Scores killed in Baghdad, intensity of attacks up
Iraq, Military, 6/3/2005

The wave of attacks and explosions continued in various parts of Iraq in the few past hours especially in the capital Baghdad and the cities situated to its north, thereby the flow of the Iraqi bloodshed continued, as some 800 Iraqis have been killed since the announcement of the government of Ibrahim al-Jaafari by the beginning of April.

The series of explosions and attacks by machine guns since Thursday morning resulted in killing at least 45 Iraqis and more than 70 were injured.

The most recent of these attacks resulted in killing five Iraqis including one policeman in the explosion of two booby trapped car before a cafe in Musil to the north of Iraq yesterday afternoon. Police sources said the twin explosion also resulted in wounding 13 persons. Witnesses said that the cafe is very often visited by members of the Iraqi security.

In an attack in Baghdad, news reports quoted police sources as saying that nine Iraqi civilians were killed by the fire of gunmen from speedy cars at a crowded market in al-Hurrieh area to the north west of the capital.

Some 12 Iraqis were killed and other 40 injured in a booby trapped car explosion before a restaurant in the downtown of Touz Kharmato city to the north of Baghdad on Thursday morning. Iraqi police sources said that the car targeted a procession carrying the guards of Rose Nouri Shawis, the Iraqi deputy prime minister. But Shawis was not in the procession. The attack was claimed by Ansar al-Sunnah army supporters in a statement issued on the Internet.

Also, the US army announced on Thursday the killing of three marines in al-Anbar governorate to the west of Iraq on Wednesday. A military statement said that one of the two soldiers was killed in clashes in machine guns clashes while the second was killed in a bomb explosion targeting his convoy near al-Ramadi. These field developments came despite the security operation "lightening " carried out by more than 40,000 Iraqi soldiers and police men in Baghdad and its surroundings since several days and resulted in killing hundreds of suspects.

Richard Myers, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman said this week: "We're seeing the insurgents in Iraq change their tactics and switch their centers of gravity because of the perseverance and commitment of coalition forces -- and not only coalition forces, but the Iraqi people -- all for a -- aimed at a free Iraq.

"Let me tell you what I mean by centers of gravity.Ê First the insurgents tried to drive out the coalition from Iraq, but we're still there.Ê Next they focused on Iraqi security forces, but they continue to sign up in record numbers.Ê And then they attempted to intimidate the Iraqi people, but they went to the polls and voted for a representative government.Ê And a recent poll in Iraq shows that 85 percent of the Iraqis who responded said that they would likely vote in the October constitutional referendum.Ê Political progress is key, of course, to success in Iraq...

"The number of incidents is actually down over 20 percent, depending on what you measure it against, from last November or the January elections.Ê So incidents are down overall, albeit more lethal because of the increase of the number of folks that putting in there who are willing to commit suicide, and the move to these vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices.

"I think you should be encouraged, though, by the number of independent Iraqi operations that are going on there, where are -- I think, currently, they may -- some of them may have ended.Ê But over the last couple of weeks, five operations that were independent Iraqi operations -- 30 different combined with coalition forces -- which is a much different mixture than we had just several months ago.Ê So, what I'd be encouraged by is that Iraqi security forces are more and more coming to the front.Ê And then, if you go to Operation Lightning, which was announced by the minister of Defense and minister of Interior of Iraq, which is an Iraqi initiative to put more Iraqis out front in Baghdad to try to quell this violence -- it's the first time they could do something like this.Ê It's the first time they've had the capability to do it.

"So I think we should be encouraged by that. I think we should also be encouraged by the political progress, which is no doubt frustrating those that want to divide Iraq either through sectarian violence or a civil war, and that's not happening. The Iraqi people aren't buying this.Ê I mean, that's the encouraging -- the Iraqi people are not buying the insurgents' line, which is actually no line; it's just violence, it's murder, it's mayhem."

Previous Stories:
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  Annan fires UN Security Council official for serious misconduct linked to oil-for-food   (6/2/2005)
  Rumsfeld warns Iraq neighbors against medical care to Zarqawi   (6/2/2005)
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  Four Italians, four Americans killed in two military planes crash   (6/1/2005)

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