Iraq Watch: January 31, 2006

British Toll Hits 100; Bodies Found in Capital

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A British soldier was killed in a roadside bombing near the Kuwaiti border on Tuesday bringing the total number of British causalities from the war in Iraq to 100. The bomb, which also wounded three British troops, detonated as a military convoy was passing by in the port city of Umm Qasr.

Britain has approximately 8,000 troops in Iraq with the bulk of the contingency stationed in the typically less violent Shiite south.

Elsewhere, the executed bodies of 16 people were discovered in and around the capital city of Baghdad. 11 of the bodies were found inside a truck in the western Baghdad district Ghazaliyah while the other five were discovered near a sewer plant in the capital's eastern Rustamiyah neighborhood.

Meanwhile, a firefight northeast of Baghdad left three Iraqi soldiers dead and six wounded. The gun battle took place in the Sunni town of Buhriz, located about 30 miles from the capital.

Also Tuesday, the Arabic language channel Al-Jazeera aired a video of two captured German engineers. In the tape, the Tawhid and Sunnah Brigade threatened to kill the two men if Germany did not sever its ties with the Iraqi government and close its Baghdad embassy within 72 hours. Thomas Nitzschke and Rene Braeunlich were abducted January 24 in the northern city of Beiji.

Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, Iraq's Oil Minister, resigned from his post on Tuesday amid growing anger of increasing Iraqi gas prices. Al-Uloum resigned earlier this month but was quickly reinstated. Despite sitting on the world's second largest oil reserve, Iraqi gas prices have been increasing as of late due to a recent cut in fuel subsidies along with frequent sabotage attacks on Iraq's oil pipelines.

Iraq Watch: January 27, 2006

Street Battles Rage in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A series of intense street battles raged in southwest Baghdad Friday, as Iraqi police launched raids against suspected insurgent safe havens. The firefights, which left at least three civilians dead, occurred in the capital city's southwestern suburbs of Jihad and Saydiyah.

The area was left deserted as militants and Iraqi police exchanged bursts gunfire. U.S. military helicopters hovered overhead as militants set up sniper positions and scurried through the districts' numerous alleyways according to the AP. Iraqi police announced that the raids netted 60 or so suspects.

Meanwhile, the Arabic-language channel Al-Jazeera aired a videotape it said it obtained from a previously unknown militant group calling itself "Ansar al-Tawhid wa al-Sunnah" (Supporters of monotheism and Sunnah) depicting two German engineers (Thomas Nitzschke and Rene Braeunlich) who were abducted Tuesday in the northern city of Beiji.

Elsewhere Friday, Mohammed al-Waeli, the provincial governor of the southern, predominately-Shiite city Basra, threatened to sever ties with British forces stationed in the area unless those apprehended in a Tuesday raid were immediately released. The British military on Tuesday, along with Danish forces, launched a series of raids throughout Basra arresting at least 14 people, including several senior ranking officers in the city's police department, who they said were allied to closely with local militias.

Shortly after the governor's announcement a bomb exploded in a Basra marketplace killing at least one and injuring three. Witnesses to the blast told the AP a man riding in a police vehicle placed the explosive device in the market.

In other violence around Iraq Friday, two Iraqi policemen were killed and four wounded when a roadside bomb exploded next to their patrol. A subsequent blast in the city killed one Iraqi civilian and injured two additional Iraqi police.

South of the capital, in Youssifiyah, two Iraqi civilians were killed in an IED explosion aimed at a passing U.S. military patrol.

Iraq Watch: January 25, 2006

Prime Minister Candidates Proposed; Clashes Erupt in Ramadi

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Shiite politicians announced that four candidates have been proposed for Iraq's prime minister position in talks currently being held between Shiite, Kurdish, and Sunni political leaders. The discussions, spearheaded by the conservative Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), began Tuesday. The four mentioned for the top spot in Iraq include current Prime Minister and Dawa party leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Hussein al-Shahrastani, SCIRI's Adil Abdul-Mahdi, and Nadim al-Jabiri of the Fadhila party.

Meanwhile, in further violence reported Wednesday, prominent Sunni cleric Karim Jassim Mohammed was shot to death by Iraqi police after he failed to stop at a checkpoint near the northern city of Samarra.

Elsewhere, five bodyguards of Shuja'a al-Saadi, a brigadier general in the Iraqi army, were killed and two injured in a roadside bombing in Ishaaqi, about 80 miles north of the capital.

In the insurgent-infested city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, intense clashes broke out between militants and U.S. forces. Iraqi cameraman Mahmoud Zaal was killed while filming the firefight for Baghdad TV - a television station funded by the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP). At least seven insurgents were killed during the course of two separate engagements in central Ramadi according to the U.S. military. Additionally, two civilians died and three more were wounded after getting caught in the crosshairs.

