Gorilla’s Guides

Green Zone Posturing:

Maliki and Bush spoke by closed circuit television. Bush told Maliki that everything was a great success Maliki agreed.

 Gordon Brown, Tony Blair’s replacement as British Prime Minister as poodle in chief wrote to his Iraki counterpart asking if the biscuits doled out by Bush always tasted of turd and assuring him of his “support”. The Maliki pooch said to the outgoing British Ambassador to the green zone to tell the Blair replacement that they generally tasted worse than that and thanked him for caring. Maliki also met the American war criminal Petraeus and the American Ambassador viceroy who patted him and told him everything was going really well and to wait outside while they decided what to do next.

The green zone government defense ministry denied reports that General Babacar Zebari and nine of his officers resigned their commissions on Tuesday over policy differences. The reports appeared in Kudish media - general Zebari is a Kurd.

Maliki (as well as going to Tehran - see yesterday’s report) is scheduled to visit the Turkish capital of Ankara to discuss “matters of mutual interest”. What Maliki is most interested in is that the Turks have a large army on the border and have been shelling PKK positions as well as conducting snatch raids across the border to the displeasure of his Kurdish separatist allies. The green zone government sent a note of protest to the Turks about this - the Turks were so impressed that they continued shelling and mounted further raids. Readers are invited to judge for themselves how impressed the Turkish government and army are likely to be by the presence of Nouri Al Maliki and his “iron fists” in their capital.

Iyad Allawi’s bloc is considering quitting the green zone government headed by Nouri Al Maliki. They are the 4th largest bloc in the green zone “parliament.” Kurdish separatist politician and green zone government “president” President Jalal Talabani, said that he was going to start a new and comprehensive round of talks to find a way out of the current crisis. He said this during his meeting with the outgoing British ambassador to the green zone government who successfully did not fall asleep while Talabani was going through his tired old routine.

Two employees of the green zone government Interior Ministry are sentenced to 15 years in prison after they were convicted on charges of embezzling money. The amounts they embezzled were 598 million and 516 thousand dinars.

Reports From Baghdad & Environs

Security incidents in Baghdad and the governorates are after the jump.

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O God! Pardon our living and our dead, the present and the absent, the young and the old, the males and the females.

There will be no posting today — funerals

Khalil

O God! Pardon our living and our dead, the present and the absent, the young and the old, the males and the females.

There will be no posting tonight.

Maryam

Summary:

Bombing casualties have soared in Baghdad today. Gunmen in police uniforms have kidnapped a group of Westerners. 10 U.S. soldiers were reported killed. The campaign to isolate vulnerable American outposts has intensified. The Sadrists have rejected the American-Iranian talks as illegitmate and an interference in Iraki affairs.

Scenes from An Iraki Childhood 1:

A child waits in Imam Ali hospital as his father receives emergency treatent. His father was wounded into today’s bombing of the fruit and second-hand garment markets in Sahat al-Tayaran Central Baghdad.

Baghdad Bombings and Abductions

The car bomb that exploded today targeting the fruit and second-hand garment markets in the Sahat al-Tayaran district of central Baghdad, killed 22 and wounded 15 . (ارتفاع حصيلة ضحايا مفخخة حى العامل الى 37 قتيلا وجريحا ) See also this earlier report (انفجار سيارة مفخخة في ساحة الطيران وسط بغداد)

Casualties from the truck bombing of the mosque and Husseiniyah in al-Amil are still rising. It is known that a minimum of 25 are dead and 75 wounded. Many of them are women and children. The bomb targetted people as they left the mosque after prayers. Additionally many buildings in the immediate vicinity have been severely damaged and some have collapsed. People are still trying to dig these unfortuantes out from the wreckage of their homes.  (الشرطة : انفجار حي العامل استهدف حسينية الائمة وخلف 100 قتيل وجريح )

 The AMS denounced the bombing of the al-Kilani mosque in a statement today. The statement called on Irakis to exercise restraint, transcend the pain, and thus deny criminals the opportunities they seek to foment sectarianism .(هيئة علماء المسلمين تدين تفجير مرقد الشيخ الكيلاني وسط بغداد وتدعو إلى ضبط النفس )

Baghdad Kidnappings

Initial reports said that armed men kidnapped three foreign experts (computing lecturers) working in the Ministry of Finance in East Baghdad ( مسلحون يختطفون ثلاثة خبراء اجانب شرقي بغداد ) The reports said that the the three  were abducted in Palestine Street in east Baghdad at gunpoint and taken to an unknown destination.

