Security Incidents for 04/21/07

Photo: A young girl watches soldiers outside her family's home as Sgt. Brandon Sayles, 24, from Hawaii of Alpha Troop, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division stands guard in Al Majahreen 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, April 21, 2007. The 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division is back in Iraq for the third time since rolling into Baghdad in 2003. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Baghdad:

A Task Force Marne Soldier was killed and two were wounded when their dismounted patrol was struck by a roadside bomb 15 miles southwest of Baghdad today.

A roadside bomb attack on a U.S. military patrol wounded two soldiers at Baladiat, east of Baghdad, Iraqi police said.

A bomb planted in a minibus in Baghdad's Shi'ite stronghold of Sadr City killed up to two people and wounded about five others, police said. Another bus next to it was also hit by the blast.

An Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldier died and another was wounded when a combat security patrol was attacked with small arms fire in an eastern section of Baghdad April 21.

An MND-B Soldier died and three others were wounded when their vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device, followed by small arms fire in a southwestern section of the Iraqi capital April 21. The unit was conducting a combat patrol in the area when the attack occurred.

Around 7.45 pm, a car bomb exploded in Al-Medaen followed by another one within a two minute period killing 1 civilian and injuring 5.

Around 5 pm, 4 mortar shelling targeted the green zone injuring two civilians.

Around 5.10 pm, mortar shelling targeted Doura neighborhood killing 2 civilians and injuring 2.

Around 6 pm, Al-Adhamiya was a target to the mortar shelling having 2 injured civilians.

(Eleven (11) corpses were found all over Baghdad: (7) corpses were found in western bank (Kharkh); 2 in (Dora), 2 in (Amil), 1 in (Hurriya), 1 in (Jihad), 1 in (Khadra). Four corpses were found in eastern bank (Rusafa); 1 Palestine street, 1 in Adhamiya, 1 in Sadr city, 1 in Nahrwan.

Diyala Prv:

The bodies of eight people were found in Khalis, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, a police source said. All showed signs of torture and four had been beheaded.

Early morning, two employees of Bagdadia satellite TV had been released (a reporter and cameraman)who were kidnapped yesterday by gunmen cell of Ansar Al-Sunna (Sunni supporters) group.

Diwaniyah:

A Polish soldier was killed and four others were wounded when their convoy hit a roadside bomb in Iraq, the Defense Ministry said Saturday. The soldier, 25-year-old Tomasz Jura, was killed in the central city of Diwaniyah when the convoy hit an improvised explosive device Friday night, the ministry said in a statement. Four others suffered minor injuries, and their lives were not in danger

A US patrol was reportedly attacked overnight in southern Diwaniya, Voices of Iraq news agency said Saturday. The US vehicle convoy was attacked with an explosive device on a main road in Diwaniya, 180 kilometres south of Baghdad, causing damages to the vehicle. No casualties were reported, and the US military could not be reached for comment. US military choppers were reportedly seen flying over the blast sites. No arrests were yet made regarding the incidents.

A coalition forces base were reportedly attacked overnight in southern Diwaniya, Voices of Iraq news agency said Saturday. While Echo, the coalition base, was struck with eight Katyusha rockets, said the agency. No casualties were reported, and the US military could not be reached for comment.

Hilla:

The mayor of Musaiyb district was killed on Saturday along with one of his personal attachments when a bomb exploded near his motorcade near Hilla, 100 km south of Baghdad, a police source said. "An explosive charge detonated this morning near Musaiyb district mayor Mahdi Abdul-Hussein's motorcade while passing a main road north of Hilla," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq

Mussayab:

An Iraqi civilian was found shot dead in Mussayab, about 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Kut:

A Kut morgue received five unidentified bodies found dumped in north of Kut, 180 km southeast of Baghdad, a medical source said on Saturday.

Basra:

In another incident, security sources told Voices of Iraq that the British consulate in Basra, 550 kilometres south of Baghdad, came under fire from five Katyusha rockets. The attack occurred near dawn, and did not yield to human losses according to the source.

Kirkuk:

Gunmen stormed a house and killed four members of the same family, including a wife, husband and their two children in the city of Kirkuk, police said.

