Iraq Watch: August 24, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Armed swaths of insurgents roamed the streets and engaged Iraqi security forces in some of the fiercest street fighting seen in the capital city in recent months on Wednesday afternoon. The fighting broke out on after insurgents launched a series of car bombings against police checkpoints around Baghdad. At least 14 people were killed and 59 wounded in the skirmishes which took place in the predominately Sunni western Baghdad neighborhood of Jamiaa.
Also in Baghdad, a failed assassination attempt against Deputy Justice Minister Bosho Ibrahim resulted in the deaths of four of his bodyguards. At least Five other bodyguards were injured in the mid-morning attack which occurred in the al-Gazalia district of the capital.
To the south, in the holy city of Najaf, clashes broke out between two rival Shiite militias on Wednesday. The fighting, which resulted in the deaths of at least eight people, was between the Mahdi Army - loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr - and the Badr Brigades, loyal to the nations largest Shiite political group, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).
Fighting between the two Shiite factions intensified and spread to other southern cities by late Wednesday. Clashes were rported in Basra, Nasiriyah, and Amarah according to the AP.
Aljazeera reports that fighting had erupted in and around Baghdad as well.
In protest of the reported clashes 21 lawmakers and at least three senior government officials affiliated with al-Sadr have gone on strike indefinitely, further complicating the already tenuous Iraqi political process.
Voting by Iraq's parliament on the proposed draft constitution is scheduled to take place on Thursday.
Demonstrations by both Sunnis and Shiite followers of Muqtada al-Sadr against the proposed constitution, and the federalism included in it, took place on Wednesday in the northern city of Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk.
Four Iraqis were killed and seven others wounded when gunmen attacked their minibus north of Baquba in Khalis. The victims were believed to be Shiites returning from holy cites inside neighboring Iran.
A mortar attack on an army checkpoint south of Baghdad near Musayyib killed one Iraqi soldier and injured another.
Also in Baghdad, a failed assassination attempt against Deputy Justice Minister Bosho Ibrahim resulted in the deaths of four of his bodyguards. At least Five other bodyguards were injured in the mid-morning attack which occurred in the al-Gazalia district of the capital.
To the south, in the holy city of Najaf, clashes broke out between two rival Shiite militias on Wednesday. The fighting, which resulted in the deaths of at least eight people, was between the Mahdi Army - loyal to firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr - and the Badr Brigades, loyal to the nations largest Shiite political group, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).
Fighting between the two Shiite factions intensified and spread to other southern cities by late Wednesday. Clashes were rported in Basra, Nasiriyah, and Amarah according to the AP.
Aljazeera reports that fighting had erupted in and around Baghdad as well.
In protest of the reported clashes 21 lawmakers and at least three senior government officials affiliated with al-Sadr have gone on strike indefinitely, further complicating the already tenuous Iraqi political process.
Voting by Iraq's parliament on the proposed draft constitution is scheduled to take place on Thursday.
Demonstrations by both Sunnis and Shiite followers of Muqtada al-Sadr against the proposed constitution, and the federalism included in it, took place on Wednesday in the northern city of Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk.
Four Iraqis were killed and seven others wounded when gunmen attacked their minibus north of Baquba in Khalis. The victims were believed to be Shiites returning from holy cites inside neighboring Iran.
A mortar attack on an army checkpoint south of Baghdad near Musayyib killed one Iraqi soldier and injured another.
posted by Todd @ 2:00 AM
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