Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
May 6, 2008
Pg. 12
U.S. Blames Sunni Insurgents for Assault on Security Checkpoint
By Sholnn Freeman, Washington Post Staff Writer
BAGHDAD, May 5 -- Gunmen killed 10 Iraqi army soldiers Monday in an evening drive-by attack on a security checkpoint in Iraq's volatile Diyala province, a military commander said.
Maj. Gen. Abdel-Karim al-Rubaie said more than 20 gunmen in several cars opened fire at the checkpoint in the town of Muqdadiyah. He said authorities captured one attacker who was injured. In a statement, the U.S. military blamed al-Qaeda in Iraq, the largely homegrown Sunni insurgent group that has targeted other Sunnis aligned with American and Iraqi forces.
Diyala has suffered from a wave of suicide bombings and ambushes, many aimed at the Awakening, the U.S.-backed security force made up mainly of Sunnis who previously fought as insurgents. Two bombers struck a wedding party Friday, killing 35 people and wounding the bride and the groom. On April 17, a suicide attacker killed at least 55 people at the funeral of two brothers who had died in an attack on a local Awakening force.
Separately on Monday, a U.S. military spokesman said captured Iraqi fighters have told the U.S. government that they were trained by guerrilla fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement at a camp outside Tehran.
In a statement, Col. Donald Bacon said the military first learned of the training a year ago from Qayis Khazali, a militia leader captured in March 2007. Bacon said the information was also obtained from Ali Mussa Daqduq, a senior Lebanese Hezbollah commander captured inside Iraq with Khazali. Iran supports Hezbollah.
The United States has used information from the men to bolster its case that Iran is interfering in the Iraq conflict. According to Bacon, Daqduq said that his role was to assess the quality of training and that he had traveled to Iraq four times to conduct his work. The New York Times reported Monday that interrogations had yielded information about the training in Iran.
The U.S. government has long accused Iran of providing the powerful roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators to Shiite militiamen who attack American troops. Iraqi lawmakers have also complained that Iranian-made weapons are being smuggled into Iraq and that fighters were slipping across the border. Iran has denied any such role.
On Sunday, the Iraqi government said it had formed a high-level panel to gather evidence that Iran is fomenting violence in Iraq.
May 6, 2008
Pg. 12
U.S. Blames Sunni Insurgents for Assault on Security Checkpoint
By Sholnn Freeman, Washington Post Staff Writer
BAGHDAD, May 5 -- Gunmen killed 10 Iraqi army soldiers Monday in an evening drive-by attack on a security checkpoint in Iraq's volatile Diyala province, a military commander said.
Maj. Gen. Abdel-Karim al-Rubaie said more than 20 gunmen in several cars opened fire at the checkpoint in the town of Muqdadiyah. He said authorities captured one attacker who was injured. In a statement, the U.S. military blamed al-Qaeda in Iraq, the largely homegrown Sunni insurgent group that has targeted other Sunnis aligned with American and Iraqi forces.
Diyala has suffered from a wave of suicide bombings and ambushes, many aimed at the Awakening, the U.S.-backed security force made up mainly of Sunnis who previously fought as insurgents. Two bombers struck a wedding party Friday, killing 35 people and wounding the bride and the groom. On April 17, a suicide attacker killed at least 55 people at the funeral of two brothers who had died in an attack on a local Awakening force.
Separately on Monday, a U.S. military spokesman said captured Iraqi fighters have told the U.S. government that they were trained by guerrilla fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah movement at a camp outside Tehran.
In a statement, Col. Donald Bacon said the military first learned of the training a year ago from Qayis Khazali, a militia leader captured in March 2007. Bacon said the information was also obtained from Ali Mussa Daqduq, a senior Lebanese Hezbollah commander captured inside Iraq with Khazali. Iran supports Hezbollah.
The United States has used information from the men to bolster its case that Iran is interfering in the Iraq conflict. According to Bacon, Daqduq said that his role was to assess the quality of training and that he had traveled to Iraq four times to conduct his work. The New York Times reported Monday that interrogations had yielded information about the training in Iran.
The U.S. government has long accused Iran of providing the powerful roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators to Shiite militiamen who attack American troops. Iraqi lawmakers have also complained that Iranian-made weapons are being smuggled into Iraq and that fighters were slipping across the border. Iran has denied any such role.
On Sunday, the Iraqi government said it had formed a high-level panel to gather evidence that Iran is fomenting violence in Iraq.