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Iraq
Suicide Bombers Kill Four in Iraq Police Station
2010-12-30
[Asharq al-Aswat] Two jacket wallahs on Wednesday killed four coppers in a cop shoppe in the northern city of djinn-infested Mosul, including an officer who oversaw a deadly raid on cut-thoats, Iraqi security officials said.

A third bomber was rubbed out before setting off his explosives belt in the attack targeting Lieutenant Colonel Shamil Ahmed Oglah, who commanded the operation last week against an Al-Qaeda affiliate, a police officer said.

The early morning bombings killed Oglah and three other coppers, an interior ministry source said, and destroyed most of the cop shoppe in the Qabr al-Binat area of western Mosul, according to the police officer.

The officer said Oglah had commanded an operation in western Mosul in which a leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, was killed.

Suicide bombers had made four previous attempts to kill the lieutenant colonel, he said.

The attack comes two days after twin bombings in the western city of Ramadi killed nine people, including four coppers, and maimed 49, among them five women and four children.

At least 19 police died in apparently coordinated car boomings across Iraq on August 25, security officials said, including 15 officers who were killed at a passport office in Kut, southeast of Storied Baghdad.

A total of at least 53 people were killed and some 250 maimed in the attacks, which were blamed on Al-Qaeda and remnants of Saddam Hussein's Baath party.

Mosul, 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Storied Baghdad, and the surrounding Nineveh province are one of the most violent areas of Iraq.

The province is split between Sunni Arab and Kurdish communities bitterly divided over the ambitions of Kurdish leaders to incorporate large parts of it into their autonomous region in the north.

It also has Assyrian, Shabak, Turkmen and Yazidi minorities.

On December 20, Iraqi army special forces killed three Libyans allegedly planning suicide kabooms ahead of Christmas in a raid in Mosul, a defence ministry front man said.

"Special forces from the Second Brigade in Mosul killed three Libyan jacket wallahs in an operation," acting on a tip-off, Major General Mohammed al-Askari said.

The soldiers raided a house in southern Mosul and came under attack with hand grenades, sparking a clash in which the three "terrorists" were killed, he said.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who was approved by parliament for a second term in office along with a national unity cabinet on December 21, has cited security as one of his top three priorities.

But 10 ministries, including those responsible for security, which are controlled by Maliki in the interim, still only have acting heads.

While violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq since its peak in 2006 and 2007, attacks remain common, especially in the capital and Mosul.

The number of people killed last month was the lowest in a year for the second month running, with 171 people -- 105 civilians, 23 soldiers and 43 coppers -- losing their lives in attacks.

In his first address after being re-appointed, Maliki committed his new government to tackling the "enormous" challenges to improve security across Iraq.
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Iraq
Iraq Announces Over 90 Arrests in al-Qaida Sweep
2010-12-26
Iraq's defense ministry says security forces have arrested 93 suspects in an al-Qaida crackdown in the western Anbar province.

A defense ministry spokesman, Major General Mohammed al-Askari, said Thursday the arrests included 60 wanted men. He said the detentions resulted from a series of raids launched late Tuesday that included help from police, the army, pro-government tribal forces and members of an anti-al-Qaida militia.

Earlier this week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki named security as one of his top priorities after parliament approved cabinet ministers for his new government.

Meanwhile, Iraqi officials say gunmen using silencers have killed a brigadier general and wounded a police lieutenant colonel. Both incidents occurred late Wednesday in Baghdad.
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Iraq
Twelve killed in Iraq as Shiite pilgrimage ends
2010-07-29
[Al Arabiya Latest] A series of attacks in Baghdad and a holy Iraqi city killed 12 people, while five others died in a helicopter crash, as major religious ceremonies came to a close, officials said on Wednesday.

In the deadliest attack, mortars killed seven people and wounded 46 in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, as pilgrims gathered late on Tuesday to mark the birthday of Imam Mohammed al-Mahdi, the 12th and last Shiite holy man.

