Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
May 2, 2008 By Erica Goode and Stephen Farrell
BAGHDAD — Two thunderous blasts set off by suicide bombers ripped through a crowded shopping street in the town of Balad Ruz in Diyala Province on Thursday, killing at least 35 people and wounding at least 62 others, many of them seriously.
The first bomb was aimed at a wedding caravan that was driving through the neighborhood, said a security official in Balad Ruz, known for its restaurants and stores. The second bomb went off after the police and medical teams arrived.
One bomber was a woman who wore an explosives-filled vest and was pretending to be pregnant, according to the American military. The bombings took place in the early evening, when many people were shopping for food and other supplies before the start of the weekend. The attack came only hours after a car bomb in eastern Baghdad killed an American soldier and nine Iraqi civilians.
Clashes continued Thursday in the Sadr City neighborhood in Baghdad. American forces conducted airstrikes there on areas that military officials say are being used to fire rockets at the fortified Green Zone by militias that they say are being trained and supplied by Iran.
A delegation of Iraq’s senior Shiite leaders met Thursday in Tehran with the heads of Iranian security forces to express concerns about Iran’s support for militia fighters. Haider al-Ibadi, a member of Parliament from the prime minister’s Dawa Party, said the delegation was carrying with it hard evidence — “and it is a lot” — on Iran’s involvement “in our inner affairs.”
The delegation showed the Iranian security officials the evidence, Mr. Ibadi said, and the group was promised a meeting with Iran’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Friday.
“We want to deliver to him the evidence,” Mr. Ibadi said.
American and Iraqi officials have said the delegation was sent by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. But Yaseen Majid, an adviser to him, said that the group was sent by Parliament and that “it’s not a governmental delegation at all.”
The bombings in Balad Ruz, northeast of Baghdad, were the latest in a string of major attacks recently in Diyala Province, a region that American officials have contended is considerably safer as a result of the joining of local forces, known as Awakening Councils, with American and Iraqi forces to fight insurgents.
Those attacks included one on April 16 in which 40 people were killed, and another one on April 18 that killed at least 30 people.
Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Rubaie, Diyala’s chief of operations, said the bombers appeared to be “waiting for people to gather in order to cause more victims.”
He said that his forces were trying their best to stop attacks but that Balad Ruz had a big market district and “we can’t put in every single street or shop a person who searches the people.”
In the Baghdad car bombing, which occurred during the morning rush, the force of the explosion incinerated or damaged more than a dozen vehicles, including an American Humvee, and damaged auto repair shops. The highway where it happened used to be called Death Road because it was attacked so often, witnesses said, but it had been quieter in the past three months.
Iraqi police officers at the scene said they believed that the bomb was set off by Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a homegrown Sunni insurgent group that American intelligence says is led by foreigners. The police said the insurgents were taking advantage of fighting between Shiite groups in nearby Sadr City. Sadr City is the scene of daily clashes between Mahdi Army fighters loyal to the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr and Iraqi Army members loyal to Mr. Maliki’s Shiite-led government.
A lieutenant colonel in the Iraqi National Police at the scene of the bombing pointed toward Sadr City and said, “Al Qaeda took advantage of the militia conflict across there to infiltrate the security in this area and make it weak.”
The colonel, who declined to be identified because he said he was not authorized to speak, said a suspect carrying a remote control detonator had been arrested minutes after the blast on a neighboring street.
Witnesses said they saw an American military patrol in Humvees driving down the street in eastern Baghdad shortly after 9 a.m., and then heard a loud explosion. Some said the car used in the assault appeared to have been packed with rockets.
The American military said that one American soldier had died and that two others were wounded in the explosion. Iraqi officials said that nine Iraqis were killed and 23 wounded.
A shopkeeper who saw the explosion said the street had become safer in recent months, because more police officers were patrolling the area.
“If the Americans stay, I will remain pessimistic,” said the shopkeeper, who identified himself only as Muhammad. “What successes have they brought? So many people dead.”
Abu Shaher, another witness, said simply, “Trouble everywhere.” He added, “People go to work, and they come back dead.”
The owner of two shops on the street said the passing American patrol was clearly the target of the bombing.
“I have witnessed about 19 explosions in this area since the beginning of the war, but this is the biggest one,” said the man, who would give only his first name, Hassan, out of fear of reprisals.
In the fighting in Sadr City, 20 people were killed, including 10 from a single family, and 23 people were wounded, hospital officials said.
American officials have denounced what they see as Iran’s increasing role in arming, training and underwriting antigovernment militias in Iraq. The American military has said that many of the rockets fired at the Green Zone carry Iranian markings.
Some Iraqi officials said this week that the delegation to Tehran might meet with Mr. Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran.
But Mr. Majid, Mr. Maliki’s spokesman, said the team was representing the views of Parliament members and “will never meet with Moktada al-Sadr.”
Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, the spokesman for Mr. Sadr in Najaf, said, “No one knows where Moktada al-Sadr is now, so I do not think that the delegation is going to see Moktada.”
Reporting was contributed by Tareq Mahir, Mudhafer al-Husaini, Mohamed Hussein, Ammar Karim and Ali Hameed.
