Militants struck back Sunday in their first major blow against a
US-led security clampdown in Baghdad with car bombings that killed
at least 63 people, left scores injured and sent a grim message to
officials boasting that extremist factions were on the run.?
The attacks in mostly Shiite areas - twin explosions in an
open-air market that claimed 62 lives and a third blast that killed
one - were a sobering reminder of the challenges confronting any
effort to rattle the well-armed and well-hidden insurgents.
Instead, it was the Iraqi commanders of the security sweep
feeling the sting.
Just a few hours before the blasts, Lt. Gen. Abboud Qanbar led
reporters on a tour of the neighborhood near the marketplace that
was attacked and promised to "chase the terrorists out of Baghdad."
On Saturday, the Iraqi spokesman for the plan, Brig. Gen. Qassim
Moussawi, said violence had plummeted by 80 percent in the
capital.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned the bombings as a
desperate act by "terrorists" and "criminals" who sense they are
being squeezed.
"These crimes confirm the defeat of these perpetrators and their
failure in confronting our armed forces, which are determined to
cleanse the dens of terrorism," al-Maliki said in a statement.
US military chiefs have been much more cautious. They have
insisted the security drive, begun last week, may take months to
make clear gains and that counter-punches from militants were
likely every step of the way.
The ones dealt Sunday came from the militants' favored weapon of
the moment: parked cars rigged with explosives.
The first blast tore through a produce market in the mostly
Shiite area of New Baghdad, toppling the wooden stalls and leaving
pools of blood and vegetables trampled in the chaos. Minutes later,
another car bomb exploded near a row of stores.
More than 129 people were injured, including many women who were
shopping, said police and rescue officials who spoke on condition
of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the
media.
Victims were carried to hospitals on makeshift stretchers or in
the arms of rescuers.
Another car bomb in the Shiite enclave of Sadr City left at
least one dead and 10 wounded, police said.
It was by far the deadliest day since the security sweeps began.
On Thursday, a string of car bombs killed seven civilians on the
first full day of the house-to-house searches for weapons and
suspected militants.
The US-led teams have faced limited direct defiance as they set
up checkpoints and comb neighborhoods. But that could change as
they move into more volatile sections of the city. The next could
be Sadr City, a stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia loyal to
radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
US soldiers pressed closer to Sadr City on Sunday and the
reception changed noticeably. In previous days, Shiite families
opened their doors to welcome the troops - feeling that the
American presence would be a buffer against feared attacks from
Sunni militia.
On Sunday, in areas closer to Sadr City, parents slapped away
the candy and lollipops given to children by soldiers.
"The Baghdad security plan is very important to push Iraq
ahead," said Haider al-Obeidi, a parliament member from the Dawa
party of al-Maliki.
The Baghdad crackdown has sent ripples through all corners of
the country. The borders with Iran and Syria - shut for three days
as the plan got under way - reopened Sunday. But new and strict
rules will apply.
Moussawi, the plan's spokesman, was quoted in the Azzaman
newspaper as saying the crossing points to the two nations would be
open for only several hours a day and under "intense
observation."
The United States and allies claim Iraqi militants receive aid
and supplies from Iran, including parts for lethal roadside bombs
targeting US forces. Iran denies any role in trafficking
weapons.
In Buhriz, a Sunni-dominated town about 35 miles north of
Baghdad, US and Iraqi soldiers kicked in doors and scoured homes,
but most dwellings were eerily empty.
Soldiers confiscated new Iraqi army uniforms in a building not
known to house troops, along with a rocket-propelled grenade
launcher and AK-47 magazines. There has been growing suspicion that
militants have posed as Iraqi soldiers in some attacks and
ambushes.
In another house, medical supplies were scattered about - saline
bottles, IV bags, syringes - in what soldiers believe was a
makeshift aid station for insurgents.
In Tehran, Syrian President Bashar Assad held talks with Iranian
leaders, including President Mahmoud Ahamedinejad. The two leaders
are generally on opposing sides of Iraq's sectarian divide: Iran
backs the majority Shiites, and Syria is seen as a key supporter of
Sunnis.
But Iran denied US and Iraqi government reports that the cleric
al-Sadr has crossed over from Iraq. Conflicting reports about his
whereabouts have surfaced for nearly a week.
"No, he is not in Iran," Mohammad Ali Hoseini, spokesman for the
ministry, told journalists during a regular press briefing in
Iran's first comment on the issue. "The report is baseless and a
kind of psychological warfare against Iran by the US to put more
pressure on Iran."
Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army is widely believed to receive Iranian money
and weapons - as do other Shiite groups here - but his political
wing is part of Iraq's US-backed government.
Two more US soldiers have been killed in action, the US military
said. Both were killed Saturday: one by a grenade in a northern
neighborhood of Baghdad; the other from gunfire north of the city,
the military said.
As of Sunday, at least 3,137 members of the US military have
died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according
to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military
civilians. At least 2,514 died as a result of hostile action,
according to the military's numbers.
(China Daily via AP February 19, 2007)
