Iraq boosts security following deadly day
Source: Agencies |
May 12, 2010, Wednesday
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IRAQI forces beefed up security at checkpoints, conducted house-to-house searches and rifled through cars yesterday looking for suspects behind a devastating string of attacks across the country that killed 119 people a day earlier.
The sheer breadth of the attacks was a blow after recent victories against insurgents and demonstrated the militants' resilience.
Officials blamed the al-Qaida-linked violence that stretched from the volatile north to the normally peaceful Shiite south on a political vacuum in the country. It is not clear who will control the next Iraqi government even though more than two months have passed since the inconclusive March 7 elections.
Brigadier General Ralph Baker, a former Pentagon counterterror expert who now oversees United States military operations in eastern Baghdad, said the complexity of the attacks indicates they were all coordinated.
"Given the timing of the attacks in Baghdad and Anbar, coupled with the activities up north and south, I think you can very clearly say it was a coordinated effort," he said, noting that the main targets were Iraqi security forces and Shiite civilians. "Clearly two target sites that are popular with al-Qaida. They're still trying to show they can re-ignite the cycle of sectarian violence."
Most of the victims of Monday's violence were in two Shiite cities - Hillah and Basra - adding to concerns about a resurgence of the Sunni-Shiite sectarian warfare that peaked in 2006 and 2007.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite bloc has tried to squeeze out election front-runner Ayad Allawi - a secular Shiite who was heavily backed by Sunnis - by forging an alliance last week with another religious Shiite coalition. The union, which is just four seats short of a majority in parliament, will likely lead to four more years of a government dominated by Shiites, much like the current one.
Sunni anger
Sunni anger at Shiite domination of successive governments since Saddam's 2003 ousting was a key reason behind the insurgency that sparked sectarian warfare three years later. If Allawi is perceived as not getting his fair share of power, that could outrage the Sunnis and possibly create more sympathy for militants.
The bloody insurgent strikes against 10 cities and towns also threw into doubt whether Iraqi security forces can protect the country as the US prepares to withdraw half of its remaining 92,000 troops in Iraq over the next four months.
"The security forces were doing their job, but lapses happen occasionally and then you can't stop a suicide bomber or anything else," said Deputy Interior Minister Major General Hussein Ali Kamal.
The sheer breadth of the attacks was a blow after recent victories against insurgents and demonstrated the militants' resilience.
Officials blamed the al-Qaida-linked violence that stretched from the volatile north to the normally peaceful Shiite south on a political vacuum in the country. It is not clear who will control the next Iraqi government even though more than two months have passed since the inconclusive March 7 elections.
Brigadier General Ralph Baker, a former Pentagon counterterror expert who now oversees United States military operations in eastern Baghdad, said the complexity of the attacks indicates they were all coordinated.
"Given the timing of the attacks in Baghdad and Anbar, coupled with the activities up north and south, I think you can very clearly say it was a coordinated effort," he said, noting that the main targets were Iraqi security forces and Shiite civilians. "Clearly two target sites that are popular with al-Qaida. They're still trying to show they can re-ignite the cycle of sectarian violence."
Most of the victims of Monday's violence were in two Shiite cities - Hillah and Basra - adding to concerns about a resurgence of the Sunni-Shiite sectarian warfare that peaked in 2006 and 2007.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite bloc has tried to squeeze out election front-runner Ayad Allawi - a secular Shiite who was heavily backed by Sunnis - by forging an alliance last week with another religious Shiite coalition. The union, which is just four seats short of a majority in parliament, will likely lead to four more years of a government dominated by Shiites, much like the current one.
Sunni anger
Sunni anger at Shiite domination of successive governments since Saddam's 2003 ousting was a key reason behind the insurgency that sparked sectarian warfare three years later. If Allawi is perceived as not getting his fair share of power, that could outrage the Sunnis and possibly create more sympathy for militants.
The bloody insurgent strikes against 10 cities and towns also threw into doubt whether Iraqi security forces can protect the country as the US prepares to withdraw half of its remaining 92,000 troops in Iraq over the next four months.
"The security forces were doing their job, but lapses happen occasionally and then you can't stop a suicide bomber or anything else," said Deputy Interior Minister Major General Hussein Ali Kamal.
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