IRAQ: BOMBER KILLS 27 IN BAGHDADAccording to the Iraqi police,
27 people were killed by a suicide bomber in Baghdad on Wednesday morning at about 10:50 a.m. (local time). The kamikaze apparently approached a US military convoy that was engaged in a peaceful operation with many
Iraqi children.
The US Maj. Russ Goemaere explained what happened in a statement:
"The car bomber made a deliberate decision to attack one of our vehicles as the soldiers were engaged in a peaceful operation with Iraqi citizens," said Goemaere adding the following comment,
"The terrorist undoubtedly saw the children around the Humvee as he attacked. The complete disregard for civilian life in this attack is absolutely abhorrent."
In
another blast occurred in the capital's Green Zone a man wearing a explosives-packed vest, blew himself up inside the al-Kebir Sunni Mosque on Tuesday evening.
Two people were killed in the attack and 16 other wounded. The blast happened in the city of Jalawlah (southeast of Baquba), which is ethnically divided between Kurds and Arabs.
Meanwhile the Iraqi Interior Minister Baqir Jabbur commented in a statement on the deaths of ten Sunni-Arabs detained by Iraq's special police,
"I will not tolerate any human rights abuses by any member of the Ministry of Interior forces...any person or persons who are found to be guilty of such behavior will be fired and punished to the fullest extent allowed by law," he said. Iraqi police officers involved in the issue were suspended and taken in custody, waiting for the investigation to start.
CNN
Il Romanaccio at 11:58 AM
ISRAELI SOLDIERS KILLED TWO PALESTINIAN POLICEMENThe explosion that hit the shopping centre in Netanya on Tuesday caused many counter effects such as the end of the truce and the eruption of new clashes between Israel and Palestine. The West Bank and the Gaza Strip were also sealed again by Israel.
Israeli soldiers have attacked the town of Tulkarim in search for the members of the resistance group Islamic Jihad, after the blast in the mall which killed at least three israeli women and wounded 30 people. The extremist group has apparently claimed responsibility for the attack.
The area of Tulkarim was assigned to Palestine on March but the Israeli troops are now controlling again the zone, due to the recent developments.
The Brigadier-General Yair Golan is in charge of the operation, which is meant to be "open ended" in the sense that
is not clear how long it will last or how many vehicles and troops it will take.
Police have identified the suicide bomber, his name is
Ahmad Sami Abu Khalil, 18, member of the Al-Quds Brigades, responsible for the bombing in the mall.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas was quoted as saying:
"This was a
crime against the Palestinian people and those who were behind it must be working against our people's interest and must be punished," adding that,
"Those behind it were behaving idiotically. There is no rational Palestinian who can conduct such an act at the time Israel was withdrawing from ... settlements starting in Gaza and moving to the West Bank," said Abbas.
Meanwhile a source from Ariel Sharon's cabinet commented on the bomb underlining the fact that
the new Palestinian government was "doing nothing to stop terrorism". al-Jazeera
Il Romanaccio at 9:47 AM
IRAQ: SEVERAL KILLLED IN CLASHESAccording to the American military,
14 rebel fighters were killed in an exchange of fire against US troops in the northern city of Tal Afar. Insurgents responded by
killing at least 10 Iraqi soldiers in the town of Khales, not far north of the capital.
US Troops from the Third Armored Cavalry Regiment have killed 4 insurgents on Sunday and 10 on Monday, suffering no casualties, as read in the military statement.
The population of Tal Afar is a mix between Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, the city lies at the border with Sirya and for this reason is believed to be an important place for infiltrating terrorists in Iraq.
Insurgents have stormed an Iraqi checkpoint in the town of Khales (37ms/60km north of Baghdad) at about 5 a.m. on Monday, killing at least 10 Iraqi soldiers. Rebel fighters were using machine guns and mortars said the local chief of police, Col. Mahdi Saleh.
No longer than a month ago, almost 30 Iraqi soldier have been killed by a suicide bomber who blew himself up in an Iraqi Army hall in Khales.
An hour and an half later not far Khales,
a car bomb exploded as an Iraqi convoy was passing by, killing two Iraqi soldiers. Two other troops and three civilians were injured. The
al Qaeda in Mesopotamia apparently claimed responsibility for the attack in a web site.
Also on Monday, Iraqi security forces were accused of illegally detaining, torturing and murdering 10 Sunni Arabs by the Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni clerical organization.
While the government did not comment on the accuse, a doctor from the famous Yarmuk Hospital, speaking in condition of anonymity, has confirmed that he received bodies presenting signs of abuse. The men were apparently visiting relatives in the Shiite neighborhood of Shula.
"The men were taken to a detention center where they were tortured, then locked in a container where they suffocated," the Association of Muslim Scholars referred.
Two US Marines were killed by "indirect fire" in the town of Hit, an insurgent stronghold, on a major road to Damascus. They were part of the Regimental Combat Team 2.
About 60 people were killed in Iraq on Sunday either by ambushes, car bombs or attacks.
CNNThe New York Times
Il Romanaccio at 10:21 AM
IRAQ: POLICEMEN KILLED BY REBELSThe town of Kali in the north of Baghdad
was attacked by a group of rebels who killed at least seven policemen and wounded 5 people, on Monday morning. Later on, another soldier was wounded by the explosion of a car bomb while reinforcments arrived to help the police.
The attack came just a day after the killing of at 30 recruits in the center of the capital and while Breat Britain, Australia and the US are considering to reduce the number of troops in the war-torn country.
Talks of an
exchange of roles between England and Australia have been heard recently. A possible future scenary could be Great Britain to take care of Afghanistan and Australia to overtake control of the southern Iraq. Although, John Howard, Australian Prime Minister denied the all theory:
"There haven't been any discussions between the Australian government or Australian defence officials about that and it was frankly news to me," said Howard. "The story in the London Sunday Times is not based on any discussions of which I have any knowledge," he added.
al-Jazeera
Il Romanaccio at 11:02 AM
IRAQ: THREE BLASTS KILL MANYThree blasts have hit two Iraqi cities this morning, killing scores.
According to Iraqi officials, a
suicide bomber blew himself up on Sunday in the Muthana airport recruitment. At
least 21 people were killed in the blast, including five Iraqi soldiers and 54 wounded. The bomb exploded at 8:55 a.m. (0455 GMT). The airport was already been attacked before.
In Kirkuk a
car bomb exploded close to a business area in the center of the city at about 8 a.m.(0400 GMT) Sunday, causing the death of two civillians and the wounding of three others, according to local Maj. Gen. Anwar Mohammed Amin.
Colonet Yadigar, a spokesman for the police said he did not know the reason why the municipality building, which is controlled by the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, was attacked.
Later on in Mosul,
another suicide bomber tried to hit the motorcade of a police chief killing four policeman and wounding at least three.
All these attacks are meant to reduce the presence of soldiers in a moment in which every country is pulling-back some of the troops. The actual problem is that forming a new Iraqi army and leaving out of that the Sunni-Arab minority is causing a possible future social split and new problems.
The US and British army are sure about the fact that
they will still remain for an undetermined amount of time.
ReutersCNNal-Jazeera
Il Romanaccio at 10:27 AM
