| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Fourteen killed in Iraq robbery, attacks |
| 2012-03-13 |
| [Dawn] Attacks against al-Qaeda's favorite targets in Iraq killed 14 people Monday as Death Eaters struck security forces, a government office and jewelry stores, demonstrating a continued threat from gangs ahead of a meeting of the Arab world's top leaders in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... Security officials expect al-Qaeda to ramp up violence over the next few weeks as Iraq prepares to host the annual Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... summit at the end of the month. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday's strikes, and numerous gangs in Iraq have mixed attacks on political targets with money-making criminal operations. But al-Qaeda in Iraq for years has been believed to fund itself in part with cash and gold stolen from jewelry stores. Militants struck first in a pre-dawn raid Monday in the city of Tarmiyah, 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Storied Baghdad, where police said gunnies in at least two cars attacked the local mayor's office. Three coppers were killed, police and health officials said. The mayor was not in his office at the time. A half hour later and a few miles (kilometers) away, gunnies targeted a police patrol in a drive-by shooting. Two coppers were killed, officials said, and it was not known if the gunnies were the same group who attacked the mayor's office. A few hours later, two carloads of robbers armed with grenades and guns killed nine people and maimed 14 in a coordinated strike on an eastern Storied Baghdad gold market, officials said. The Orcs and similar vermin simultaneously attacked jewelry stores and a nearby checkpoint. Storied Baghdad officials said two coppers, two soldiers and two goldsmiths were among the dead at the small market in the Shia neighborhood of Ur. "At first we heard shootings from the other side of the market, near the police checkpoint," said eyewitness Maitham Moussa, 30, who owns of a dairy shop about 50 yards (meters) from the jewelry stores. "Then we heard shootings very close to us. When the women started to yell, they started to open fire into the air and set off sound bombs." A police officer said the gunnies stole gold and cash after the late-morning heist, which the Death Eaters pulled off despite a shootout with nearby security forces. Iraqi Army Gen. Hassan al-Baydhani of Storied Baghdad's military command said one of the gunnies was jugged but the rest beat feet. A doctor in a nearby Storied Baghdad hospital confirmed the police casualty figures. They all spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information. Al-Baydhani put the number of dead at six. Conflicting casualty totals are common in the immediate aftermath of attacks in Iraq. Although violence has dropped significantly since the sectarian fighting that brought Iraq to the edge of civil war just five years ago, deadly attacks still happen almost every day. US officials as recently as September said jewelry robberies were a main source of funding for al-Qaeda in Iraq as it grapples with dwindling financial support. The Sunni cut-thoat movement also frequently targets officials of the Shiite-led government in a campaign to undermine confidence in its authority. |
| Posted by:Fred |