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54 killed in car bomb blasts across
Shiite majority areas of Baghdad
Reuters : Baghdad | Mon Sep 30
2013, 21:09 hrs
Security forces and citizens inspect
the site of a car bomb attack in front
of the main security forces
headquarters in Irbil, Baghdad. (AP)
A A
Car bombs killed at least 54 people
in mostly Shi'ite Muslim areas of
Baghdad on Monday as suspected
Sunni Muslim militants pursued a
campaign to plunge Iraq back into
sectarian strife.
Altogether 14 bombs shook Baghdad,
the deadliest of them in Sadr City,
where a white car blew up near
where men had gathered to seek
work, killing seven people, including
two soldiers.
"The driver said he would move the
car soon, but it exploded a few
minutes later," said Abu Mohammed,
a worker at the scene, where bits of
molten metal lay among cars
wrecked in the blast.
Violence blamed mostly on Sunni
militants who view Shi'ites as
heretics has killed more than 6,000
people this year, according to the
monitoring group Iraq Body Count,
reversing a decline in sectarian
bloodshed that had climaxed in
2006-07.
At that time, Sunni tribesmen
helped U.S. forces rout al Qaeda,
but many of those "Sahwa
(Awakening)" fighters say the Shi'ite-
led government has reneged on
promises to reward them.
Their discontent reflects wider
resentment among minority Sunnis
against the government that came to
power after the U.S.-led invasion
that vanquished Saddam Hussein in
2003.
Sunnis launched street protests in
December after Shi'ite Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki sought to
arrest a senior Sunni politician. A
bloody raid by security forces on a
protest camp in April touched off a
violent backlash by Sunni militants.
"The (security situation) will get
worse because al Qaeda and its
allies will increase their attacks
against both sects to incite people
and force them to respond," said a
senior security official who declined
to be named.
So far Shi'ite militias, most of which
disarmed in recent years and joined
the reconstituted security forces or
entered the political process, have
largely held their fire, but several
attacks in recent weeks suggest that
some are retaliating.
Iraq's sectarian balance has come
under further pressure from the civil
war in neighbouring Syria, where
mainly Sunni rebels are fighting to
topple a leader backed by Shi'ite
Iran.
Both Sunnis and Shi'ites have
crossed into Syria from Iraq to fight
on opposite sides of the conflict.
Al Qaeda's Iraqi and Syrian branches
merged earlier this year to form the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,
which has claimed responsibility for
attacks on both sides of the border.
On Sunday, the Kurdistan region, a
northern enclave relatively insulated
from the violence that afflicts the
rest of Iraq, suffered its first major
bombing since 2007.
A charred crater in the road marks
where a car bomb exploded during a
suicide assault on the security
headquarters in the regional capital
Arbil in which at least six people
were killed.
A stench of burnt tarmac still hung
over the scene, and the remains of a
slain assailant lay on the grassy
road divider.
"We realise that Arbil is a big,
attractive target for terrorists," said
the city's governor Nozad Hadi.
"During the past seven years there
were constant attempts by terrorists
to undermine the security of the
capital."
Kurdistan's relative security has
attracted some of the world's largest
oil companies including ExxonMobil,
Chevron Corp and Total to the
region, which is autonomous and
polices its own borders.
Most of these oil firms have their
main offices in Arbil, but after
Sunday's attack they took extra
security measures and restricted the
movements of their staff, industry
sources said.
No group has claimed responsibility
for the Arbil attack, but it was
hailed by hardline Sunni Islamists,
who in recent months have been
fighting a Kurdish militia in Syria.
Analysts say the assault may have
been carried out by al Qaeda-
affiliated militants in revenge for the
Kurdistan Regional Government's
perceived support for Kurds in Syria.
A risk consultancy said militants
would try to strike the region again,
but would find it difficult because
the Kurdish security apparatus is
"relatively well developed".
"Further attacks should therefore be
expected but they are likely to
remain infrequent occurrences," said
John Drake, of the AKE consultancy.