The German government said it was not immediately able to substantiate Iraqi police reports that the experts were German. The British have now confirmed that 5 of their citizens were abducted. One computer expert and 4 British mercenaries who were acting as a security detail were abducted during the raid.

Al-Sadr Rejects American/Iranian Talks

as expected Muqtada Al-Sadr (الصدر يرفض المباحثات الأمريكية الإيرانية ويعتبرها تدخلا في شؤون العراق) has rejected the American-Iranian talks as illegitimate. In a statement issued by his office he said that such talks were ”interference in Iraqi affairs” and said that the presence of Iraqi representative did not give the talks ”a legitimate cover.”

The statement talks issued after his meeting with the governors of Karbala, Najaf, and Kut, in Najaf, called on the Iraki people to reject such negotiations and to make their rejection clear. In a clear reference to AL-Maliki and his party he also criticised those Irakis who reject the American withdrawal from Iraq, saying that  ”they often forget or ignore [their duty], in such negotiations, to ask the occupier to leave”

Earlier in the day Sheikh Muhanned al-Gharawi, acting as Muqtada al-Sadr’s addressed a conference of tribal leaders in Baghdad. The conference formulated a demand for the Arab League, the OIC (Organisation of the Islamic Conference) and the UN to call for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

Other Political Developments Al-Hafiz Quits Allawi’s Parliamentary Bloc

Dr. Mahdi Al-Hafiz, a member of the House of Representatives from the Iraqi List run by Iyad Allawi announced his departure from the list. Hafiz filled the post of Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation in Allawi’s interim government.( لحافظ يعلن انسحابه من القائمة العراقية والعمل كمستقل )

Al Anbar Governorate

The bridge linking al-Amiriya and al-Khalidiya (30 km southwest of Fallujah) was blown up today. (مسلحون ينسفون جسرا في الفلوجة )

Salah ad Din Governorate - Assasination Attempt

The deputy governor of Salah ad Din Governorate escaped a bomb attack on his convoy east of Tikrit.  during the detonation of an explosive device on his car east of Tikrit. The bomb caused no casualties. (نجاة نائب محافظ صلاح الدين من هجوم بعبوة ناسفة )

Diyala Governorate - Eight American Soldiers Killed In Shoot Down and Ambush

The American invader army said, today Tuesday, that eight of its soldiers were killed in two separate incidents in Diyala northern Iraq.

The American Army statement added that two of the soldiers were killed by the crash of a military helicopter  on Monday, in Diyala northern Iraq, and that investigations are still going.  The statement further said that six of American soldiers were killed and others injured, (their number has not been determined,) by an explosive device that targeted their patrol in the Diyala governorate. (الجيش الأمريكي يعلن مقتل ثمانية من جنوده في حادثين منفصلين شمال بغداد )  

Update - 2 further deaths:

A further two killings of American soldiers have been announced.

Diyala Other Incidents

Ten mortar shells fell Tuesday morning, on a Iraqi National Guard checkpoint in a village in al-Ghalibiya (near Hibhib) close to Al Khalis . The bombardment was was followed by a concentrated attack by gumnen. The greenzone government forces are known to have taken casualties but there numbers are not yet known  (شهود: قتلى وجرحى بقصف موقع عسكري وإشتباكات جنوبي هبهب )

Two brothers were shot dead as they worked in their garden in Al-Khalis (مسلحون يقتلون شقيقين في هجوم بالخالص )

