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with sect, nothing to do with ethnicity or religion," he said. Kirkuk is in a disputed oil-rich swathe of Iraq claimed both by the Shi'ite-dominated government in Baghdad and ethnic Kurds who run their own autonomous administration in the north. Two car bomb blasts killed three people in a residential part of the town of Tuz Khurmato, also in the disputed area. North of Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed three soldiers at a checkpoint in Tarmiya, police and medics said, and in Khalis gunmen broke into a house and killed and man and his wife, both of them Sunni Muslims. The conflict in Syria, where mostly Sunni rebels are fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad, is turning in part into a regional proxy war between Sunni and Shi'ite powers. Lebanon's Iranian-backed Shi'ite Hezbollah group is now openly fighting alongside Assad's forces, which are dominated by members of his minority Shi'ite-linked Alawite sect. Iraq's Sunnis who resent their treatment by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government have staged mass protests since December. Sunni militants, some of them linked to al Qaeda, have exploited the unrest, urging Sunnis to take up arms. More than 700 people died violently in April, according to the United Nations, the highest monthly figure in almost five years. Iraq suffered a frenzy of Sunni-Shi'ite violence in 2006-07, when monthly death tolls sometimes topped 3,000. (Reporting by Mustafa Mahmoud; Writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by Mike Collett-White) ============== Bombs, kidnappings, mistrust shake fragile nation Mourners in Najaf pray over the coffin of a victim killed in a May 20 bomb attack. (AHMAD MOUSA/Reuters) By Staff of Iraq Oil Report Published Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 Iraq's capital and major cities suffered a bloody day of bombings and assassinations Monday, as sectarian conflict and political dysfunction continued to feed a vicious cycle of violence.At least 65 people were killed and 227 injured by the attacks, which targeted predominately Shiite areas around Iraq. The bombings followed a violent weekend in Anbar province, where Iraqi police were kidnapped and murdered and the government attempted to arrest a powerful sheik. Persistent attacks agai... In Syria's shadow, Iraq violence presents new test for U.S. Sat, May 25 01:05 AM EDT By Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saddled with Middle East problems ranging from Iran to Syria and beyond, President Barack Obama now faces one that is both old and new: Iraq. Unresolved sectarian tensions, inflamed by the raging civil war in neighboring Syria, have combined to send violence in Iraq to its highest level since Obama withdrew the last U.S. troops in December 2011, U.S. officials and Middle East analysts say. A Sunni Muslim insurgency against the Shi'ite-led Baghdad government has also been reawakened. The insurgents' defeat had been a major outcome of then-President George W. Bush's troop "surge" in 2007. The deteriorating situation - largely overshadowed by a Syrian civil war that has killed 80,000 people - has prompted what U.S. officials describe as an intense, mostly behind-the-scenes effort to curb the violence and get Iraqis back to political negotiations. The United States spent hundreds of billions of dollars and lost nearly 4,500 soldiers during an eight-year war to try to bring a semblance of democracy to strategically placed, energy-rich Iraq. But Iraqis have failed to agree on a permanent power-sharing agreement, threatening the country's long-term stability. Vice President Joe Biden, who has been Obama's point man on Iraq, called Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani and Osama Nujayfi, the head of Iraq's parliament, in a round of calls on Thursday and Friday, the White House said. To Maliki, the vice president "expressed concern about the security situation" and "spoke about the importance of outreach to leaders across the political spectrum," Biden's office said in a statement on Friday. U.S. diplomacy is aimed in part at persuading Maliki, a Shi'ite, and his security forces not to overreact to provocations. Maliki's opponents accuse him of advancing a sectarian agenda aimed at marginalizing Iraq's minorities and cementing Shi'ite rule. The latest uptick in violence began in late April at a Sunni protest camp in Hawija, near the disputed city of Kirkuk, where a clash between gunmen and Iraqi security forces killed more than 40 people. A U.S. official said the Obama administration was "very actively engaged" after the Hawija clash in preventing a further escalation, when Iraqi forces surrounded insurgents who had seized control of a nearby town. Washington urged the Iraqi forces not to go in with massive firepower, and the stand-off was settled through a deal with local tribal leaders. "I don't want to exaggerate our influence, but this is the kind of stuff we do behind the scenes," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "When there is a real crisis, they all run to us. ... We're a neutral party." Others say Washington's influence in Iraq, which began waning even when U.S. troops were still there, has plummeted. "What is lacking is the lack of confidence of trust among the politicians," Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told CNN on Tuesday. "And we have lost the service of an honest broker. Before, it used to be the United States." 