MAJOR MILITANTS ATTACK SHATTERED BAGHDAD

 

A series of apparently co-ordinated blasts in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, on Tuesday 11/02/2010, at about 18:15 local time, have killed at least 76 people, officials said.

 

More than 280 people were wounded in 16 attacks, which appeared to target Shiaa areas. The attack bears the hallmark of violence against Shiites, meant to spark sectarian tension in Iraq typical to Al Qaeda in Iraq. “Ten cars exploded with bombs inside them. There were also four roadside bombs and two sticky bombs,” Major General Qassim al-Moussawi, a Baghdad security spokesman said later at night. At least seven neighborhoods were targeted by Tuesday night’s explosions, some of which detonated near cafes or restaurants. A salvo of mortars was fired in one area in the south-west of the city (see also – Baghdad 09.19.10).

 

The attack comes after at least 52 people were killed in Baghdad on Sunday as police stormed a church where hostages were being held (see – Karada 11.01.10). The funerals for the victims of Sunday’s attack had only just been carried out as the explosions went off.  The incident is the first concerted show of force by insurgents for months.

 

Large-scale attacks have become much less frequent than they were a few years ago, as insurgents find it harder to get hold of materials needed for explosive devices. Official figures show October 2010 had the lowest level of violence in a year, but people are still dying violently somewhere in Iraq every day.

 

Summary

 

The Iraqi police, the army, security and intelligence institutions are going through division and reformation in accordance to sectarian affiliation. Furthermore, the Awakening Councils, basically Sunni militias who were so crucial in defeating Al Qaeda in Iraq, which were supposed to integrate into the Iraqi establishment, were largely marginalized by the prominent Shiaa Iraqi regime. Some of them already threatened to rejoin the Sunni insurgency in Iraq (see -Diyala 06.06.10). Altogether severely undermined the capabilities of the Iraqi mainly Shiaa security forces to be effective in the Iraqi Sunni population.

 

There is also growing frustration in Iraq, especially among Sunnis, of IRAQ’S Standoff and a genuine fear that Iraq is sliding toward Iranian protection (see – ETHNIC IRAQ).        

 

Giving the scale of the attack, the needed logistics, preparation and coordination there is no doubt that the group contained well over 100 people and with the cycle of collaborators and supporters maybe over 300 people were involved, somehow and somewhere over the last few weeks in the procedure. During the preparations a large quantity of explosives was smuggled to Baghdad. All that activity was not detected by the Iraqi security apparatuses. It will be no big surprise if it will emerge that some elements from the former Awakening Councils collaborated and facilitated the multiple attack.

 

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  11/2010 -A BLOW FOR SAUDIA


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  10/2010 -IRAQ LEANING TOWARD IRAN


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  08/2010 – BIDEN IN IRAQ AGAIN TO FORME UNITY


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  03/2010 -IRAQ’S POLL RESULTS TO DESTABILIZE IRAQ  

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