Victim of bomb blasts which have been occuring with greater frequency in occupied Iraq. The US imperialists remain inside the country while still escalating the war in Afghanistan.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
At least four bombs have exploded in Iraq, killing about 40 people and wounding more than 200.
Two truck bombs exploded in a Shia village near the northern city of Mosul, killing at least 23 people and injuring around 130.
Meanwhile, two bombs went off near construction sites in Baghdad, with 16 people killed and more than 80 wounded.
The attacks come a month after US troops pulled back from cities and handed over security to Iraqi soldiers.
At least 36 people were killed in a series of attacks on Shia areas on Friday.
Al-Qaeda stronghold
At about 0400 (0100 GMT) on Monday, truck bombs exploded nearly simultaneously in the village of Khaznah, 20km (13 miles) east of Mosul.
This string of attacks seems to be well co-ordinated, well organised and it certainly sends a very powerful message to the government of Iraq. The big question now is can the government handle the security situation? They say they absolutely can.
There are forces in Iraq though that don't want this violence to stop.
And for more and more Iraqis the confidence they have in their government to protect them is decreasing.
Many see the Iraqi security services as corrupt and many fear the violence will escalate.
The blasts were so powerful that at least 30 houses in the village - home to the tiny Shia Shabak ethnic group - were completely destroyed.
Police say the death toll could still rise because many people are still buried under the rubble of their own homes.
"I was sleeping on the roof and I woke up as if there was an earthquake. After than I saw a plume of smoke and dust spreading everywhere," resident Mohammed Kadhem, 37, told the AFP news agency.
"A minute later another bomb went off, knocking me off the roof on to the ground. I was struck unconscious by shrapnel and stones."
Ethnically-mixed Mosul - Iraq's second city - is considered one of the last strongholds of al-Qaeda in Iraq, and still sees frequent attacks despite a decline in violence elsewhere in the country.
Positive message
However, despite security gains in Baghdad, at least two bombs went off near construction sites in separate parts of the capital on Monday.
They appeared to be mainly targeting labourers who were gathering in the early morning looking for work.
One of the bombs was hidden in a pile of rubbish when it went off in the western district of Hay al-Amel, killing at least seven people and wounding 46.
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KEY ATTACKS AFTER US PULLBACK
7 August: A car bomb outside a mosque in Mosul kills 30 people. Six people die in attacks in Baghdad
31 July: At least 27 people die in a string of attacks outside five mosques in Baghdad
9 July: 50 killed in bomb attacks at Talafar (near Mosul), Baghdad, and elsewhere
30 June: Car bomb in Kirkuk kills at least 27 people
30 June: US troops withdraw from Iraqi towns and cities
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Minutes later a second bomb went off in the northern area of Shurta Arbaa, killing at least nine people and wounding 35.
The Iraqi government has tried to send a positive message to Iraqis, saying they are in control and these attacks are caused by the remnants of the insurgency.
But this message is getting lost because of the violence, the BBC's Natalia Antelava in Baghdad says.
A car bomb exploded outside a mosque during a funeral service last Friday, killing 30 people.
Meanwhile in Baghdad on Friday, three bombs killed six people returning from a pilgrimage.
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Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/8192669.stm
Published: 2009/08/10 09:39:51 GMT
Monday, August 10, 2009
14:27 Mecca time, 11:27 GMT
Scores die in Iraq bomb blasts
The bomb in Baghdad's western Amil district exploded near a group of day-labourers
More than 50 people have been killed and at least 286 others wounded in a series of bombings near the northern city of Mosul and in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, officials have said.
In the deadliest attack, two lorries packed with explosives blew up simultaneously on Monday in the predominantly Shia village of Khazna, 20km north of Mosul.
At least 35 people were killed and 200 others wounded in the attack, police and hospital officials said.
"I was sleeping on the roof and I woke up as if there was an earthquake. After that I saw a plume of smoke and dust spreading everywhere," Mohammed Kadhem, a Khazna resident, told the AFP news agency.
"A minute later another bomb went off, knocking me off the roof onto the ground. I was struck unconscious by shrapnel and stones," he said.
Minorities 'suffering'
The blast also levelled more than 30 houses in the village.
The village is home to members of the Shabak community, a Shia minority group, outside of Mosul, a predominately Sunni city with significant Christian and Shia minorities.
Khanza, which is under the control of Kurdish peshmerga forces, also lies on the southern edge of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
Hunain Qaddu, an Iraqi member of parliament representing the Shabak, said the peshmerga have never been able to protect his community.
"We are suffering at the hands of the peshmerga," Qaddu told Al Jazeera.
"They are probably indirectly responsible for the attacks because they have rejected the idea of establishing a security force from the inhabitant people.
"We would ask the Iraqi government to deploy the Iraqi forces in our area ... to protect all Iraqi minorities whether they are Shabak or Turkmen or Christian."
Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq, has promised to protect minorities, as have the opposition Change list, which gained ground in recent elections.
But Qaddu said he does not trust these claims.
"The only party you can trust is the government security forces, the force which really is connected to the Iraqi central government and not to the political parties."
Baghdad blast
In a separate attack in the Amil district of western Baghdad on Monday, seven people were killed and 46 others injured after a bomb exploded near a gathering of day-labourers waiting on the street.
The blast was followed by a similar attack on labourers and construction workers in the nearby Shurta district of western Baghdad.
That blast left nine people dead and 40 others wounded.
The attacks come a day after Iraqi forces began dismantling a number of protective barriers around Baghdad.
The government had ordered the concrete blast walls removed in an effort to restore a sense of normalcy and assure Iraqis that the security situation was improving in the country.
It announced last week that the barriers, which were put in place to protect markets, banks, buildings and major roads from suicide bombers and other attacks, would be dismantled within 40 days.
Attacks in Iraq remain common, raising doubts about the ability of Iraqi security forces to stand alone following the pull back of US forces from the country's major cities and towns at the end of June.
Tahsin Sheikhly, the civil spokesman for Baghdad security, said Monday's attacks indicated that security remains a challenge for Iraqi authorities.
"The insurgency in Iraq has waned in the last 18 months, except bombs in Mosul and a few other areas," he told Al Jazeera.
"We believe that the enemy of Iraq is still trying to do something terrible to the security situation here in Iraq, especially in Baghdad, because it is the key for Iraq's security."
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
Militants launch Afghan attacks
Taliban militants have attacked official buildings in east Afghanistan, firing rockets at a police headquarters and government offices, officials say.
Locals in Pul-i-Alam, the capital of Logar province, said the area was evacuated amid reports of gun battles and Apache helicopters overhead.
At least five people are reported to have been killed as six insurgents fired grenades inside the city.
The attack comes 10 days before nationwide elections in Afghanistan.
According to eyewitnesses insurgents took up positions in an unfinished tower block and fired rockets into government compounds in the city, which is close to Afghanistan's capital, Kabul.
Two rockets were reported to have hit the headquarters of the city's chief of police, while four hit the governor's compound.
"The governor's building came under rocket attack from close range," local government spokesman Din Mohammad Darwish told AFP news agency.
"The rockets hit the building and partially damaged the building. The governor was having lunch and no one was killed or wounded," he added.
Mr Darwish said attackers inside the buildings had been surrounded by the security forces.
A Taliban spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the attack. He said that six fighters entered the buildings laden with explosives.
There are also reports that international forces' helicopters are flying overhead.
Nato-led forces operate in virtually all Afghan provinces, training Afghan troops and battling insurgents.
Taliban strategy
Taliban militants have carried out similar co-ordinated attacks on provincial cities in recent months
In July five people were killed in a series of strikes in eastern Afghanistan. This came after simultaneous assaults on government buildings in the city of Khost, also in eastern Afghanistan.
The BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says that such attacks on provincial government compounds are designed to weaken the authority of the Afghan government.
The Taliban target provincial headquarters because they are not guarded as closely as institutions in Kabul, our correspondent says.
The significance of this attack is that it took place so close to the Afghan capital just days ahead of presidential elections.
Violence across the country has escalated in the run-up to presidential and provincial council polls on 20 August.
US and UK forces are currently engaged in a major offensive against Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/8193092.stm
Published: 2009/08/10 13:19:31 GMT
Monday, August 10, 2009
15:44 Mecca time, 12:44 GMT
UN voices concern over Afghan poll
Some candidates have complained about the level of security they have received
Security fears in many parts of Afghanistan are hindering preparations for this month's presidential election, the United Nations has said.
The report, compiled by the UN mission in Afghanistan and Afghanistan's independent human rights commission (AIHRC), said insecurity had "severely limited freedom of movement and constrained freedom of expression for candidates".
It said the ability of candidates and their supporters to campaign had been hampered as they are unable to go attend public gatherings or go door-to-door visiting constituencies.
"These restrictions have, in turn, created significant limitations on freedom of association and peaceful assembly, and amplified women’s difficulties in participating in the electoral process," the report said.
"The same limitations have posed challenges to the complaints process and preparations for polling and counting, including voter and civic education."
Logar attack
Just hours after the report was published, the governor's compound in the province of Logar, south of Kabul, came under attack from up to six suspect suicide bombers.
"The Taliban say they have sent six men equipped with suicide vests and AK47s," Al Jazeera's James Bays reported from the capital.
"There are two things significant about this; Logar is the province right next to Kabul, and the second thing is that in the governor's compound is the office of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and we are hearing from eyewitnesses at the scene that much of the fighting seems to be around that office.