'ZOMBIE INSURGENCY' Most worrying to U.S. officials and analysts who follow Iraq closely is the rebirth of the Sunni insurgency and of groups such as al Qaeda in Iraq, thought to be behind lethal suicide bombings aimed at reigniting civil conflict. "What you're really looking at here is a kind of zombie insurgency - it's been brought back to life," said Michael Knights of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who has studied Iraq for years and travels there frequently. By his count, violent incidents have escalated to about 1,100 a month from 300 monthly at the end of 2010. After the Hawija clashes, the U.S. official said, "For the first time really in a few years, we saw people with their faces covered and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and heavy weapons, coming into the streets in a very visible way." The official called the increase in suicide bombings by al Qaeda in Iraq "very concerning," adding that such sophisticated insurgent groups could "wreak havoc" on political efforts to solve the conflict. "I wouldn't call it a strategically significant increase, yet," the official said of the violence. "We're in this post-civil war, pre-reconciliation interregnum, gap, period, in which Iraq can tilt either way." The setbacks in Iraq have revived criticism from those who opposed Obama's decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from the country, rather than leave behind a residual force. The White House has said it could not secure political agreement from Iraq's Sunni, Shia and Kurds for a law allowing a continued troop presence. At a Senate hearing last month, Senator John McCain, who opposed the troop withdrawal, asked Assistant Secretary of Defense Derek Chollet how things turned out in Iraq. McCain, an Arizona Republican, cited Obama's dictum that "the tide of war is receding." "I think Iraq is more stable today than many thought several years ago," Chollet replied. "Really? You really think that?" McCain pressed. When Chollet said he did, the senator shot back, "Then you're uninformed." The violence, which includes confrontations stemming from the Sunni protest movement, near-daily car bombings and attacks on mosques, is nowhere near the level of Iraq's 2006-2008 civil war. Still, Kenneth Pollack, a former CIA and White House official now at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy said: "I think we're going to see great sectarian violence. The question is, how bad does it get?" SYRIA IS 'AN ACCELERANT' Syria's increasingly sectarian civil war, pitting mostly Sunni rebels against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, is not the prime cause of Iraq's troubles, officials and analysts said. Iraq's failure to find a stable power-sharing deal among the country's ethnic and sectarian groups is to blame, they said. Iraq's Sunnis, ascendant during dictator Saddam Hussein's rule, feel excluded and threatened, and started staging protests in December. But Syria's war "is an accelerant" in Iraq, Pollack said. "We're seeing both Shia and Sunnis going over to fight" in Syria, the U.S. official said. "It's kind of encouraging this sectarian polarization in a way." Iraqis often experience the Syrian conflict via YouTube video clips, he said. Sunnis see the violence perpetrated by Assad's government, dominated by members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam, he said. Iraq's Shia see often gruesome excesses perpetrated by the rebels. "They're seeing two entirely different parallel universes," the official said. (Additional reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Alistair Bell and Peter Cooney) =========================== Baghdad bombs kill 25 in Sunni-Shi'te bloodletting Thu, May 30 12:29 PM EDT 1 of 8 By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A series of bombs battered Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim neighborhoods across Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 25 people in the worst wave of sectarian violence since civil war five years ago. The bloodletting reflects increasing conflict between Iraq's majority Shi'ite leadership and the Sunni minority, many of whom feel unfairly marginalized since the 2003 fall of strongman Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. The latest surge in violence began in April when Iraqi forces raided a Sunni protest camp in the northern town of Hawija, angering Sunni leaders and triggering clashes that spread across the country. Civil war in Syria between Sunni rebels and President Bashar al-Assad, whose Alawite sect derives from Shi'ite Islam, has aggravated the strife in Iraq. Sunni and Shi'ite Iraqis have been crossing the border to fight on opposing sides in Syria. No group claimed responsibility for Thursday's attacks, but Sunni Islamist insurgents and al Qaeda's Iraqi wing have increased their operations since the beginning of the year as part of a campaign to exacerbate inter-communal tensions. The violence prompted the United Nations envoy in Baghdad to warn about the risk of a broader confrontation if the country's political leadership does not negotiate to ease sectarian tensions at the heart of the crisis. "Systemic violence is ready to explode at any moment if all Iraqi leaders do not engage immediately to pull the country out of this mayhem," United Nations representative Martin Kobler said. Early on Thursday, a car bomb exploded in the mainly Sunni district of Binoog in north Baghdad, killing at least four people. Throughout the day, at least six more bombs killed another 20 people in mainly Shi'ite and Sunni districts across the capital, police said. Most of the victims were civilians, but soldiers and police were also targeted in the car bomb and roadside bomb attacks that hit north, south and central Baghdad. A further seven people, including three policemen, were killed in clashes between gunmen and security forces in the northern city of Mosul, and two bombs killed four more in the town of Tal Afar. SUNNIS DIVIDED The Sunni governors of Anbar and Salahuddin provinces escaped assassination attempts unhurt on Thursday when their convoys were attacked with car bombs. The two men have been cooperating with Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in an effort to defuse Sunni discontent. More than 1,100 people have been killed since April, raising the risk of a relapse into outright sectarian warfare of the kind that killed thousands of people in 2006-2007. Attempts to ease the political crisis have been hampered by deep divisions among Sunni leaders. Moderates who favor negotiations have sometimes been attacked by hardliners and insurgents who oppose Maliki. Security officials blame Sunni Islamists and al Qaeda's local wing, the Islamic State of Iraq, for most of the violence. Thousands of Sunnis have protested weekly in the streets in western provinces since December, and the country's government - split among Shi'ite, Sunni and ethnic Kurds - is locked in disputes over how to share power. Many Sunnis feel sidelined since the Shi'ite majority rose to power through elections, and say their sect has been mistreated by Shi'ite-dominated security forces who use tough anti-terrorism laws unfairly against them. (Additional reporting by Suadad al-Salhy in Baghdad and a reporter in Mosul; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Michael Roddy) ===================