Gorilla’s Guides

Incidents In Irak May 14th 2007 - Summarised from Arabic

The electricity ministry is planning to install diesel generators in Baghdad - technical teams and engineers are currently undertaking maintenance work in many of Baghdad’s districts to repair electricity lines and supply electricity to all districts, particularly to Al-Karkh. Four weeks ago the ministry conducted a test in Baghdad al-Jadidah’s al-Mualimeen district by offering every house a 10 - ampere electricity connection in an attempt to reduce power consumption. The ministry said that if it proved successful, the rest of Baghdad’s areas would be included in the test.

(Baghdad is divided into two sides: the west, called Karkh, and the east, called Rasafa/Rusafa.

See these postings:

1. Dividing Baghdad?
2. Dividing Baghdad - Revisited )

Basra Danes: 

A Danish soldier was killed and five others were wounded when an explosive device was detonated near their vehicle patrol north of Basra, the Danish Ministry of Defence said on Monday, while a police source said that British forces freed three Danish servicemen, whom were kidnapped earlier by unidentified gunmen.

“A Danish soldier was killed and five others were injured when a bomb exploded near a Danish patrol north of Basra,” Danish Chief of Staff said on the Ministry of Defense Denmark website.

Meanwhile, a security source, who preferred not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) by telephone, that “a Danish patrol was attacked by a roadside bomb in al-Karama* region , north of Basra.”

“Unidentified gunmen arrested three Danish soldiers after the blast,” said the source and added,” British forces managed to free the captured soldiers after they found them inside in a nearby house.”

The Spokeswoman for the Multi-National forces in southern Iraq Captain Katie Brown said in a phone call “the situation is very complicated and we so far have nothing to say.”

Eyewitnesses said earlier that two civilians were killed and two others were wounded on Monday in clashes between Multi-National Forces and gunmen north of Basra.

“An explosive charge went off near a Danish vehicle patrol this afternoon in al-Latif region, ” an eyewitness from al-Latif town told the (VOI), noting that the patrol was attacked by Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs).

He added “fierce clashes flared up between the Danish soldiers and gunmen and the shootout left two students dead and injured two others.”

While another eyewitness said that eleven British and Danish soldiers stormed a house during the clashes to arrest the attacked gunmen.

“A large number of gunmen attacked the house and held all soldiers inside” he said, noting that a British force, backed by choppers, managed to free all soldiers, except three, whom were taken by the gunmen to unknown place.

A senior security source who preferred not to be named earlier told VOI that unidentified gunmen kidnapped three Danish soldiers belonging to the Multi-National Force (MNF) in Basra after they attacked a Danish patrol with an explosive device in the area of al-Latif, 15 km north of Basra.

The source did not reveal whether there were casualties from the two sides’ ranks and no comments have been made by the MNF so far.

Denmark has a 460-man contingent deployed in southern Iraq as part of the MNF.
Basra is 550 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad

Source: Aswat al Iraq Basra-Danes-Update 3 (English) 

Secondary Sources: Basra-Danes-Update 2 (English) Source: Basra-Danes-Update 2 (Arabic)

*Al-Latif - Omar

British forces were subsequently attacked.

Gunmen raid schools in Khalis for second day running

By Omran Awwad
Khalis (Diala), May 14, (VOI) – A group of unidentified gunmen stormed several schools in the district of al-Khalis, Diala province, and threatened to bomb them if they did not close the schools down, school teachers in Khalis said.
“The gunmen expelled all the students and teachers from the schools of al-Insaniya and Mustafa Jawwad in the eastern part of the city,” teachers told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) on condition of anonymity.
Gunmen had also raided a number of schools on Sunday in Khalis, which lies 55 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
A teacher told VOI the gunmen “withdrew slowly and got into their vehicles without any interference on the part of the Iraqi security or army forces deployed at the entrances and exits tp the city.”
Unidentified gunmen had attacked the al-Khuwaylis elementary school, 4 km south of Khalis, and executed teacher Jaafar al-Aanbaki and his wife, both colleagues from the same school, by shooting them in the head before the students.

Source: Aswat al Iraq (English) 

A slightly fuller version in Arabic is here. 

(See posting: Thousands flee upsurge in violence in Diyala province - immediately below - Omar)

Other Violent Developments:

Three policemen were killed in an attack in Baqubah an American raid and search in Muqdadiyah  resulted in the arrest of 15 suspects.