The Baqubah public hospital received 21 unidentified bodies on Tuesday. All had been tortured and shot in the head with their hands and legs tied,The number of unidentified bodies increased this month to more than 50 mostly of men and young men kidnapped by armed groups at (fake) checkpoints. (العثور على 21 جثة وعودة ظاهرة الجثث المجهولة في ديالى )

Ninawa

Three armed men who were riding in a car who attempted to attack a green zone government patrol west of Mosul were killed when the force responded with return fire.  (مقتل ثلاثة مسلحين فى اشتباكات غرب الموصل ) Two police officers were killed and three others were injured by an explosive device that targeted their patrol the city of Sharqat (80 km south of Mosul). A body of an unkonwn person who had been tortured and shot was recovered. (مقتل واصابة خمسة من الشرطة بإنفجار عبوة في الشرقاط ) U.S. aircraft bombarded the al-Islah al-Ziraaie neighborhood, southwest of Mosul, on Monday night, seriously wounding a woman and three men,” Brig. Abdul-Kareem al-Juburi, director of the Ninewa police command’s operations room said in a statement. (الطائرات الامريكية تقصف حيا سكنيا وتجرح اربعة مدنيين في الموصل )

Karbala

The security camera system covering the centre of Karbala and sensitive targets is now operational. Images can be retained for up to three months should they be needed for investigations. (شرطة كربلاء تنصب كاميرات لمراقبة مركز المدينة )

Death Penalty Implemented

The Ministry of Interior of the Kurdistan Regional government announced that it had carried out the death sentences of four of the defendants found guilty of killing 15 peshemrga police trainees in a bomb attack on the police academy in the city of Irbil in 2005. (إعدام أربعة متهمين بأعمال “إرهابية” في كردستان ) See also: (الحكم بالاعدام على ثلاثة مدانين بعمليات القتل والخطف في واسط )

Basrah

A  man and his son were killed and their driver injured Tuesday at the hands of unidentified gunmen in downtown Basra. Witnesses said that  gunmen opened fire on a young man riding in a taxi in the city centre. (مقتل رجل وإبنه وإصابة سائقهما وسط البصرة )

The dawn bombardment of the Joint Coordination Center building (in al-Haikimiya, central Basrah)   wounded two policemen.  Capt. Munther Rahim was ambushed and shot dead in  al-Jumhuriya on Monday evening (Rahim used to work as director of a criminal intelligence department in Basrah.) An attack in al-Qibla, (8 km west of the Basrah killed another policeman. ( مقتل ضابط في الاستخبارات وإصابة ثلاثة من أفراد الشرطة في البصرة )  

Wasit Bodies

5 bodies all showing signs of torture and one of which had been beheaded were taken from the river in al-Mualimin neighborhood in Suwayrah. (انتشال خمس جثث من نهر دجلة قرب الصويرة )

Today’s posting is a joint posting by Mohammed Ibn Laith and markfromireland it covers main events only. Our thanks to Raed Al-Bayati for his assisitance. 

Mohammed Ibn Laith
Al-Sadriya,
Baghdad,
Irak. 

and markfromireland.

The series of bombings in Baghdad and Diyala have caused carnage. There has been a very large number of attacks, bombings, bodies found, and rocket/mortar attacks throughout Iraq today. Due to severe time constraints tonight’s report concentrates deals only with the main bombings. Only one of many other noteworthy report is described below.

Updated: See Updated mclatchy report @ end of posting - markfromireland

Ashurra:

Religious authorities in Najaf have issued a call for the anniversary of the Samarra bombing to be an occasion of national unity, reconciliation, and rejection of sectarianism.

Baghdad:

The massive bombings in central Baghdad are the main story of the day. So far there have been three updates posted, mostly of increases to the toll of dead and wounded. At the time of writing the toll from these two bombings alone was:

1. At least 115 dead.
2. At least 170 wounded

The bombs at Saadoun St. in al-Bab al-Sharqi exploded in sequence at 12:30 and 12:32 and were cascaded - timed to cause panic, maximum devastation, and casualties amongst those present. The location in one of the busiest parts of central Baghdad is important to understand not only the scale of devastation but the purpose of the attacks:

• There are two markets involved, the area is predominantly Shia but what is important is that the markets involved are so important that their customers come from all over Baghdad and are a mix of both Sunni and Shia.
  1. al-Haraj.
  2. al-Sanak
• Both markets are close to al-Tahrir Square and Tayaran squares.
• The al-Haraj bomb was in a parked car it exploded at 12:30.
• The al-Sanak bomb exploded two minutes later as the driver drove into the milling crowd .