Several hundred thousand pilgrims are expected in Karbala this week for the same anniversary.

Tuesday's attack came a day after twin car bombings in Karbala killed 21 people and wounded at least 47 others.

"Several mortars landed at 11:00 pm (2000 GMT on Tuesday), killing seven pilgrims and injuring 46, in a neighborhood located four kilometers (2.3 miles) northwest of the center of the city," a Karbala police officer said.

"The pilgrims were coming from around the city to participate in the ceremony," the officer said, adding several houses were damaged.

Shiites -- the majority of Iraq's population -- believe the holy man will return to Earth on the Day of Judgment.

Also near Karbala, an Iraqi air force helicopter crashed early on Wednesday while it was providing surveillance for the ceremonies, killing its five-man crew.

"The five-man crew of the helicopter was killed when it crashed as a result of a sandstorm in Ibrahimiyah, east of Karbala," General Anwar Hanna Amin said.

Defense ministry front man Major General Mohammed al-Askari confirmed the crash, saying the helicopter was a Russian-designed Mi-17. The crash is being investigated, he added.

In Baghdad, meanwhile, a bomb inside a restaurant on Wednesday morning in the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City in the north of the city killed five people, including one woman.

Thirteen others were maimed in the blast, which occurred at about 9:30 am (0630 GMT), officials from the defense and interior ministries said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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Iraq
Iraq arrests three suspected Qaeda leaders
2010-07-26
Autoedited by Rantburg
[Al Arabiya Latest] Authorities have jugged three suspected senior leaders of al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq, including its self-styled minister of defense, a spokesman said on Sunday.

Also among the group detained were two brothers suspected of masterminding major attacks in the central Iraqi province of Diyala, defense ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari told AFP.

"Iraqi soldiers jugged Saleem Khalid al-Zawbayi, the minister of defense for the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI)," Askari said.

"He was jugged on Thursday evening south of Baghdad," he added.

Askari also said that two brothers -- Jaabar and Qadoori Radhi Khamis al-Zaidi -- believed to have been responsible for operations in Diyala, were jugged in the northern city of Tikrit, where they were based.

The two were ISI "emirs", according to Askari.

Zawbayi is suspected of organizing a July 18 suicide bombing in the town of Radwaniyah, west of Baghdad, targeting anti-Qaeda militiamen being paid their wages. Forty-five people were killed and 46 wounded.

Al-Qaeda also took responsibility for a the second attack in the same day where a boomer killed four and wounded six at a meeting of local Sunni militia leaders in western Iraq, near the Syrian border.

In a statement posted on a website often used by Islamists, al-Qaeda said it had conducted the attacks as part of action against "leaders of apostasy", a term used for Sunni fighters who once allied with al-Qaeda but turned on the hard boy group in 2006/07, helping U.S. forces turn the tide in the war.

"A lion of the Islamic State managed to intrude among the cattle after they were blinded by pickings of money thrown by the ... government and they fell into the torture of God," the statement said.

Sunni Islamist bad boyz linked to al-Qaeda have sought to exploit the political vacuum created by a failure of Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish factions to agree on a coalition government following an inconclusive March 7 parliamentary election, and have carried out a series of attacks since the vote.

Sahwa leaders have been among the primary targets. Some of the attacks have been attributed to acts of Dire Revenge™ by former fellow bad boyz, while others have been blamed on long-running blood feuds between families.
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Iraq
Iraq arrests senior officers over blasts
2009-10-30
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iraq arrested dozens of security officials over bombings that killed 155 people and vowed to arrest more security officers suspected of colluding with the bombers or dereliction of duty, an official said on Thursday.

Two-high profile attacks over the last two months have raised pressure on Iraq's developing military and police, which are taking over security from U.S. troops as Washington draws down ahead of an eventual pull-out in 2011.