"It is going to worry them a lot. It is a huge security challenge. Logar is a place that has had a lot of violence."
The private Afghan television station Tolo, quoting an unidentified official, said Afghan security forces had been battling the Taliban fighters for several hours.
US and Nato-led forces in Afghanistan have stepped up operations for the election on August 20, the second since the Taliban were forced from power in 2001, but fears remain that polling will be marred by violence.
Taliban advance
In an interview published on Monday, General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US and Nato troops in Afghanistan, said that Taliban fighters were advancing out of their traditional strongholds in Afghanistan's south and east.
"It's a very aggressive enemy right now," McChrystal told The Wall Street Journal newspaper.
"We've got to stop their momentum, stop their initiative. It's hard work."
Some candidates in the presidential election have complained that they had not been provided with sufficient security.
One campaign manager for a presidential candidate was quoted by the report as saying that security considerations had played a role in deciding to shift from large rallies to smaller ones.
"Provincial council candidates in provinces such as Khost, Kunduz, Logar, and Kandahar reported that insecurity hampers their ability to campaign in many districts," the report said.
Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from the capital, Kabul, said: "The [Afghan] army is so stretched thin to the point that they have told some candidates 'we don't have enough people to provide security for you and therefore you have have to use your own people for security'."
Postponement fears
In some areas there have been no campaign rallies at all, and concerns remain that voting may not be possible in some parts of the country.
"[There is a] threat by the Taliban that they will decapitate anybody who votes in this election, saying this election is illegitimate because it is financed by Americans," Al Jazeera's Ahelbarra said.
On Monday, Zekria Barakzai, the deputy chief electoral officer, told reporters in Kabul that voting might have to be suspended in 10 districts unless security is improved.
"Our position is that where there is no security, where the election commission can't go, I don't think we would be able to do anything because the elections require a peaceful environment," he said.
A final list of areas where voting will be able to take placed is expected to be published on August 15.
However, despite the security problems, some officials remain hopeful that the polls can be a success.
"The people of Afghanistan have demonstrated a high level of interest and enthusiasm to participate and practice their political rights in the upcoming presidential and provincial council elections," Sima Samar, the chairperson of AIHRC, said.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
Taliban Now Winning
U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Warns of Rising Casualties
By YOCHI J. DREAZEN in Kabul and PETER SPIEGEL in Washington
Associated Press
The Taliban have gained the upper hand in Afghanistan, the top American commander there said, forcing the U.S. to change its strategy in the eight-year-old conflict by increasing the number of troops in heavily populated areas like the volatile southern city of Kandahar, the insurgency's spiritual home.
Gen. Stanley McChrystal warned that means U.S. casualties, already running at record levels, will remain high for months to come.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the commander offered a preview of the strategic assessment he is to deliver to Washington later this month, saying the troop shifts are designed to better protect Afghan civilians from rising levels of Taliban violence and intimidation. The coming redeployments are the clearest manifestation to date of Gen. McChrystal's strategy for Afghanistan, which puts a premium on safeguarding the Afghan population rather than hunting down militants.
Two boys watch a U.S. soldier Sunday during a dawn patrol in Kunar Province in northeastern Afghanistan. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander, is making protection of civilians a priority over hunting Taliban rebels.
Gen. McChrystal said the Taliban are moving beyond their traditional strongholds in southern Afghanistan to threaten formerly stable areas in the north and west.
The militants are mounting sophisticated attacks that combine roadside bombs with ambushes by small teams of heavily armed militants, causing significant numbers of U.S. fatalities, he said. July was the bloodiest month of the war for American and British forces, and 12 more American troops have already been killed in August.
"It's a very aggressive enemy right now," Gen. McChrystal said in the interview Saturday at his office in a fortified NATO compound in Kabul. "We've got to stop their momentum, stop their initiative. It's hard work."
In an effort to regain the upper hand, Gen. McChrystal said he will redeploy some troops currently in sparsely populated areas to areas with larger concentrations of Afghan civilians, while some of the 4,000 American troops still to arrive will be deployed to Kandahar.
The Obama administration is in the midst of an Afghan buildup that will push U.S. troop levels here to a record 68,000 by year end. There are roughly an additional 30,000 troops from North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries and other allies.
Gen. McChrystal's predecessor, Gen. David McKiernan, had a request outstanding for 10,000 more troops. Gen. McChrystal said he hadn't decided whether to request additional U.S. forces. "We're still working it," he said.
Several officials who have taken part in Gen. McChrystal's 60-day review of the war effort said they expect him to ultimately request as many as 10,000 more troops -- a request many observers say will be a tough sell at the White House, where several senior administration officials have said publicly that they want to hold off on sending more troops until the impact of the initial influx of 21,000 reinforcements can be gauged.