In attacks against Iraqi security personal, gunmen killed two police officers in the volatile city of Baqouba while another policeman was slain in Baghdad's Shiite slum of Sadr City.

Also Wednesday, the U.S. military announced that a U.S. Marine, assigned to the II MEF, was killed yesterday by enemy small-arms fire in al-Karmah.

Iraq Watch: January 24, 2006

Saddam Trial Postponed

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The resumption of the trial against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was postponed, once again, until Sunday due to disagreement's over the chief judge. Authorities announced yesterday that Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman would fill the spot left vacated by departing chief judge Rizqar Mohammed Amin.

The postponement is yet another set back in a long line of controversy's surrounding the judicial proceedings against the former Iraqi leader and seven co-defendants. All eight defendants are being tried for their alleged roles in the 1982 Dujail massacre in which more than 140 Shiites were executed following an assassination attempt against Hussein.

In ongoing violence Tuesday, two German engineers were abducted near the town of Beiji, located some 155 miles north of Baghdad. The German nationals, who were working for an Iraq state-owned detergent plant, were kidnapped at gunpoint by a group of men wearing Iraqi army uniforms.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the deaths of four U.S. service members on Tuesday. Two MND-Baghdad soldiers died in a roadside bombing yesterday in a southeastern district of the capital. Additionally, two U.S. Marines - assigned to the IIMEF - were killed in a non-hostile vehicle accident on Monday near al-Taqaddum.

To the south, in the predominately Shiite city of Basra, British forces launched a series of raids on Tuesday detaining 14 people, including at least five members of the city's police force. The British military said the raids in Iraq's second largest city were part of an increased effort to crackdown on local militias.

Elsewhere, militants sabotaged a vital oil pipeline west of Kirkuk forcing the line - which exports crude oil to a major terminal in Ceyhan, Turkey - to be shut down, causing oil exportation to be temporally halted. Thick, black smoke could be seen pouring into the air at the site of the explosion.

Iraq Watch: January 18, 2006

U.S. Security Contractors Killed; Bodies Found

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A roadside bomb struck a convoy of U.S. security contractors northwest of Basra on Wednesday killing two U.S. civilians and wounding a third. The contractors from DynCorp were hired to help provide training to Iraq police recruits.

A separate roadside bombing claimed the lives of five Iraqi police in the town of Saadiya, east of Baqouba. Nine policemen were reported injured in the attack.

Meanwhile, an early-morning ambush against a heavily guarded lorry from the cell phone company Iraqna left at least six security personal and three drivers dead. Two Kenyan engineers working for the company were abducted during the skirmish in Baghdad's Nafaq al-Shurta district.

Elsewhere, authorities made several grisly discoveries across Iraq Wednesday. 11 executed bodies were discovered on a farm in Dujail, north of the capital. The men were all shot to death and had Iraqi security identification cards in their possession. South of Baghdad, near Swera, the bloated corpses of five men wearing civilian clothes were spotted floating in the Qaid River. In the capital itself, three men, including Mohammed Sadagi al-Batah - a Sunni relative of Iraq's defense minister - were found shot to death in their Bayaa neighborhood apartment.

Additionally, authorities announced that some 40 people have been slain over the past two days near the northern city of Nibaei. The Washington Post reported that the victims were killed after insurgents set up makeshift checkpoints looking for security personal and government collaborators. The main route through the city has been cordened off since an American helicopter crashed there Monday forcing residents to travel on rural and isolated roads.

On the Saddam Hussein trial front, Sayid al-Hamashi - picked to replace departing Kurdish chief judge Rizgar Amin - has come under scrutiny by some over rumors that he was a member of Saddam's outlawed Baath party. Al-Hamashi, a Shiite, rejects the accusations but a top official from Iraq's Committee for De-Baathification called for al-Hamashi's immediate resignation from his newly assigned post.

Iraq Watch: January 13, 2006

Helicopter Crashes in Mosul; Chief Judge to Step Down

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The U.S. military announced on Friday that an OH-58D Kiowa helicopter crashed near the northern city of Mosul killing the two crewmembers aboard. The cause of the crash is still under investigation although hostile fire is believed to have played a role in the aircraft's downing. The Kiowa is primarily used for reconnaissance and surveillance purposes.

Meanwhile, Reuters is reporting that the chief judge presiding over the landmark trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein plans to resign from his post following the court's next session scheduled for January 24. Judge Rizgar Amin, a Kurd based out of Sulaymaniyah, has become one of the most recognizable faces in Iraqi society for his part in the monumental but often chaotic judicial process. When asked by Reuters why Amin is choosing to step down a source close to the judge would only state because "It [the trial] is too difficult."