Around 4.45 pm, a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol in Kirkuk injuring one policeman with some damage to the car.

Al Anbar Prv:

A Marine assigned to Multi National Force-West died April 20 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province.

Gunmen shot the head of the Falluja municipal council, Sami al-Jumaily, in a drive-by shooting in central Falluja, local police said. His predecessor was killed earlier this month.

Unknown gunmen waged on Saturday an attack against an Iraqi army base in Falluja, 45 km west of Baghdad, local residents said.

Journalist Sami al-Delaimi was seriously wounded and his nephew killed by gunmen fire in the city of Falluja, Anbar province, an Iraqi police source said

Thanks to whisker for ALL the links above.

REPORTS – LIFE IN IRAQ

US builds Baghdad wall to keep Sunnis and Shias apart

US soldiers are building a three-mile wall to separate one of Baghdad's Sunni enclaves from surrounding Shia neighbourhoods, it emerged today. The move is part of a contentious security plan that has fuelled fears of the Iraqi capital's Balkanisation. When the barrier is finished, the minority Sunni community of Adamiya, on the eastern side of the River Tigris, will be completely gated. Traffic control points manned by Iraqi soldiers will provide the only access, the US military said. "Shias are coming in and hitting Sunnis, and Sunnis are retaliating across the street," Captain Scott McLearn, of the US 407th brigade support battalion, told the Associated Press. The project, which began on April 10, is being worked on almost nightly, with cranes swinging enormous concrete barriers into place. Although Baghdad is rife with barriers around marketplaces and areas such as the heavily fortified Green Zone, this is the first in the city to be set up on sectarian lines. The concrete wall, which will be up to 12ft high, "is one of the centrepieces of a new strategy by coalition and Iraqi forces to break the cycle of sectarian violence," US officials said. [They are making the Warsaw Ghetto for Baghdad. – dancewater]

Sunnis, Shiites unite to oppose divisive wall

A US military brigade is building a five-kilometre concrete wall to cut off one of Baghdad's most restive Sunni districts from the Shiite neighbourhoods that surround it, raising concern about the further Balkanisation of Iraq's most violent city.

Muqdadiyah Wall

Iraqi security forces have embarked on constructing a concrete wall in Muqdadiyah district, while seven suspected gunmen were arrested in Baaquba, 57 km northeast of Baghdad, a security source said on Saturday. "Security forces started today constructing a concrete wall in central Muqdadiyah under new security measures taken to protect residents in the district," the source, who asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). He added "the wall will enable total control of Muqdadiyah to curb the armed attacks that targeted civilians and security forces in the city." Muqdadiyah is 45 km east of Baaquba, capital city of Diala province.

Blackbirds Would Sing

On my day off, I do all the jobs that have accumulated over the week; those we try to put off – until … forever.

Sweeping the patios and cleaning the garden is one of them.

Ages ago we used to have enough water, and at quite high pressure to enable me – and others – to wash off the dust and sand that accumulate as a result of sand storms and unusually dusty weather. It used to be quite an enjoyable task for me because I love water. I would spray the walls and sniff the odor of freshly sprayed plaster. I would wash the trees and spray the flowers to make their colours brighter still. At the end of all this spraying I would reluctantly put down the hose, take up the brush to lift the dirt and put it in the garbage bin. Every one of my kids used to fight over this watery duty; but they would run away from the very last detail – lifting the accumulated dirt.

Now the situation has changed … we can no longer wash the patios, no longer wash the trees, just barely water the plants and sprinkle the dry grass. The patios have to be dry-swept, the garage and the pavement outside, too.

No one offers to help – until the very end, when I prepare to lift the accumulation to throw it away. At that moment my son comes running, “You haven’t thrown them away have you??”, “No, they’re right here”.

Very carefully, he goes through the dry dirt, twigs and leaves to pick out small metal cylinders, dusty and shiny at the same time; some longer, some shorter; he inspects them carefully - just in case. The odor of gunpowder lingers in them. He washes and dries them, and adds them to his hoard. “I think, with this lot I will beat Hammoudi; last week he had more than me!”

This what we have gained.

Shiny cylinders on our doorstep.

Shiny cylinders on our roofs.

Shiny cylinders penetrating our lives in – oh – so many ways.