" The commission of inquiry into the double attack on Sunday ordered the arrest of 11 officers of various ranks and 50 members of the security forces responsible for the protection of Salhiya "
Army spokesman General Qasim Atta
Those arrested were deployed in the Salhiya section of the capital where the devastating suicide blasts on Sunday targeted government buildings and wrought havoc in the streets, said Atta, spokesman for Baghdad military command.

"The commission of inquiry into the double attack on Sunday ordered the arrest of 11 officers of various ranks and 50 members of the security forces responsible for the protection of Salhiya," he said.

The health ministry said on Thursday the toll from the attacks claimed by al-Qaeda but blamed by the government on members of the outlawed Baath party stood at 153 people killed and more than 500 wounded.

Among those arrested, said Atta, are four senior army officers and seven senior policemen, including the chief of police of Salhiya under whose jurisdiction the justice ministry, one of the targets of the attacks, falls. Also rounded up, he added, are the commanders of 15 security checkpoints in Salhiya.

Baghdad's governor, Salah Abdul Razzaq, on Monday blamed negligence or even collusion by the security forces for the bombings in the heart of the capital, Iraq's deadliest day in more than two years.

"It's a human failure... It can only be negligence or collusion," Razzaq told AFP, noting that footage showed a white Renault truck carrying two tones of explosives driving up to the justice ministry building.

The logo of the Department of Water in Fallujah, a former insurgent bastion west of Baghdad, was painted on the side of the truck, he said. "How did it get from Fallujah to here?"

Trucks are barred from entering Baghdad, especially Salhiya neighborhood, during daylight hours.

Razzaq said that the vehicle that was blown up in front of the other target, a provincial government building, was a Kia minibus.

Defense ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari told AFP earlier this week that security forces raided two houses in Baghdad, where they found bomb-making materials, and made arrests, but did not specify how many.

"It looks like the same materials used on Bloody Wednesday," he said, referring to August 19 bombings at government ministries in Baghdad that killed around 100 people.

Askari said the evidence found confirmed the bombers were linked to al-Qaeda and supporters of the Baath Party of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
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Iraq
Iraq buying dozens of military choppers from US, EU
2009-04-07
The French couldn't help liberate Iraq but are happy to do business. Figures.
BAGHDAD - Iraq has signed deals with the United States and Europe to buy dozens of military helicopters that will be delivered over the next two years, the defence ministry spokesman said on Monday.

Major General Mohammed al-Askari said the government had placed orders with US and European groups for what he described as 'dozens' of helicopters, but declined to give a precise number. A senior military source, however, told AFP that 'Iraq has agreed with the United States and European countries to buy more than 40 helicopters.' 'We will receive all these helicopters in the next two years,' the source said, noting that the US would supply 30 of the aircraft, mainly to be used in the fight against terrorism.
That's good. I don't mind Euro companies getting a share of the orders but I'd hate to think the Iraqis would forget who stood by them.
Last month, French defence minister Herve Morin and his Iraqi counterpart Abdel Kader Obeidi announced the purchase by Baghdad of 24 multi-purpose Eurocopter EC 635 helicopters. The deal for the transport helicopters, which can carry up to seven soldiers and also engage in reconnaissance and search and rescue missions, is worth 360 million dollars. They form part of the order mentioned by the Iraqi security source.

In addition, France is preparing to sell to Iraq six Gazelle helicopters to train Iraqi pilots, said a French source close to the deal.
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Iraq
Iraq arrests dozens of 'terrorists' in Mosul
2009-02-22
Iraqi security forces said on Saturday they had arrested dozens of "terrorists" in a day-long operation targeting suspects in Mosul, seen as Al Qaeda's last stronghold in the country.

"The operation started yesterday and ended today and led to the arrest of 74 terrorists wanted by the Iraqi forces," defence ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari told AFP. "They are from various terrorist groups, especially from Al Qaeda," he said. Police and troops carried out "a military operation targeting terrorists and criminals in Mosul," he said, indicating that the operation had prevented the suspects from carrying out planned attacks. "We did the raids according to intelligence information and before they could implement their plans. The forces also freed a person and defused two car bombs," he added.

