Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
January 3, 2008
Pg. 16
Leader in Sunni Group Among 4 Dead
By Joshua Partlow, Washington Post Foreign Service
BAGHDAD, Jan. 2 -- A suicide bomber blew himself up on the hood of a car driven by a member of Iraq's burgeoning Sunni-dominated security forces, the latest in a series of recent attacks against the U.S.-backed militiamen, according to U.S. military and Iraqi officials.
The bomber struck in downtown Baqubah, the capital of Diyala province, where Sunni insurgents began turning on one another last year. These tensions have grown as some insurgent groups, particularly the 1920 Revolution Brigades, have allied themselves with U.S. soldiers against the group al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Wednesday's blast killed four people and wounded 23, according to hospital and morgue officials. The U.S. military gave the same death toll but put the number of wounded at six.
The bomb went off near a passport office, wounding people inside. "When the explosion occurred, I fell down and after a few minutes I raised my head and saw many bodies," said Asmaa Abdul Kareem, 28, who was taken to the hospital. "What happened is not related to Islam at all -- no one accepts this type of action," she said. "We were civilians and families visiting the passport office."
Members of the Sunni security force said the blast killed one of their leaders, Abdul Rafia al-Nadawi, known as Abu Sajad, a lecturer in the education department at Diyala University.
Militiaman Ismael Talib, 35, said he saw a bearded man in black clothes jump atop the hood of the vehicle before setting off his bomb. "We expected this act because we decided to confront al-Qaeda," Talib said. "We have lost more than 25 people from our group, as well as five leaders, in the fight against al-Qaeda."
A series of attacks targeting the armed tribal groups has followed an audio statement by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden warning Sunnis against cooperating with these "infidels."
On New Year's Eve, a car bomb at a checkpoint manned by militiamen north of Baghdad in the Mushada area killed at least two people and wounded two, the U.S. military said.
Attacks last year by al-Qaeda in Iraq scared large numbers of policemen off the job in Diyala province. Similar large-scale desertions from militia forces could be a damaging blow to the U.S. military effort there.
The ascendance of the militia groups, now numbering more than 70,000 people, continues to concern some leading Iraqi government officials. Many officials praise the tribal fighters' work in Anbar province, in western Iraq, which is predominantly Sunni, but suggest that the militiamen cause more trouble than good in mixed parts of the country.
Humam Hamoudi, a parliament member and prominent figure in the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a leading Shiite political party, said in an interview that these groups are undermining the work of government security forces, particularly in the capital. Hamoudi said he was worried that many of the militiamen are not overseen by Iraqi security forces and have joined neighborhood groups in Baghdad even though they may not live in the area.
"It has paralyzed the work of the government," he said. "These groups might cause civil war in mixed neighborhoods, especially in Baghdad."
Special correspondents Zaid Sabah and Dalya Hassan in Baghdad and other Washington Post staff in Iraq contributed to this report.
January 3, 2008
Pg. 16
Leader in Sunni Group Among 4 Dead
By Joshua Partlow, Washington Post Foreign Service
BAGHDAD, Jan. 2 -- A suicide bomber blew himself up on the hood of a car driven by a member of Iraq's burgeoning Sunni-dominated security forces, the latest in a series of recent attacks against the U.S.-backed militiamen, according to U.S. military and Iraqi officials.
The bomber struck in downtown Baqubah, the capital of Diyala province, where Sunni insurgents began turning on one another last year. These tensions have grown as some insurgent groups, particularly the 1920 Revolution Brigades, have allied themselves with U.S. soldiers against the group al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Wednesday's blast killed four people and wounded 23, according to hospital and morgue officials. The U.S. military gave the same death toll but put the number of wounded at six.
The bomb went off near a passport office, wounding people inside. "When the explosion occurred, I fell down and after a few minutes I raised my head and saw many bodies," said Asmaa Abdul Kareem, 28, who was taken to the hospital. "What happened is not related to Islam at all -- no one accepts this type of action," she said. "We were civilians and families visiting the passport office."
Members of the Sunni security force said the blast killed one of their leaders, Abdul Rafia al-Nadawi, known as Abu Sajad, a lecturer in the education department at Diyala University.
Militiaman Ismael Talib, 35, said he saw a bearded man in black clothes jump atop the hood of the vehicle before setting off his bomb. "We expected this act because we decided to confront al-Qaeda," Talib said. "We have lost more than 25 people from our group, as well as five leaders, in the fight against al-Qaeda."
A series of attacks targeting the armed tribal groups has followed an audio statement by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden warning Sunnis against cooperating with these "infidels."
On New Year's Eve, a car bomb at a checkpoint manned by militiamen north of Baghdad in the Mushada area killed at least two people and wounded two, the U.S. military said.
Attacks last year by al-Qaeda in Iraq scared large numbers of policemen off the job in Diyala province. Similar large-scale desertions from militia forces could be a damaging blow to the U.S. military effort there.
The ascendance of the militia groups, now numbering more than 70,000 people, continues to concern some leading Iraqi government officials. Many officials praise the tribal fighters' work in Anbar province, in western Iraq, which is predominantly Sunni, but suggest that the militiamen cause more trouble than good in mixed parts of the country.
Humam Hamoudi, a parliament member and prominent figure in the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a leading Shiite political party, said in an interview that these groups are undermining the work of government security forces, particularly in the capital. Hamoudi said he was worried that many of the militiamen are not overseen by Iraqi security forces and have joined neighborhood groups in Baghdad even though they may not live in the area.
"It has paralyzed the work of the government," he said. "These groups might cause civil war in mixed neighborhoods, especially in Baghdad."
Special correspondents Zaid Sabah and Dalya Hassan in Baghdad and other Washington Post staff in Iraq contributed to this report.