In further violence Friday, two Iraqi policemen were killed and five wounded in a car bombing in Baqouba while the executed body of another Iraqi policeman was discovered south of Baghdad on the outskirts of Iskandariya.

Iraq Watch: January 12, 2006

Sunni Politician Denounces al-Hakim's Statement

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Senior Iraqi Sunni politician Saleh al-Mutlaq, head of the National Dialogue Front (NDF), on Thursday denounced yesterday's statement made by SCIRI leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim in which the powerful Shiite cleric asserted that no "substantial" changes to the nations recently ratified constitution would be permitted.

Sunnis, who largely boycotted last January's elections, voted in droves on December 15 with the Shiites assurance that the constitution - which Sunnis overwhelmingly rejected in October's national referendum - was open to changes once Iraq's new parliament convenes in February.

One of the Sunni Arabs main grievances with the constitution is the power federalism has been given. Iraq's vast oil reserves are largely located in the Kurdish northern and Shiite southern regions of the nation. Under a federalist style government the Sunnis, who ruled for decades under dictator and fellow Sunni Saddam Hussein, fear that they will be left isolated in central part of the country without an abundance of natural resources.

Al-Hakim said yesterday during a speech marking the Eid al-Adha holiday: "The first principle is not to change the essence of the constitution. This constitution was endorsed by the Iraqi people." Al-Mutlaq countered Thursday by stating that, "If they do not accept key amendments to the country's new constitution, including the regions issue, then let them work alone and divide the country, as for us we do not accept this."

Iraq Watch: January 9, 2006

Suicide Bombers Strike Iraqi Police Festival

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two suicide bombers disguised as Iraqi police officers attacked a 'National Police Day' ceremony being held at an Interior Ministry building in Baghdad. The festival - which was attended by such high-ranking officials as U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, and Defense Minister Sadoun al-Dulaimi - marked the 84th anniversary of the creation of the Iraqi national police force. None of the notable figures present at the ceremony were wounded as they were seated in a grandstand several hundred yards away from the explosions.

The perpetrators, dressed as a police major and a lieutenant colonel, were able to pass through security checkpoints and make their way into the heavily-fortified compound where they proceeded to detonate their explosive-laden belts killing at least 29 and wounding 18.

The insurgent group al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the bombing through a statement posted on the Internet. Al-Qaida in Iraq said the attack was carried out "to avenge the Sunnis who were subjected to all sorts of torture at the prisons of this ministry."

Meanwhile, the Christian Science Monitor announced that one of its freelance reporter's has been abducted. Jill Carroll, 28, was kidnapped Saturday as she was on her way to interview a prominent Sunni politician in Baghdad's restive al-Adel neighborhood. Carroll's translator, Allan Enwiyah, was killed during the course of the heist. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the incident.

In other violence Monday, a high-ranking Iraqi judge was assassinated in front of his home in the northern, oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Khalid Hazzaa Bayati was gunned down in the town's central Mualimeen district. The militant group Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for the shooting.

Elsewhere, the executed bodies of five unidentified civilians were found in Baghdad late yesterday.

Iraq Watch: January 6, 2006

Shiites Protest After Days of Bloodshed; Six U.S. Soldiers Die

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Nearly 5,000 Shiites protested in the capital city following traditional Friday prayers after two days of bloodshed which has left at least 180 Iraqis dead.

The demonstrators chanted slogans against the U.S. presence in Iraq and prominent Sunni leaders such as Adnan al-Dulaimi and Saleh al-Mutlaq.

The most powerful Shiite religious bloc in the country, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), which is headed by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, issued a statement condemning the U.S. for what they see as restricting Iraq's counterterrorism network. "Not allowing these two ministries (Defense and Interior) to do their job means exposing helpless Iraqis to ruthless terrorists"

The ministry's, one lead by a former Shiite militiaman, have recently come under increased scrutiny following allegations of prisoner abuse and secret detention facilities.

The SCIRI also promised retribution if the attacks against Shiites continued stating that, "They should know that the patience of our people will not last for a long time with these sectarian dirty crimes."

One Shiite cleric at Baghdad's Khadimiya mosque held up an AK-47 during his sermon and shouted, "How long can we remain silent? Terrorists are pampered in Iraq"

Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced the deaths of six U.S. soldiers killed yesterday bringing Thursday's death toll among U.S. service members to 11.

Two Task Force Baghdad soldiers died in a roadside bomb attack on their patrol while two U.S. Marines were killed in separate small-arms fire incidents in the former rebel-bastion city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad. Also, one U.S. Marine and one U.S. soldier, both assigned to the II MEF, were among the causalities in yesterday's massive suicide bombing outside a Ramadi police recruitment center.

In new violence Friday, a suicide car bomber killed one Iraqi police officer in Baghdad while AFP reports that authorities in the capital discovered the executed bodies of 10 people.

