An Iraqi soldier seals off a road before a vehicle curfew in Baghdad July 29, 2007. Iraqi authorities imposed vehicle curfews on Sunday and security forces went on alert for attacks on soccer fans as splintered communities shared a rare moment of unity before the Asian Cup final. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ)
SECURITY INCIDENTS
Baghdad
MND-Baghdad soldier killed by small arms fire north of the capital. This is datelined Baghdad but may have happened in Diyala.
Update: A Multi-National Division-Baghdad Soldier was killed during combat operations in an eastern section of the Iraqi capital July 29.
Authorities announce a total ban on all vehicles, including bicycles and carts, in and around Baghdad to try to prevent a repeat of violence in the event of a celebration should the Iraqi soccer team win the Asian cup. U.S. and Iraqi forces deploy to deter incidents, Iraqi forces who join in any celebrations will be disciplined.
And an update: The Iraq national team defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0 to take the Asian cup final. Let's hope for a peaceful celebration!
One person killed, five injured in mortar attack on French ambassador's residence. All the casualties are reported to be Iraqi civilians who were near the residence.
Roadside bomb targeting a U.S. patrol kills three civilians in western Baghdad.
Bomb hits minibus in eastern Baghdad, killing one passenger and injuring four.
Police man shot to death southeast of Baghdad.
(Actually north of Baghdad, unspecified location) Gunmen open fire on U.S. aircraft, which return fire killing three "militants" and injuring a fourth, according to the U.S. military.
Police find 20 bodies in various locations around the capital. Reuters also reports:
- Iraqi security forces arrested two men in a car filled with explosives in the eastern Baghdad district of Zayouna, police said. The men were accused of waiting to target soccer fans celebrating Iraq's appearance in the Asian Cup final.
- A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol wounded four people, including a soldier, in Baghdad's Zayouna area, police said.
A roadside bomb targeted an American convoy passing through the Sharqa intersection near Bayaa bus station injuring three Iraqis. McClatchy also reports:
- Around 8 am, a roadside bomb exploded at Baladiyat neighborhood (east Baghdad). No casualties recorded
- Around 10 am, Katyusha missiles targeted Zafaraniya neighborhood. No human casualties recorded. Not clear whether this means affirmatively that there were no casualties, or simply that there are no reports as yet. These reports were clearly prepared by Iraqi staff, I have copy-edited the English. -- C
Diyala province
Early morning , terrorists bombed The Prophet Daniel shrine near Wajihiya town (north of Baquba) and it is fully destroyed. McClatchy also reports:
- Early morning, terrorists attacked Bihbisa village , which is close to Daniel shrine , firing some houses , killing 3 men , kidnapping five and destroying 11 houses which forced some family to displace the area.
- Around 10 am, a roadside bomb exploded in front of a shop whose owner was supplying people for food ration which had months of delay [sic] killing one man and injuring 25 other at Belad Rouz ( 40 km east of Baquba. Most of the injured are women and children.
- Around 10 am, three policemen were killed and three others injured when a roadside bomb targeted their patrol near Deli Abass (east Baquba).
- Around mid-day, a resident of Behrz town was killed when gunmen opened fire a café in the town.
- Gunmen killed a police man elsewhere in Behrz.
- Police has two members of Al-Qaeda in custody during a raid on some buildings opposite the police directorate in Bauba admitting of committing many crimes.
- Police found a dead body at Al-Ameen square (east Baquba) which was sent to Baquba morgue.
Note: It is apparent that McClatchy has one or more stringers in Diyala who called in these reports. As McClatchy emphasizes in this post, and as we try to remind readers from time to time, the reports of violence in Iraq are very incomplete. We only get a sampling. -- C
Yusufiyah (south of Baghdad)
U.S. forces hunted for a "foreign terrorist facilitator and Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader." No word on whether they found him.
Kut
Gunmen killed a police officer.
Basra
British forces say they spotted individuals planting an explosive device in the road, killed one and captured another. Aswat al-Iraq also reports:
- British forces arrested an individual with several guns in his possession. Just sounds like a typical Iraqi -- C
- All British bases in Basra have come under indirect fire in the past 24 hours, no casualties reported.
I'm going to reproduce this in full because it appears utterly senseless:
Basra, Jul 29, (VOI) – Unidentified gunmen blew up the Lion of Babylon statue in central Basra during the early hours of Sunday, eyewitnesses said. "An explosive charge was planted under the statue, completely destroying it the historical monument in Basra," an eyewitness told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The statue, one of the historical landmarks in Basra, 590 km south of Baghdad, was built in the 1920s and symbolized the Babylonian civilization.
The Lion of Babylon, large and splendidly carved in basalt, is reminiscent of the legend that the lion was the symbol of the goddess Ishtar, the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of love, fertility, and war. In the sculpture, the lion's back has marks indicating that it was meant for a precious saddle upon which the goddess Ishtar would stand.
Fallujah
One policeman killed, two injured by assailants in al-Shurta neighborhood. VoI reports an ambulance driver killed in a separate attack.
Tuz Khurmato
Saturday night, gunmen riding two sedan cars penetrated Yankeja village near Tuz Khurmatu (90 km north of Tikrit and 76 km south of Kirkuk) having 12 people in custody and making them stand in one line opening fire on them. Six people were killed and the six others were injured. All of the people are Turkmans.
Gunmen opened fire on shoppers, killing seven and injuring six. Not 100% sure this is a separate incident but it seems to be.
