Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Times
June 15, 2008
Pg. 6
Soccer revelers target of attack
By Kim Gamel, Associated Press
BAGHDAD--A female suicide bomber targeted a crowd of soccer fans celebrating Iraq's win in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday, wounding at least 34 people near a cafe north of Baghdad, police said.
The young woman, who was covered in a traditional black Islamic robe, was dropped off by a car shortly before the attack as dozens of cheering young men poured out onto the streets after watching Iraq beat China 2-1 on television in the cafe in the town of Qara Tappah.
The woman told suspicious police that she was waiting for her husband but blew herself up after an officer spotted the detonator and began screaming at the crowd to disperse, according to the town's top administrator, Serwan Shukir.
Seven police and 27 civilians were among the wounded, Mr. Shukir said, but the officer's warning had averted a higher casualty toll by preventing the woman from reaching the bulk of the fans.
Police Capt. Najib Khourshid said the woman was about 20 yards away from the crowd when the blast occurred.
"About 100 people were in the cafe and we went out to celebrate the victory after the match. Minutes later, a big explosion took place near us," said Salman Hameed, who was wounded in his chest and right hand. "The female bomber has spoiled our joy and celebration."
Qara Tappah is a mainly Kurdish and Shi'ite Turkmen city, about 75 miles northeast of Baghdad in the volatile Diyala province. The attack followed warnings by U.S. officials that al Qaeda in Iraq is increasing efforts to recruit women as suicide attackers in a bid to subvert stepped-up security measures, particularly in Diyala.
In Baghdad, a bomb hidden on a bus exploded in a Shi'ite neighborhood, killing two persons and wounding eight, police said. Three other civilians were injured Saturday when a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in the capital's Karradah district, police said.
Helicopters blanketed Amarah with pamphlets Saturday urging residents to cooperate with Iraqi security forces as they prepare for a new operation against Shi'ite militia fighters in the oil-producing southern city.
The pamphlets urged residents to provide information about "the hideouts of outlaws" and warned them to stay indoors when the new operation dubbed "Imposing Law" starts, two local police officers said.
No kickoff date for the operation was provided in the pamphlets.
Iraqi soldiers accompanied by American military advisers have begun moving into Amarah, capital of Maysan province and the purported hub of weapons smuggling from nearby Iran.
U.S. and Iraqi commanders also say many militia chiefs have fled to Amarah - a longtime safe haven for anti-U.S. Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia - and Iran after security operations against them in Basra and Baghdad's Sadr City district.
A senior official in Mr. al-Sadr's office in the holy city of Najaf said a Sadrist delegation led by lawmaker Hazim al-Araji was sent Friday to Amarah to try to defuse tensions and encourage fighters to adhere to a cease-fire.
Local authorities asked him to spread the word among the Mahdi Army that they were issuing a three-day deadline starting Sunday for gunmen to hand over heavy and medium weapons or face arrest, a security official said. The ultimatum also was announced on local TV.
June 15, 2008
Pg. 6
Soccer revelers target of attack
By Kim Gamel, Associated Press
BAGHDAD--A female suicide bomber targeted a crowd of soccer fans celebrating Iraq's win in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday, wounding at least 34 people near a cafe north of Baghdad, police said.
The young woman, who was covered in a traditional black Islamic robe, was dropped off by a car shortly before the attack as dozens of cheering young men poured out onto the streets after watching Iraq beat China 2-1 on television in the cafe in the town of Qara Tappah.
The woman told suspicious police that she was waiting for her husband but blew herself up after an officer spotted the detonator and began screaming at the crowd to disperse, according to the town's top administrator, Serwan Shukir.
Seven police and 27 civilians were among the wounded, Mr. Shukir said, but the officer's warning had averted a higher casualty toll by preventing the woman from reaching the bulk of the fans.
Police Capt. Najib Khourshid said the woman was about 20 yards away from the crowd when the blast occurred.
"About 100 people were in the cafe and we went out to celebrate the victory after the match. Minutes later, a big explosion took place near us," said Salman Hameed, who was wounded in his chest and right hand. "The female bomber has spoiled our joy and celebration."
Qara Tappah is a mainly Kurdish and Shi'ite Turkmen city, about 75 miles northeast of Baghdad in the volatile Diyala province. The attack followed warnings by U.S. officials that al Qaeda in Iraq is increasing efforts to recruit women as suicide attackers in a bid to subvert stepped-up security measures, particularly in Diyala.
In Baghdad, a bomb hidden on a bus exploded in a Shi'ite neighborhood, killing two persons and wounding eight, police said. Three other civilians were injured Saturday when a roadside bomb exploded near a police patrol in the capital's Karradah district, police said.
Helicopters blanketed Amarah with pamphlets Saturday urging residents to cooperate with Iraqi security forces as they prepare for a new operation against Shi'ite militia fighters in the oil-producing southern city.
The pamphlets urged residents to provide information about "the hideouts of outlaws" and warned them to stay indoors when the new operation dubbed "Imposing Law" starts, two local police officers said.
No kickoff date for the operation was provided in the pamphlets.
Iraqi soldiers accompanied by American military advisers have begun moving into Amarah, capital of Maysan province and the purported hub of weapons smuggling from nearby Iran.
U.S. and Iraqi commanders also say many militia chiefs have fled to Amarah - a longtime safe haven for anti-U.S. Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia - and Iran after security operations against them in Basra and Baghdad's Sadr City district.
A senior official in Mr. al-Sadr's office in the holy city of Najaf said a Sadrist delegation led by lawmaker Hazim al-Araji was sent Friday to Amarah to try to defuse tensions and encourage fighters to adhere to a cease-fire.
Local authorities asked him to spread the word among the Mahdi Army that they were issuing a three-day deadline starting Sunday for gunmen to hand over heavy and medium weapons or face arrest, a security official said. The ultimatum also was announced on local TV.