The US army says that the northern city of Mosul is the last bastion of Al Qaeda in Iraq.
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Iraq
Iraqi forces capture 'number one butcher'
2008-11-12
IRAQI and US forces have arrested the "number one butcher" responsible for beheadings in the volatile Diyala province north of Baghdad.

"Iraqi forces received intelligence on a very dangerous terrorist known as the number one butcher who was responsible for a beheading squad that slaughtered innocent people," Major General Mohammed al-Askari said. The suspect, Riyad Wahab Hassan Falih, "also supervised the training of terrorists specialising in beheading Iraqis", he said.

The arrest came amid a series of operations across the province in which Iraqi army troops backed by local tribes apprehended 65 people in 72 hours. In an operation early today, troops arrested nine local al-Qaeda leaders who had been hiding in an underground bunker used for torturing and beheading captives.

In another raid in the north of Diyala, Iraqi security forces shot dead five fighters when they raided a weapons cache, the ministry said.
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Iraq
Iraq says to take control of province in July
2008-06-16
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq will take over security responsibility for another southern province from U.S. forces in July, a Defence Ministry spokesman said on Sunday. Qadisiya, also known as Diwaniya because that is the name of its capital, would be the 10th of Iraq's 18 provinces to return to Iraqi control. It has been relatively violence-free this year.
Iraq provincial map here courtesy of Gateway Pundit.
"In July, we will take security responsibility for Diwaniya (Qadisiya) province from the Multi-National Forces and we have prepared the required force to take this security responsibility," Major-General Mohammed al-Askari, the Defence Ministry spokesman, told a news conference.

The ninth province to return to Iraqi control was the oil- rich southern province of Basra, which Britain handed over last December, marking the end of nearly five years of British control of southern Iraq. So far the provinces under Iraqi control are either in the Kurdish north or the Shi'ite south. U.S. forces still control provinces with large Sunni Arab populations, such as the western province of Anbar, which used to be the main stronghold of al Qaeda insurgents.

The handover of Anbar to Iraqi control, once pencilled in for March or April, is now expected in the next few weeks.

Some scepticism about whether Iraqi security forces are ready to take control of hotspots has been allayed by recent security operations. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sent Iraqi security forces to tackle Shi'ite militias in Basra and Baghdad and launched a crackdown against al Qaeda in the northern town of Mosul, strengthening government authority in areas previously outside its control.
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Iraq
Iraqi troops kill 11 suspected Qaeda fighters
2008-05-31
MOSUL, Iraq - Iraqi security forces shot dead at least 11 suspected Al-Qaeda operatives who were hiding in a sheep truck near the northern city of Tikrit on Friday, the defence ministry said. The men were killed in fighting at a checkpoint between ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and Baiji, ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari said.

"Members of the Iraqi special forces intercepted a truck transporting animals, but there were 11 Al-Qaeda fighters hiding in it," Askari told AFP, adding that one of the men was a foreigner from an unidentified Arab nation. Askari said the truck was believed to be fleeing the main northern Iraqi city of Mosul, where the Iraqi army has been conducting a large-scale crackdown on Al-Qaeda since May 14.
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Iraq
Iraqi forces detain 1,000 in al Qaeda push
2008-05-18
Iraqi forces have detained more than 1,000 suspects in an offensive aimed at crushing al Qaeda in northern Iraq, the military commander of the operation said on Saturday. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki returned to Baghdad on Saturday after spending several days in the city of Mosul and surrounding Nineveh province to supervise the crackdown.