This report further confuses the situation: Police Chief in Touz city, Abbas Mahmoud Amin, said: 'Unidentified gunmen attacked a predominantly Turkomen area, 85 km south-west of Kirkuk killing six and wounding six others.' Amin added: 'One of the six wounded died shortly after the attack, raising death toll to seven. The (five) other wounded are being treated in Kirkuk and Touz hospitals, but they are in a very critical condition.' A source who spoke on condition of anonymity told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI): 'The gunmen stormed the house (of the Turkoman leader) shooting those present and killing six people, including two sons of the leader and four of his bodyguards.'
The source did not reveal the name of the Turkoman leader. 'Eight gunmen were able to infiltrate security barricades manned by Kurdish Peshmerga and fled the scene unscathed,' he said.
So, we have three reports of attacks on Turkmen in the same area, all with similar casualty numbers but what appear to be different targets and MOs. All the reports are from different sources. Possibly this was a gang going around doing serial hits? Or garbled reports of the same incident? I wish I could provide more clarity. Thanks as usual to Whisker for the big help.
Other News of the Day
The Kurdistan government prepares to deploy 12,000 Peshmerga (the Kurdistan army) to protect power lines and oil facilities in the Kirkuk region, pending agreement with the Baghdad government. (Although the VoI report suggests that the Maliki government is prepared to approve this operation, the article does not explain how controverial this must be, perhaps because Iraqi readers will already understand. A large deployment of Peshmerga in the Kirkuk area, which is contested between Arabs and Kurds, may not go well with the local Arab population. At the same time, it would not be as troubling to the Maliki government, which is based in the Shiite south and not a party to this conflict. -- C)
Both Talabani and representatives of the government sharply criticize Iraqi Accordance Front for its threat to withdraw from the government. Note: This is further evidence of the dynamic of a Kurdish-Shiite alliance against the Sunni Arab faction. Excerpt:
By HAMZA HENDAWI
The Iraqi government sharply criticized the country's largest Sunni Arab bloc Friday over its threat to quit the ruling coalition, with the Kurdish president calling the move "unacceptable" and the government spokesman dubbing it "blackmail."
President Jalal Talabani also said the Iraqi Accordance Front should have discussed its demands with the country's political leadership in private rather than publicizing them. "It's an unacceptable position," Talabani said in an interview with U.S.-funded Alhurra television, explaining that announcing the demands to the media meant a public spat with the government. He conceded, however, that the Accordance Front's demands were "mostly fair" and acknowledged some government failures, which he did not identify.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government also criticized the Accordance Front's threat, although the Shiite leader himself issued no public word on the subject.
The Sunni Arab bloc announced Wednesday it was suspending its membership in al-Maliki's government for now, but would quit it altogether if its demands were not met in a week's time.
The 11 demands include a pardon for security detainees not charged with specific crimes, a firm commitment to human rights and the participation of all coalition partners in the handling of security issues.
Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh contended the criticism contained many "distortions" and amounted to an attempt to hinder the political process.
"The policy of threats, pressure and blackmail is useless," al-Dabbagh said in a four-page statement, which charged that the Front, which has six Cabinet members and 44 of parliament's 275 seats, has contributed to some of the policies it criticized.
WHO regional director addresses a conference in Syria on the health needs of Iraqi refugees. There are an estimated 2 million displaced Iraqis in neighboring countries. Excerpt:
DAMASCUS, July 28 (KUNA) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed "deep concern" Sunday over the deterioration of security in Iraq that led to the displacement of more than four million Iraqis both at home and to the neighboring countries.
WHO's Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Hussein Al-Gezairy was addressing a ministerial gathering in Damascus on the health needs of Iraqis in neighboring countries, adding that despite persistent efforts by the Iraqi government and other concerned parties, the situation in Iraq still inspired worry and fears at the regional and international levels.
The Damascus conference that opened today is attended by ministers of health of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Syria, as well many international organizations.
More than a million Iraqis were displaced at home while other 2.2 million had to leave to Syria, Jordan and other neighbors, he said, noting that the process was on the rise as an estimated 60,000 Iraqi fled the country monthly.
He said that the host countries would not be able to carry on with the health services they offered to the refugees who are gradually increasing.
The dilemma, according to the WHO regional director, was not only the huge numbers of refugees or the USD one billion needed annually to cover the services they received at the host countries, but it lied in the fact that the refugees included the professional Iraqis, which hits the national capabilities.
One of the aims of the Damascus WHO event is to discuss the present challenges facing the Iraqi health sector.
U.S. says an insurgent faction called the 1920 Revolution Brigades has "reconciled" with the government and the occupation.
The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction says the Maliki government has refused to take control of 2,000 construction projects, forcing the U.S. to commit more money to keep them running. It's not entirely clear what's going on here, but this AP report seems to suggest that the Iraqi government simply lacks the resources and capability of running the projects. As it further notes, many projects which the Iraqis have taken over have subsequently failed. - C
Quote of the Day
It's remarkably common for a grandson to take up his grandfather's major project. This occurred to me when I read recently of Thor Heyerdahl's grandson taking up his mission to cross the Pacific on a raft. But what really struck me was the BBC story aired on July 23rd documenting President George W. Bush's grandfather's involvement in a 1933 plot to overthrow the U.S. government and install a fascist dictatorship. I knew the story, but had not considered the possibility that the grandson was trying to accomplish what his grandfather had failed to achieve.
-- David Swanson
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