May 2, 2008 By Erica Goode and Stephen Farrell
BAGHDAD — Two thunderous blasts set off by suicide bombers ripped through a crowded shopping street in the town of Balad Ruz in Diyala Province on Thursday, killing at least 35 people and wounding at least 62 others, many of them seriously.
The first bomb was aimed at a wedding caravan that was driving through the neighborhood, said a security official in Balad Ruz, known for its restaurants and stores. The second bomb went off after the police and medical teams arrived.
One bomber was a woman who wore an explosives-filled vest and was pretending to be pregnant, according to the American military. The bombings took place in the early evening, when many people were shopping for food and other supplies before the start of the weekend. The attack came only hours after a car bomb in eastern Baghdad killed an American soldier and nine Iraqi civilians.
Clashes continued Thursday in the Sadr City neighborhood in Baghdad. American forces conducted airstrikes there on areas that military officials say are being used to fire rockets at the fortified Green Zone by militias that they say are being trained and supplied by Iran.
A delegation of Iraq’s senior Shiite leaders met Thursday in Tehran with the heads of Iranian security forces to express concerns about Iran’s support for militia fighters. Haider al-Ibadi, a member of Parliament from the prime minister’s Dawa Party, said the delegation was carrying with it hard evidence — “and it is a lot” — on Iran’s involvement “in our inner affairs.”
The delegation showed the Iranian security officials the evidence, Mr. Ibadi said, and the group was promised a meeting with Iran’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Friday.
“We want to deliver to him the evidence,” Mr. Ibadi said.
American and Iraqi officials have said the delegation was sent by Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. But Yaseen Majid, an adviser to him, said that the group was sent by Parliament and that “it’s not a governmental delegation at all.”
The bombings in Balad Ruz, northeast of Baghdad, were the latest in a string of major attacks recently in Diyala Province, a region that American officials have contended is considerably safer as a result of the joining of local forces, known as Awakening Councils, with American and Iraqi forces to fight insurgents.
Those attacks included one on April 16 in which 40 people were killed, and another one on April 18 that killed at least 30 people.
Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim al-Rubaie, Diyala’s chief of operations, said the bombers appeared to be “waiting for people to gather in order to cause more victims.”
He said that his forces were trying their best to stop attacks but that Balad Ruz had a big market district and “we can’t put in every single street or shop a person who searches the people.”
In the Baghdad car bombing, which occurred during the morning rush, the force of the explosion incinerated or damaged more than a dozen vehicles, including an American Humvee, and damaged auto repair shops. The highway where it happened used to be called Death Road because it was attacked so often, witnesses said, but it had been quieter in the past three months.
Iraqi police officers at the scene said they believed that the bomb was set off by Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a homegrown Sunni insurgent group that American intelligence says is led by foreigners. The police said the insurgents were taking advantage of fighting between Shiite groups in nearby Sadr City. Sadr City is the scene of daily clashes between Mahdi Army fighters loyal to the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr and Iraqi Army members loyal to Mr. Maliki’s Shiite-led government.
A lieutenant colonel in the Iraqi National Police at the scene of the bombing pointed toward Sadr City and said, “Al Qaeda took advantage of the militia conflict across there to infiltrate the security in this area and make it weak.”
The colonel, who declined to be identified because he said he was not authorized to speak, said a suspect carrying a remote control detonator had been arrested minutes after the blast on a neighboring street.
Witnesses said they saw an American military patrol in Humvees driving down the street in eastern Baghdad shortly after 9 a.m., and then heard a loud explosion. Some said the car used in the assault appeared to have been packed with rockets.
The American military said that one American soldier had died and that two others were wounded in the explosion. Iraqi officials said that nine Iraqis were killed and 23 wounded.
A shopkeeper who saw the explosion said the street had become safer in recent months, because more police officers were patrolling the area.
“If the Americans stay, I will remain pessimistic,” said the shopkeeper, who identified himself only as Muhammad. “What successes have they brought? So many people dead.”
Abu Shaher, another witness, said simply, “Trouble everywhere.” He added, “People go to work, and they come back dead.”
The owner of two shops on the street said the passing American patrol was clearly the target of the bombing.
“I have witnessed about 19 explosions in this area since the beginning of the war, but this is the biggest one,” said the man, who would give only his first name, Hassan, out of fear of reprisals.
In the fighting in Sadr City, 20 people were killed, including 10 from a single family, and 23 people were wounded, hospital officials said.
American officials have denounced what they see as Iran’s increasing role in arming, training and underwriting antigovernment militias in Iraq. The American military has said that many of the rockets fired at the Green Zone carry Iranian markings.
Some Iraqi officials said this week that the delegation to Tehran might meet with Mr. Sadr, who is believed to be in Iran.
But Mr. Majid, Mr. Maliki’s spokesman, said the team was representing the views of Parliament members and “will never meet with Moktada al-Sadr.”
Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, the spokesman for Mr. Sadr in Najaf, said, “No one knows where Moktada al-Sadr is now, so I do not think that the delegation is going to see Moktada.”
Reporting was contributed by Tareq Mahir, Mudhafer al-Husaini, Mohamed Hussein, Ammar Karim and Ali Hameed.