"The day-to-day operating
environment will remain stable but
we will continue to warn against
complacency."
source. indianexpress.com
Shiite majority areas of Baghdad
Reuters : Baghdad | Mon Sep 30
2013, 21:09 hrs
Security forces and citizens inspect
the site of a car bomb attack in front
of the main security forces
headquarters in Irbil, Baghdad. (AP)
A A
Car bombs killed at least 54 people
in mostly Shi'ite Muslim areas of
Baghdad on Monday as suspected
Sunni Muslim militants pursued a
campaign to plunge Iraq back into
sectarian strife.
Altogether 14 bombs shook Baghdad,
the deadliest of them in Sadr City,
where a white car blew up near
where men had gathered to seek
work, killing seven people, including
two soldiers.
"The driver said he would move the
car soon, but it exploded a few
minutes later," said Abu Mohammed,
a worker at the scene, where bits of
molten metal lay among cars
wrecked in the blast.
Violence blamed mostly on Sunni
militants who view Shi'ites as
heretics has killed more than 6,000
people this year, according to the
monitoring group Iraq Body Count,
reversing a decline in sectarian
bloodshed that had climaxed in
2006-07.
At that time, Sunni tribesmen
helped U.S. forces rout al Qaeda,
but many of those "Sahwa
(Awakening)" fighters say the Shi'ite-
led government has reneged on
promises to reward them.
Their discontent reflects wider
resentment among minority Sunnis
against the government that came to
power after the U.S.-led invasion
that vanquished Saddam Hussein in
2003.
Sunnis launched street protests in
December after Shi'ite Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki sought to
arrest a senior Sunni politician. A
bloody raid by security forces on a
protest camp in April touched off a
violent backlash by Sunni militants.
"The (security situation) will get
worse because al Qaeda and its
allies will increase their attacks
against both sects to incite people
and force them to respond," said a
senior security official who declined
to be named.
So far Shi'ite militias, most of which
disarmed in recent years and joined
the reconstituted security forces or
entered the political process, have
largely held their fire, but several
attacks in recent weeks suggest that
some are retaliating.
Iraq's sectarian balance has come
under further pressure from the civil
war in neighbouring Syria, where
mainly Sunni rebels are fighting to
topple a leader backed by Shi'ite
Iran.
Both Sunnis and Shi'ites have
crossed into Syria from Iraq to fight
on opposite sides of the conflict.
Al Qaeda's Iraqi and Syrian branches
merged earlier this year to form the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,
which has claimed responsibility for
attacks on both sides of the border.
On Sunday, the Kurdistan region, a
northern enclave relatively insulated
from the violence that afflicts the
rest of Iraq, suffered its first major
bombing since 2007.
A charred crater in the road marks
where a car bomb exploded during a
suicide assault on the security
headquarters in the regional capital
Arbil in which at least six people
were killed.
A stench of burnt tarmac still hung
over the scene, and the remains of a
slain assailant lay on the grassy
road divider.
"We realise that Arbil is a big,
attractive target for terrorists," said
the city's governor Nozad Hadi.
"During the past seven years there
were constant attempts by terrorists
to undermine the security of the
capital."
Kurdistan's relative security has
attracted some of the world's largest
oil companies including ExxonMobil,
Chevron Corp and Total to the
region, which is autonomous and
polices its own borders.
Most of these oil firms have their
main offices in Arbil, but after
Sunday's attack they took extra
security measures and restricted the
movements of their staff, industry
sources said.
No group has claimed responsibility
for the Arbil attack, but it was
hailed by hardline Sunni Islamists,
who in recent months have been
fighting a Kurdish militia in Syria.
Analysts say the assault may have
been carried out by al Qaeda-
affiliated militants in revenge for the
Kurdistan Regional Government's
perceived support for Kurds in Syria.
A risk consultancy said militants
would try to strike the region again,
but would find it difficult because
the Kurdish security apparatus is
"relatively well developed".
"Further attacks should therefore be
expected but they are likely to
remain infrequent occurrences," said
John Drake, of the AKE consultancy.
"The day-to-day operating
environment will remain stable but
we will continue to warn against
complacency."
source. indianexpress.com
