Iraq Watch: November 2, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq - As the three-day holiday of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, approaches, the nationwide violence, particularly against U.S. forces and Shiites, shows no signs of abating.
On Wednesday in Musayyib, a suicide car bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle near an outdoor marker bustling with civilians purchasing fresh foods to prepare for the breaking of the daylong fast observed by Muslims during Ramadan.
At least 22 people were killed and 60 more wounded in the early-evening bombing.
Two similar bombings have occurred over the past week in the predominately Shiite cities of Huwaider and Basra.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the deaths of six U.S. service members on Wednesday, including two Marines who were killed in a helicopter crash around 8:15 this morning near Ramadi.
In further violence, a roadside bomb targeting a U.S. military convoy on the outskirts of Baghdad missed and instead destroyed a minibus following closly behind the U.S. vehicles. At least five Iraqis were killed and another six wounded in the bombing.
A separate roadside bombing in the capital city killed five Iraqi soldiers and injured four.
To the north in Kirkuk, a car bomb killed at least two Iraqis and wounded seven others.
In an effort to alleviate some of the relentless violence plaguing the nation, Iraq's Sunni Defense Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi, pleaded for low-level members of Saddam Hussein's army to re-inlist with the new Iraqi army.
Shortly after U.S. troops took control of Iraq in 2003 the decision to completely disband Saddam's army was made by the then head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer. This decision is largely seen as a mistake now, fueling the nationalist division of the current insurgency.
Insurgent groups such as the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Twentieth Revolutionary Brigades are believed to be comprised largely of former members of Iraq's disbanded army.
On Wednesday in Musayyib, a suicide car bomber detonated his explosive-laden vehicle near an outdoor marker bustling with civilians purchasing fresh foods to prepare for the breaking of the daylong fast observed by Muslims during Ramadan.
At least 22 people were killed and 60 more wounded in the early-evening bombing.
Two similar bombings have occurred over the past week in the predominately Shiite cities of Huwaider and Basra.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the deaths of six U.S. service members on Wednesday, including two Marines who were killed in a helicopter crash around 8:15 this morning near Ramadi.
In further violence, a roadside bomb targeting a U.S. military convoy on the outskirts of Baghdad missed and instead destroyed a minibus following closly behind the U.S. vehicles. At least five Iraqis were killed and another six wounded in the bombing.
A separate roadside bombing in the capital city killed five Iraqi soldiers and injured four.
To the north in Kirkuk, a car bomb killed at least two Iraqis and wounded seven others.
In an effort to alleviate some of the relentless violence plaguing the nation, Iraq's Sunni Defense Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi, pleaded for low-level members of Saddam Hussein's army to re-inlist with the new Iraqi army.
Shortly after U.S. troops took control of Iraq in 2003 the decision to completely disband Saddam's army was made by the then head of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer. This decision is largely seen as a mistake now, fueling the nationalist division of the current insurgency.
Insurgent groups such as the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Twentieth Revolutionary Brigades are believed to be comprised largely of former members of Iraq's disbanded army.
posted by Todd @ 8:05 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home