Iraq Watch: October 13, 2006

Iraqi "SWAT" Commander Assassinated

In the southern city of Hillah a bomb hidden in the offices of a respected Iraqi Interior Ministry commander killed him along with a top aide early Friday morning.

Col. Salam al-Maamouri, leader of Iraq's Scorpion police battalion, was killed when a bomb placed underneath his desk exploded Friday morning at Hillah's police headquarters.

The 35-year-old al-Maamouri was respected for his secular approach to law enforcement; a rarity in a war-torn nation dominated by sectarian militias and insurgent groups.

Also south of Baghdad, gunmen executed eight females harvesting vegetables at a farm outside the town of Saifiya. Two other women were abducted in the attack.

Elsewhere, north of the capital, authorities discovered 14 decapitated corpses in Duluiyah. The victims were believed to be among a group of Shiite workers abducted yesterday near Balad.

Meanwhile, a suicide bombing near Tal Afar left three Iraqi soldiers dead and three others wounded.

In another development Friday, a purported Sunni insurgent issued a video message lambasting the Mujahideen Shura Council and pleading with al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden to replace the organization's Iraq leader with a native Iraqi.

There have long been reports regarding dissent amongst the various insurgent groups operating in Iraq, however this is the first time a public message chastising the group has been issued.

The current emir, or leader, of the Mujahideen Shura Council Abu Ayyub al-Masri, took over the leadership reigns from the Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who was killed June 7 in a U.S. air strike.