On Tuesday, August 14th, a bridge linking Baghdad to northern Iraq collapsed when a bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle at a central section. Over ten people were killed as their cars plummeted into the water. Also on Tuesday,"more than 50 gunmen dressed in Iraqi security forces uniforms and using 17 official vehicles broke into an Oil Ministry compound in eastern Baghdad Tuesday and abducted a senior deputy of the oil minister, and four other officials".
On August 11th, a roadside bomb killed the governor and police chief of the southern Iraqi province of Qadisiya.
US troops levels are currently ramped up as part of a "surge" that the US had advertised as a way to reduce violence and help bring about political stability. The US military has announced a new offensive against what it claims to be “Iranian-supported extremist elements” within Iraq’s Shiite population and the White House has leaked reports that it plans to classify a branch of the Iranian military as a terrorist group. Iraqi's ruling SCIRI party has a militia called the Badr Brigade that was trained and supplied by Iran before the fall of Saddam , but it is more likely the US is referring to the Sadrist movement, which was fully Iraqi in origin.
Day 1567 in Iraq | Thousands of Sadrists Protest Arrests | Iraqi Politics in Tatters, One Month Before Report | Four US Troops Killed PKK Threatens Iraq, Turkey | Iraqi women: Prostituting ourselves to feed our children | Four British soldiers killed in Basra | Why Soldiers aren't Terrorists: Escalation with IranGet Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.