Gorilla’s Guides

September 1st and 2nd 2007 Reports From Irak Part 2 (September 2nd)

Summary:

The aftermath of the confrontations in Karbala and the subsequent attempt to weaken the Mahdi Army continues apace.

Reports From Baghdad & Environs

Five civilians were killed and nine others wounded today, by a car bomb that exploded in Aden square Kadhmiya/Kazhimiya (north Baghdad)

Tariq Al-Hashmi said in an interview today that Maliki by his actions had demonstrated that he did not have the interests of all Irakis at heart. He went on to say that he doubted if Maliki would respond to the 11 demands and that Maliki should not waste time trying to persuade the Accord Front ministers to return to the government.

Two green zone government soldiers were killed and 8 wounded by a suicide bomber who detonated the bomb in his car close to one of the main gates to the base in Taji.

A gang of three bank robbers who tried to rob the Rafidain bank branch in Al Salaam (Karkh) were captured as they made their attempt.

The Americans say they raided the premises of the government sponsored newspaper Al Sabah and took away the six security guards (including a captain) because they had found that they had “illegal weapons” inside “unlicensed vehicles” parked in the newspaper’s parking lot - and not for any other reason. (See part 1 below)

13 bodies have been recovered in Baghdad - all had been shot and dumped. 8 were found in Karkh and 5 in Rusafa.

Reports From The Governorates

Babil Governorate

Brigadier Abbas al-Jubouri the commander of the “Scorpio” brigade escaped an assassination attempt by gunmen at his home in al-Karama in central Hilla. A civilian who was inside the house at the time was killed. His bodyguards gave chase to the gunmen and captured them they are now being interrogated. 

[Editor’s note: The Scorpio Brigade is made up of 850-900 soldiers in five companies, two of them parachutist units. They are the green zone government Interior Ministry’s shock troops and considered themselves to be elite troops. They report to, and are funded directly by the the green zone government Interior Ministry’s American “advisors.” Their performance when faced with determined opposition is unimpressive. Both during the fighting recently in Samarra and in the fighting around Najaf against the “Warriors of Heaven” they have been forced to call in air support from the Americans (and in Najaf from the British also.) At present many of these troops are taking part in actions around Karbala. Al-Jubbouri´s predecessor  Col. Sallam al-Maamouri was assassinated by a bombing of his office last year. -  Saba Ali]

The director of the Dawa party offices in Iskandariyah was attacked by a bomber near his home in Hittin. Hussein Hassan al-Tamimi who is a captain in the green zone government army survived the attack unharmed as did his family.

A SIIC (SCIRI) organiser in Iskandariyah was attacked by a crowd using clubs and severely injured. Muhammad Hussein al-Khafaji was severely injured in the attack but managed to escape and was taken to hospital.

Basra Governorate

The BBC (Arabic) (English) are running a report that the British are evacuating their last base inside the city. Update: UK MOD Basra Palace handover statement 2 Sep 07

[snip]

Handing over Basra Palace to the Iraqi authorities has long been our intention, as we have stated publicly on numerous occasions. We expect the handover to occur within the next few days. We will announce when the Palace has been handed over once the operation is complete. We will not give a running commentary of the operation.
The Iraqi security forces want to take full responsibility for their own security and the handover is a step towards that goal. The decision is an Iraqi-led initiative and is part of a Coalition-endorsed process and follows the successful handover of several other bases within and around the city.
UK forces will now operate from their base at Basra Air Station, and will retain security responsibility for Basra until we hand over to Provincial Iraqi Control, which we anticipate in the Autumn – but the final timing will depend on whether the conditions for handover have been met. There remain a series of military tasks for our forces to provide in Basra in order to help the Iraqis meet those conditions, including further training of the Iraqi Security Forces, which we will conduct while retaining the capability to intervene in support of the ISF should the security situation demand it.

[snip]

Source: Defence Internet | Defence News | Basra Palace handover statement

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Dahuk Governorate

Iran says it will investigate reports of the bombardment in northern Iraq.

Dhi Qar Governorate

A nurse in the Nasiriyah general hospital was killed by attackers who threw a grenade at his house very early in the morning according to local radio.

Karbala Governorate

The director of the Karbala police, said today Sunday, that the security services in Karbala had arrested more than 400 people suspected of involvement in the confrontations in the city last week. He also said that 10 members of the security services in the town were killed, 21 were wounded, and 16 police cars set ablaze. (See Anti-Mahdi Army Drive Underway below)

Najaf Governorate

300g of TNT was discovered behind a university hall in Kufa.

Sheikh Salah Al Obeidi has warned the Maliki regime of “unexpected decisions” if it does not carry out the independent impartial investigation of the confrontations in Karbala. The Sadrists have also accused the Maliki regime of unlawfully killing a large number of JAM members. (See Anti-Mahdi Army Drive Underway below.

Qadisiyyah Governorate

Three bodies have been found, one of them of a 12 year old boy. All had been shot. Two of the bodies were discovered in Diwaniyah and one 80Km north of the city.

Wasit Governorate

A contractor and a translator working for the American base outside Kut were shot in al-Hurrah (central Kut) as they returned home from work. The contractor was killed the translator wounded.

Police said in Wasit said a policeman was killed and another injured, on Sunday afternoon, by sniper fire aimed at their patrol southeast of Kut.

Indexed under: Badr Brigade, Baghdad, Basrah, Bombings, Children, Dahuk (Dohuk) (Governorate), Death Squads, Dhi Qar (Governorate), Diwaniyah, Jaish al-Mahdi, Joint Postings, Karbala, Mahdi, Mahdi Army, Militia, Najaf, SIIC (Formerly SCIRI), Wasit, Women and Children