Diminished Violence Holding in Baghdad

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Media: The Associated Press
Byline: By SAMEER N. YACOUB
Date: 27 October 2006


BAGHDAD, Iraq_The five-day trend toward diminished violence in the Iraqi
capital was holding Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, as a curfew kept
vehicles off the streets through the middle of the day.

The quiet in Baghdad followed a day of bloody house-to-house fighting
outside a chaotic city to the north in which 43 people were killed.

The U.S. military said Friday that the fighting between Sunni insurgents and
Iraqi police near Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, killed one
civilian and 24 police. U.S. troops later joined the fight, aiding in a
counterattack in which 18 insurgents died, the military said.

"Anti-Iraqi forces" ambushed a police unit based in Baqouba at about 6:30
a.m. Thursday, the military said, using its standard term for Sunni
insurgents.

Police fought back and U.S. troops nearby were diverted from another
mission, assisted by air cover. Eight insurgents also were wounded and 27
others captured, the military said.

No shootings or bomb attacks were reported Friday in Baghdad, which saw
violence, especially sectarian attacks, spike over Ramadan. The holy month,
during which Muslims abstain from food, liquids, cigarettes and sex from
dawn to dusk, ended on Sunday for Sunnis and Monday for Shiites.

Attacks typically rise during Ramadan, in part because some Muslims believe
dying during the holiday bestows additional blessings in the afterlife. The
end of the month is followed by Eid al-Fitr, a three-day holiday of feasting
and visiting among relatives and friends.

Since Ramadan's end, killings in parts of Baghdad where security forces have
established a firm presence have fallen by 10 percent to 20 percent, U.S.
military spokesman Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell said Thursday.

He speculated that was due to the holiday festivities, as well as massive
deployment of U.S. troops in the capital to search for a missing Army
linguist of Iraqi descent who was abducted while visiting relatives on
Monday.

"We did in fact see a tremendous downturn in the number within our clear
areas which we are trying to watch very closely," Caldwell said.

It wasn't clear whether the lull would add momentum to a 2-month-old
security drive in Baghdad that has yet to show obvious results. Elsewhere in
the country, fighting has continued in recent days between security forces
and insurgents, as well as between rival Shiite militias.

The fighting outside Baqouba was some of the heaviest in recent days
involving insurgents and Iraqi security forces, who U.S. commanders have
been pressing to take over more responsibility for security in the country,
thereby allowing the contemplation of U.S. troop withdrawals.

With rising American casualties adding to growing anti-war sentiment in the
United States, U.S. leaders are eager to show that the Iraqi forces are
rising to the challenge by controlling territory and inflicting casualties
on their enemies.

American troop deaths hit their highest monthly total in a year on Thursday
_ at 96 _ with the announcement of the deaths of a Navy sailor and four
Marines the day before. At least 2,809 members of the U.S. military have
died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated
Press count.

Iraq's Interior Ministry, which commands the police, gave a slightly
different version of the clash and said those killed included Khan Bani
Saad's police chief, Brig. Abbas al-Ameri, and his brother.

A ministry spokesman, Brig. Abdel-Karim Khalaf, said Iraqi forces moved into
the area after learning of the presence of insurgents who were behind the
ambush on Monday of a convoy of buses carrying police recruits. At least 15
recruits were killed and 25 were wounded in that attack.

"After we received information that these criminals had a presence ... we
mobilized our forces and attacked the area," Khalf said. "We cannot tolerate
this and that is the reason why we took action yesterday."

Khalf denied police had been surprised and put the death toll among officers
at 12, with 19 insurgents killed and 28 captured. He described the enemy
fighters as hardcore remnants of Saddam Hussein's former Baathist regime,
allied with "Takfiri elements," a term for Islamic radicals that includes
groups like al-Qaida in Iraq.

The area around Baqouba also has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks between
armed Shiite and Sunni groups carrying out revenge killings. A Shiite
militia went on a rampage in the nearby city of Balad last week, killing
scores of Sunnis and forcing others from their homes.

In another apparent sectarian attack, four people were killed and five
wounded near Baqouba when gunmen fired on a van carrying Shiites returning
from the funeral of a relative in the holy city of Najaf, police said.

Fearing similar bloodshed, authorities extended a vehicle ban in the
northern city of Mosul through Friday afternoon, following threats from
Sunni gunmen. Fears were sparked after the men distributed leaflets at
mosques on Thursday proclaiming the mixed Sunni-Kurdish city a part of an
Islamic state declared earlier this month by an insurgent umbrella group,
the Mujahedeen Shura Council.

While the insurgents' declaration has been viewed primarily as a propaganda
move, fighters aligned with the Shura Council, which includes al-Qaida in
Iraq, are suspected of involvement in recent deadly attacks in Mosul.

The city, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, is a battleground between Sunni
Arabs who were moved there by the former regime and members of the Kurdish
minority native to the region.
 
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