Iraq Watch: January 4, 2006

Bloody Day Leaves Dozens Dead

BAGHDAD, Iraq - In one of the deadliest days in recent weeks a series of attacks left over 50 people dead across Iraq on Wednesday.

In the bloodiest assault a suicide bomber detonated himself among a Shiite funeral procession in Muqdadiyah, 60 miles north of Baghdad, killing at least 32 mourners and wounding over 40. Amer Khazim, who attended the funeral, told the AP, "Suddenly, there was a strong sound and we were turned upside down.... I saw many legs and hands flying all over the place."

The funeral was being held for the nephew of Dawa party politician Ahmed al-Bakka who was slain yesterday. The Shiite Dawa party is headed by current Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

Elsewhere, militants armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades ambushed a convoy of some 60 fuel tankers and their Iraqi security escorts, 25 miles north of the capital. Four people were killed in the attack, which left at least 20 tanker trucks destroyed. The prominent insurgent group the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) claimed responsibility for the incident.

Smoldering hulls of trucks littered the roadside on the route from Beiji south to Baghdad.

In the capital city itself, a car bomb rocked an outdoor market in the southern Dora neighborhood killing at least seven and injuring an additional 15. Separately, a car bomb in northern Baghdad left four people dead and 13 wounded. Also in Baghdad, gunmen assassinated a senior member of Iraq's Oil Ministry along with his son in a western district of the city.

Three more people were killed in a car bomb attack in the northern, oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

Iraq Watch: January 3, 2006

Violence Continues; Vote Results Announcment Delayed

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Insurgent violence continued Tuesday as the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) announced that the final vote results from the December 15 parliamentary elections will not be released for another two weeks due to an international investigation into possible voting fraud.

IECI member Safwat Rashid told the AP that final voting tabulations wouldn't be released until the international team completes its meticulous work. Hussein Hindawi, another IECI member, however, said that the commission had completed its own internal investigation into the nearly 2,000 voting complaints - the results of which are expected to be announced on Wednesday.

Preliminary voting tabulations showed the conservative Shiite bloc the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) commanding a large lead overall.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, announced that a Navy F-14 had dropped a precision-guided bomb on three suspected militants holed up in a house near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad. An unmanned surveillance aircraft spotted the individuals earlier planting what appeared to be a roadside bomb. Although the U.S. military did not comment on any possible deaths, local citizens claimed that a family of at least six was killed in the bombing. The air strike stoked the anger of locals in the predominately Sunni town. Hussein al-Falluji, a leader of the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), told Reuters, "Once again the occupiers have shown their barbarism. They never learn from their mistakes... People's resentment is increasing." At least six other houses were damaged in the aerial bombardment according to The Washington Post who put the death toll at 12.

In further bloodshed Tuesday, five people - including three construction workers - were gunned down in two separate incidents in western Baghdad. Elsewhere in the capital, two Interior Ministry bodyguards were slain by insurgents. Also, Tahsin Hadi Ali, a senior official in the Iraqi government auditing body was assassinated as he drove to work on Tuesday.

Iraq Watch: January 2, 2006

Insurgents Launch Attacks as Politicians Seek Coalitions

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Militants launched an array of attacks throughout Iraq on Monday as Iraqi politicians worked to create partnerships for the nations next government.

In the capital city of Baghdad, gunmen attacked a group of day laborers killing five. Also in Baghdad, militants opened fire on the convoy of Turkish ambassador Unal Cevikoz as he traveled on the notorious airport road, also referred to as "Route Irish." No injuries were reported in the incident.

Elsewhere, three policemen were killed and two injured in a gun battle with suspected insurgents in western Baghdad. In southeast Baghdad, meanwhile, police discovered the executed bodies of eight civilians while the body of an Iraqi policeman was found in a western district of the city.

Northeast of the capital in Baqouba, a suicide bomber rammed his car into a bus full of Iraqi police recruits killing at least seven people and wounding 13. In Anbar province, four U.S. civilian contractors died yesterday at the Al Asad Air Base in what is being described by the U.S. military as a "non-hostile vehicle accident." Eighteen other civilians and one U.S. Marine were injured in the incident.

In ongoing political wrangling Monday, top Sunni leaders from the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) met with Kurdistan's President Massoud Barzani and reached a preliminary agreement on a general outline of a national government.

The meeting held in Irbil, however, raised the eyebrows of other Iraqi political figures and groups. Saleh al-Mutlaq of the Sunni National Dialogue Front (NDF) told the AP that his political bloc was "shocked when we heard that our brothers, who signed agreements with us yesterday to discuss just the fraudulent elections with the Kurdish leaders, instead were discussing forming a national unity government."