The carnage and devastation are described as “appalling” and the damage to shops in al-Sanak in particular is extensive. Al-Sanak is always crowded and was the market from which traders and customers were kidnapped by men “in police uniforms” on December 14th last. Laith who knows the area well discussed this in his report on that incident which you can find here on our previous site:

Al-Sanak market is specialising in car spare parts. But it is not just a market. The merchants there are many of them very skilled mechanics and the area is a mix of workshops and shops. It is therefore a mix of shops and industry zone. And it is always very busy. The men who work there are a mix of Sunni and Shia.

The shrine of Abdul Qader al-Kilani is nearby, there is a green zone government army checkpoint nearby. From the scale of destruction and loss of life at least 100kg of very powerful explosives were used in each bombing. No statements even attempting an explanation as to how such massive bombs were able to be planted at the scene in an area heavily patrolled and checkpointed by green zone government troops has been forthcoming from the green zone government. Today’s press conference from the green zone government spokesman obediently concentrated on denunciations of Iraq’s neighbours and threats to use “the economic card” against them.

The first bomb in al-Haraj was devastating. People present at the bombing spoke afterwards of body parts flying through the air and of people fleeing in panic. The second bomb exploded two minutes later. As well as causualties caused by the bombing itself several people were crushed by panicing survivors desperate to escape the area in case a third bomb was present. The second bombing was on a similar scale. Survivors immediately started to bring the wounded to hospitals using taxis, private cars, and delivery vans, others brought coprses to the morgue. A medical state of emergency has been declared. There are desperate appeals being broadcast for blood donors. Many of the wounded are not expected to survive. Pieces of the dead are still scattered at the bombing scenes and are being picked up and put into plastic bags for disposal.

Analysis:

Despite the area being predomninantly Shia and the fact that the attack was by Sunni attackers it would be unwise to categorise this as a purely a sectarian attack. It is part of the broader continuing campaign first to cut off Baghdad from its hinterland and secondly to prevent the city from functioning to undermine what remains of the green zone government’s authority. I Expect many more such attacks on these markets the current campaign started with last month’s similarly massive suicide bomber attack. My concern about this is that this represents part of a counter surge. Should there be successful similalry massive attacks on Sadr city the effects will be profound.

Reports used (All are in Arabic): Update 3, Update 2, Update 1, Preliminary Report

Baghdad (other bombings and incidents)

The American led “sweeps” of al-Aazamiya in Northern Baghdad continue.

Diyala

A bombing of the vegetable market in al-Khalis killed 12 and wounded 40. The bomb was hidden in packaging close to or on a stall in the market. Once the bomb had exploded the market came under mortar fire.

Analysis:

The coordinated nature of this attack and the attack in Baqubaah described immediately below shows growing confidence and military sophistication on the part of the attackers. While the American occupation army and green zone government commanders for the province made statements to the press today detailing how security in the governorate had improved and were painting in broad and glowing terms the closeness of their cooperation their successes thus far and scope of their future operations gunmen in Baqubaah took over the main government building in Baqubaah looted it and then blew it up. The explosion was so massive that chunks of the building landed a considerable distance from the scene. The mayor of the town was abducted during the operation. His fate is “unknown.”

Remnants of Army Munitions Dump Finally Cleared

The few remaining contents of the army ammunition dump at Abdullah Ibn Alii, 15 kilometers south of Qal’at Salih have been transferred out of the province for disposal. [Acording to local reports very little remains - markfromireland.]

Other Reports Readings And Analyses:

The analysis below by Willian S. Lind provides further context:

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