Many gunmen from Sunni Islamist al Qaeda have regrouped in Nineveh after being pushed out of other areas. The U.S.military says Mosul is al Qaeda's last major urban stronghold in Iraq. Lieutenant-General Riyadh Jalal Tawfiq, head of the Iraqi-led offensive that began a week ago, said 1,068 suspects had been detained so far. "This operation will last until we finish off all the terrorist remnants and outlaws," he said.

On Friday, Maliki said fighters who handed in their weapons within 10 days would be given an amnesty and unspecified cash rewards. His offer applies to gunmen who have not killed anyone. Defence Ministry spokesman Major-General Mohammed al-Askari said scores of militants had already handed over their guns. "We are committed to the amnesty and have reassured them there will be no judicial pursuit against them," he said,adding the government would soon make public the compensation available for different kinds of weapons handed in. Iraqi law states that each household may legally own one semi-automatic rifle.

BLAME
U.S. officials blame al Qaeda in Iraq for most big bombings in the country, including an attack on a Shi'ite shrine in Samarra in February 2006 that set off a wave of sectarian killings that nearly tipped Iraq into all-out civil war.

An influx of additional U.S. troops last year and a decision by Sunni Arab tribes to turn against al Qaeda has enabled U.S. and Iraqi forces to push the militants out of Baghdad and the western province of Anbar, their former strongholds. The Iraqi military wants to repeat that success in Mosul.

Police and soldiers have raided some towns on the Syrian border, where many foreign al Qaeda fighters enter Iraq, aspart of the operation and turned over some suspects to U.S.forces.
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Iraq
Parading of fighters' bodies taunts Mahdi Army - Like bagged deer on the hoods
2008-05-12
VIDEO LINK, Warning: graphic footage of fighters' bodies being paraded

A humvee military vehicle idles on a broad avenue as an Iraqi army soldier walks nonchalantly past without so much as a glance at the body slung across the bonnet. The dead man’s trousers have been pulled down to his ankles, exposing white underwear below a torn T-shirt drenched in blood from wounds to his chest and side.

Behind is a second Humvee with another body sprawled over the front, arms and legs outstretched. On his white shirt, a large bloodstain indicates the wound that may have killed him. A soldier sitting on the roof dangles his legs over the windscreen and seems to prod the corpse’s stomach with his boot.

As the vehicles roll slowly forward, the tooting of car horns rises to a crescendo in apparent celebration of victory in battle and the sound of whooping and gunshots can be heard.
See Video Link above.
A police officer in a blue uniform drives alongside, smiling as the Humvees are waved forward by a pedestrian in civilian clothes and head towards two large arches that span the road. The bodies are being paraded like prize stags after a hunt.

The film, which appears to have been made with a mobile phone, was passed to The Sunday Times by a senior official close to Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shi’ite cleric who leads the Mahdi Army militia.

The official said it had come from Basra and showed the bodies of two Mahdi fighters who died after the Iraqi army launched an offensive in the southern port city in March with the aim of liberating it from the grip of warring militias.

There was no way to corroborate the official’s information or to identify the dead men as Mahdi fighters, but the vehicles bear Iraqi army markings and the arches glimpsed in the film resemble a Basra landmark.

The release of the video follows the Iraqi army’s success in taking a Mahdi stronghold in Basra and coincides with intense fighting between the two sides in the Sadr City suburb of Baghdad, where more than 1,000 people have been killed in little more than a month.

A second video obtained from the same source purports to show prisoners being beaten in a police station in the Shi’ite holy city of Karbala, south of Baghdad.

An Iraqi lawyer who has advised Maliki’s government said the two videos showed soldiers and police in serious breach of the law. “Desecrating a corpse is prohibited in law, even if he had been the worst criminal on earth,” said Maen Zaki, a former member of a government committee that handled legal issues arising from operations to restore order in Baghdad.

Major-General Mohammed al-Askari, an Iraqi defence ministry spokesman, said: “All videos and films can be manipulated these days. However, we do not tolerate anyone who defiles a body or abuses a person’s human rights. We will exercise the maximum punishment.”
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