A female suicide bomber detonated a suicide vest at a traffic circle in Khan Bani Sa’ad, Iraq, Jan. 16. Seven civilians were killed and 15 wounded in the attack, according to reports from Coalition Forces operating in the area.Soldiers from 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division groundevacuated the wounded to a medical facility at Joint Combat Outpost Key West and airevacuated the seriously injured to a Coalition medical hospital in Balad. “This type of attack is very tragic, but it is no surprise that al-Qaeda in Iraq chose to attack at this time by using a suicide bomber against civilians,” said Lt. Col. James Brown, 4-2 SBCT executive officer. “Our recent operations in the area have resulted in the death of several key AQI leaders and have helped bring reconciliation between the area’s tribal leaders. In addition, in conjunction with our Iraqi Army partners, we are currently opening up a key route between Baghdad and Baquba, all of which is putting extreme pressure on AQI in the area.”
“The suicide-vest spike is indicative of the declining support AQI has with the Iraqi population,” said Lt Col. Patrick Mackin, 4-2 SBCT intelligence officer. “In terms of quantity of overall attacks, we have seen a dramatic decrease throughout Diyala province, but the attacks we have seen are more spectacular, which produce a large amount of causalities. We are convinced the result of these attacks will be the exact opposite of what AQI wants, as the attacks will further disenfranchise the Iraqi population with AQI, and support for AQI’s operations will decrease.”