(Nouri Al Maliki says the surge in violence is because of fruit farms (see end of posting))

Two American soldiers were killed and two others wounded in Anbar and Salah al-Din on Sunday, Four thousand American troops are searching for the three soldiers abducted during an attack by gunmen two days ago south of Baghdad according to an American army statement.

In Baghdad Three Sadrist MPs were detained in the Green Zone close to the parliament by Occupation forces. (English report here ) 

A car bomb driven by a suicide bomber targeted the checkpoint in al-Liqah square checkpoint operated by the Green Zone National Guard, killing two soldiers killed and 4 wounded.

A roadside bomb this afternoon, targeting an American patrol in Al-Amel neighborhood in western Baghdad destroyed a Hummer there are known to be casualties but their number is as yet unknown.

An ambush involving a bombing targeted an American armoured patrol as it entered the base in Rustamiya (south-east Baghdad) one armoured vehicle was directly hit and completely destroyed.

The bombing in the busy Maryam market that targeted an Iraqi police patrol in Zafaraniya, (southern Baghdad, killed one civilian and wounded 13 others, including four policemen.

A car bomb parked inside a garage in al-Karrada, (central Baghdad,) killed one man and wounded four others. A car rigged with explosives went off a short time later in Palestine street, eastern Baghdad, killing one man and injuring three others.

American forces have killed a commissioner in the Iraqi police in Abu Disheer, a suburb south of Baghdad. An American patrol opened fire on commissioner Kazim and killed him on the spot. He had received a call from from  families in  Abu Disheer, a suburb of Doura asking him to assist in the transfer of cases to a nearby hospital.

Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Monday afternoon on civilians in a minibus in al-Mekanik southern Baghdad, killing eight passengers and injuring four the wounded were taken to al-Yarmouk Hospital in Baghdad

In Wasit two civilians were shot dead 4 bodies one of them of a woman were recovered in Kut. The demonstrations by Wasiti farmers protesting that they cannot gather the harvest because of a lack of fuel continued today.

Six unidentified bodies have been found in different parts of Fallujah.

Gunmenn forced patrons to leave the internet cafe in central Fallujah at approximately 17:00 hours and set fire to the premises.

In Maysan a former member of the dissolved Baath Party was killed in central Amara by unidentified gunmen. ( There is a version of this report on Aswat al Iraq in English)

Also in Maysan In Talafar a bomb planted in al-Abadiya, south of the district Talafar, killed the two civilians who were passing nearby according to a statement by Brig. Ibrahim Jassem al-Juburi.

In Al Qaidisiyah’s capital an intelligence branch officer and a soldier were killed in two separate sniper attacks in Diwaniyah, 3 civilians were killed by a bomb.

Two bodies were found in Mosul.

Prime Minister blames surge in violence to ’orchards’

By Laith Jawad

Azzaman, May 14, 2007

The escalation in attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces as well as the upsurge in violence particularly in the Province of Diyala is due to “the great number of orchards’, according to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

The Iraqi branch of al-Qaeda has intensified attacks on U.S. troops and is reported to be in control of several major cities in the central and northern parts of the country.

The Province of Diyala of which Baaquoba is the provincial center has turned into one of the group’s most fortified strongholds.

Thousands of families are fleeing Baaquoba as well as other areas and for some there is almost nowhere to go.

Violence has in fact surged in Iraq since U.S. and Iraqi forces began their security campaign to subdue Baghdad almost three months ago.

As the troops focused their attention on subduing Baghdad, the outlying towns and villages in addition to several other areas fell to Qaeda.

The rebels have opted not to confront U.S. troops directly and are reported to have withdrawn to other provinces especially Diyala.

But despite the reported withdrawals, U.S. and Iraqi forces are far from having Baghdad under control with the rebels still having the upper hand in several neighborhoods.

Maliki has announced the formation of a joint operations room in Diyala to coordinate military and security moves.

The parliament had decided to summon Maliki, the Minister of Defense Mohammed al-Ubaidi and the Minister of Interior Jawad al-Bolani to question them about the spiral in violence despite the ongoing military operations.

Source: Azzaman in English

There is of course another possible explanation:

Maliki’s government is to blame

By Fatih Abdulsalam

The failure to acknowledge that the government of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki is part of Iraq’s problem turns any project to rebuild the country and combat terrorism into something like a cheap dream.