The U.S. war effort in Afghanistan is costing American taxpayers about $4 billion a month.
Gen. McChrystal also said he would direct a "very significant" expansion of the Afghan army and national police -- which would double in size under the plans being finalized by senior U.S. military officers here -- and import a tactic first used in Iraq by moving U.S. troops onto small outposts in individual Afghan neighborhoods and villages.
Outside experts are giving Gen. Stanley McChrystal an assessment of what the war in Afghanistan looks like on the ground, as WSJ's Peter Spiegel reports. One person briefed on the assessment said it will call for boosting the Afghan army to 240,000 from 135,000 and the Afghan police to 160,000 from 82,000.
One official noted the emerging plans to double the size of the Afghan army and police will require thousands of additional U.S. trainers. The U.S. will also need more troops if security conditions in north and west Afghanistan continue to deteriorate, the official said. "At the end of the day, it's all about the math," he said. "The demand and the supply don't line up, even with the new troops that are coming in."
In earlier phases of the assessment process, Gen. McChrystal's staff conducted a "troop-to-task" analysis that weighed increasing U.S. troop levels by two brigades -- each such unit has 3,500 to 5,000 troops -- or by as many as eight brigades, according to officials familiar with the matter. A middle option of four to six brigades was also considered, these people said.
The prospect of more troops rankles some of Gen. McChrystal's advisers, who worry the American military footprint in Afghanistan is already too large.
"How many people do you bring in before the Afghans say, 'You're acting like the Russians'?" said one senior military official, referring to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. "That's the big debate going on in the headquarters right now."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said publicly during his campaign for the approaching Aug. 20 elections that he wants to negotiate new agreements giving the Afghan government more control over the conduct of the foreign troops currently in the country.
Gen. McChrystal, however, says too many troops aren't a concern. "I think it's what you do, not how many you are. It's how the force conducts itself."
Regardless of how he resolves the internal debate on troop numbers, Gen. McChrystal's coming report won't include any specific requests for more U.S. troops. Those numbers would instead be detailed in a follow-on document that is set to be delivered to Washington a few weeks after the assessment.
The timing of Gen. McChrystal's primary assessment remains in flux. It was initially due in mid-August, but the commander was summoned to a secret meeting in Belgium last week with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and told to take more time. Military officials say the assessment will now be released sometime after the Aug. 20 vote.
The shift came amid signs of growing U.S. unease about the direction of the war effort. Initial assessments delivered to Gen. McChrystal last month warned that the Taliban were strengthening their control over Kandahar, the largest city in southern Afghanistan.
American forces have been waging a major offensive in the neighboring southern province of Helmand, the center of Afghanistan's drug trade. Some U.S. military officials believe the Taliban have taken advantage of the American preoccupation with Helmand to infiltrate Kandahar and set up shadow local governments and courts throughout the city.
"Helmand is a sideshow," said the senior military official briefed on the analysis. "Kandahar is the capital of the south [and] that's why they want it."
Gen. McChrystal said in the interview that he planned to shift more U.S. troops to Kandahar to bolster the Canadian forces that currently have primary security responsibility for the region. Hundreds of American troops equipped with mobile armored vehicles known as Strykers are already in the province.
"It's important and so we're going to do whatever we got to do to ensure that Kandahar is secure," he said. "With the arrival of the new U.S. forces we'll have the ability to put some more combat power in the area."
Will President Obama's Afghanistan strategy be successful?
Despite the mounting concern about the Taliban's infiltration of Kandahar, there are clear limits to how soon additional U.S. forces can be sent to the city.
Moving forces from neighboring Helmand is nearly impossible, because those troops have already set up forward bases and recruited help from local tribal leaders, who have been promised American backing. As a result, the additional American troop deployments to Kandahar have only begun in recent days, with the arrival of new reinforcements that will continue into the fall.
Gen. McChrystal defended the decision to focus first on Helmand. The current operation, one of the largest since the start of the war in 2001, was meant to disrupt the Taliban's lucrative drug operations there, he said.
The armed group reaps tens of millions of dollars annually from the sale of opium from Helmand, and the commander said he wants to have troops on the ground before local farmers start to plant their next batch of poppies in November. The U.S. is working to persuade Helmand's farmers to replace their poppy fields with wheat and fruit.
The roughly 4,000 Marines in Helmand have been charged with putting Gen. McChrystal's thinking about counterinsurgency into practice. They are trying to build local relationships by launching small development and reconstruction projects.
Gen. McChrystal said his new strategy had to show clear results within roughly 12 months to prevent public support for the war from evaporating in both the U.S. and Afghanistan.
"This is a period where people are really looking to see which way this is going to go," he said. "It's the critical and decisive moment."
Write to Yochi J. Dreazen at yochi.dreazen@wsj.com and Peter Spiegel at peter.spiegel@wsj.com
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