The New York Times 01/28/12
“434 People Killed in Iraq since US Pulled Out”
Since the United States military withdrew from Iraq in the middle of last month, 434 Iraqis have been killed in attacks across the country, according to security official; one of the highest tolls for that amount of times in the past few years. The latest attach occurred Friday when a suicide bomber detonated a car filled with explosive near a funeral procession in a Shiite neighborhood.
According to security officials, 31 people, including 8 police officers, were killed in the Friday attacks and 60 were wounded. Elsewhere in Baghdad, a young boy was killed in an explosion near a soccer field.
The wave of violence over the past five weeks has unnerved Iraqis who fear that their leaders, embroiled in a political fight with one another, are not prepared to thwart attacks without help from the Americans.
Last year, the average daily death toll was nine.
The attacks have raised questions about whether the insurgent group Al-Qaeda in Iraq has regained its footing after it was significantly diminished in 2008.
Despite the carnage, top Iraqi security officials say their fight against insurgents is increasingly successful.
The acting minister of interior, Adnan al-Asadi, said in an interview here on Thursday that when the Americans were in Iraq they made the fight against Al-Qaeda more difficult.
“It became better after the Americans left,” he said, “They were slowing our operations.”
The United States provided extensive support to Iraqi security forces in counterterrorism operations against Al-Qaeda, including helicopter transportation for many of the raids to detain insurgents.
“We are hitting them hard”, he added. “And we are arresting big numbers of them every day, sometimes as much as 50 a day.”
The recent wave of attacks, Mr Asadi said, was “just to prove that they are still here.”
The attack on Friday occurred around 11 a.m. as the procession made its way past a market, taking the man’s body to be cleaned before being buried.
“The people in the market got hurt, there were women and children burning, said a witness
.
Common Sense Review
The people of Iraq are victims of your arrogance. You blame the US military that they were in your way but you have more people dying now that we are gone.. I see corruption and a Saddam Hussain figure will rise again…
Note to Afghanistan, unless you strengthen yourself, this will happen to you…
No comments:
Post a Comment