The performance of this government has made Iraqi monitors to see no light at the end of the tunnel for the country.

The U.S. has augmented the false fancy some still entertain about Maliki’s government by deploying incredible capabilities to save it but to no avail.

The Iraqi government lives in total isolation as ordinary Iraqis are facing their crises and tragedies on their own. We will not be far away from truth to say that these tragedies are a creation of this failed government.

But does Maliki realize that one day Washington will be obliged to dump him and halt the excessive and boundless support for his government?

This is a government which has had no achievement. Can the government tell Iraqis how many hospitals it has built and how many hospitals it has destroyed? How many bridges it has constructed and how many bridges it destroyed? How many power plants it has built and how many others it has destroyed?

This is a government without record or memory. Reliable statistics and transparency are not part of its business. Therefore it has no idea of how many innocent Iraqis have been killed and how many others have been kidnapped or how many have been displaced.

The government is very skillful when it comes to providing cover for the criminal militias it supports.

Reconstruction and development are not part of its business. Rampant corruption, kidnapping, killing and bombing do not concern it so long as the death squads it backs remain active.

It is shocking to see the tasks of Iraqi troops and police concentrated solely on picking up young Iraqis and putting them behind bars without trial.

This is a sectarian government for which favoritism, corruption, crime and embezzlement are the norm.

Source: Azzaman in English

Indeed there is more than one possible factor:

Armed groups ‘breeding like mushroom’ in Baghdad despite U.S. campaign

Azzaman, May 9, 2007

Baghdad inhabitants say the presence of armed groups has intensified since the start of U.S. military operations to pacify the city more than two months ago.

More and more armed groups are springing up in Baghdad, they say, and restive quarters like Doura and Ghazaliya have turned into major insurgent strongholds.

The Ministry of Interior which plays a big hand in the current operations targeting armed and rebel groups in the city would not comment on reports on the escalation of the number of armed in the city.

But a ministry source, refusing to be named, said, “The security forces are striking with a fist of iron all the hatcheries of armed groups in various areas (of Baghdad) and the provinces by capturing many of them every week.”

But Baghdad residents have different stories to tell.

Kadhem Abedsada who has been forced to flee al-Ghazaliya district, said security conditions have aggravated since the government began its security plan.

“I have never seen such a wide presence of armed groups before. Their hideouts dot al-Ghazaliya and they are breeding like mushroom.

“They call themselves resistance but they kill and kidnap on identity cards and ask for massive ransoms,” Abedsada said.

A woman, refusing to be named, said her husband was abducted by armed men who forced their way into their house in the violent neighborhood of Saydiya.

“My husband was kidnapped from our home in Saydiya by an unidentified armed group. They entered our house, handcuffed my husband and took away our money and jewelry.

“Then they asked for $30,000 as a ransom but later reduced it to $20,000 when I told them they had already taken almost all what we had.

“After paying the ransom, they released my husband on condition that we immediately evacuate the neighborhood and so did we,” said the woman, who only spoke on condition of anonymity.

Abu Ahmad from al-Jamia neighborhood said their areas had turned into hideouts for armed groups.

“Armed groups operate and act with impunity. They can do whatever they want as there are no Iraqi security forces in most of our neighborhood.

“Occasionally, U.S. troops storm certain areas and arrest some people most of whom are innocent,” Abu Ahmad said.

Conditions in Amiriya neighborhood have also worsened since U.S. and Iraqi forces launched their security plan.

Hadi Mahmoud said many residents in Amiriya now fear leaving their homes and a trip outside the neighborhood is for many ‘a journey to certain death.’

“We cannot leave our areas and our homes. Our neighborhood looks almost deserted apart from the sight of armed groups brandishing their weapons and wandering freely in the streets,” said Mahmoud.

Source: Azzaman in English

Fruit farms, what a novel explanation.

Omar Khdhayyir

Indexed under: Al Anbar (Governorate), Al-Qādisiyyah - Governorate, Amarah, Baghdad, Baqubah, Basrah, bomb, bombing, Bombings, Briefings, Car bomb, Children, Diwaniyah, Diyala, Follow Up, Khalis, Kut, Maryam (Market Zafaraniya), Maysan (Governorate), Mosul, Ninawa (Governorate), Tal Afar, Wasit, Women and Children, Yarmouk Hospital