thedrifter
04-04-07, 06:25 PM
Baghdad deaths down; bombings still problem
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Apr 4, 2007 14:57:10 EDT
BAGHDAD — The military said Wednesday that it remains “extremely concerned” about high-profile bombings despite a drop in the overall death toll in Baghdad after more than 300 people were killed in such attacks in recent weeks.
The Iraqi government, meanwhile, announced it was extending a security operation outside the capital, although it gave few details.
Military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said sectarian violence dropped 26 percent from February to March.
But he was largely referring to execution-style killings and assassinations usually blamed on Shiite death squads and acknowledged the military remained “extremely concerned” about high-profile bomb attacks that have killed more than 300 people in recent.
“The levels have in fact dropped in Baghdad but not as significant as the murders and executions,” he said at a news conference.
“There has been a drop in overall casualties within Baghdad,” he said, but added “when you look overall at the country at large you have seen ... not a great reduction that we had wanted to see thus far.”
Caldwell said more of the attacks were being stopped at checkpoints by Iraqi security forces, “but too many still occur.”
He said al-Qaida in Iraq was behind most of the suicide and car bombings as it tries to “ignite a cycle of tit-for-tat violence” by provoking retribution attacks, such as the execution-style killings blamed on so-called death squads mainly run by Shiite militias.
“The decline of sectarian murders may be a sign that the people are rejecting this cycle of violence,” he said.
Caldwell said three of the five additional U.S. brigades to be deployed as part of the security plan were in Iraq, and he stressed the U.S. military maintained the flexibility to deploy the reinforcements outside the capital to help quell the violence that is rising in other areas.
The Iraqi government also acknowledged the rise in violence outside Baghdad and said it was extending the security plan to other areas in a bid to tackle it.
“These efforts are now expanded beyond the limits of Baghdad to provide peace and security backed by economic and political measures,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.
Al-Dabbagh singled out the northern city of Mosul and the volatile province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, although he did not give details about the new security measures to be implemented in those areas.
He said many terrorist groups were using parts of Mosul and surrounding areas as safe havens. Mosul is near the city of Tal Afar, which last week was hit by a devastating truck bombing that killed 152 people in a Shiite market and was followed by a shooting rampage against Sunnis.
Ellie
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Apr 4, 2007 14:57:10 EDT
BAGHDAD — The military said Wednesday that it remains “extremely concerned” about high-profile bombings despite a drop in the overall death toll in Baghdad after more than 300 people were killed in such attacks in recent weeks.
The Iraqi government, meanwhile, announced it was extending a security operation outside the capital, although it gave few details.
Military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said sectarian violence dropped 26 percent from February to March.
But he was largely referring to execution-style killings and assassinations usually blamed on Shiite death squads and acknowledged the military remained “extremely concerned” about high-profile bomb attacks that have killed more than 300 people in recent.
“The levels have in fact dropped in Baghdad but not as significant as the murders and executions,” he said at a news conference.
“There has been a drop in overall casualties within Baghdad,” he said, but added “when you look overall at the country at large you have seen ... not a great reduction that we had wanted to see thus far.”
Caldwell said more of the attacks were being stopped at checkpoints by Iraqi security forces, “but too many still occur.”
He said al-Qaida in Iraq was behind most of the suicide and car bombings as it tries to “ignite a cycle of tit-for-tat violence” by provoking retribution attacks, such as the execution-style killings blamed on so-called death squads mainly run by Shiite militias.
“The decline of sectarian murders may be a sign that the people are rejecting this cycle of violence,” he said.
Caldwell said three of the five additional U.S. brigades to be deployed as part of the security plan were in Iraq, and he stressed the U.S. military maintained the flexibility to deploy the reinforcements outside the capital to help quell the violence that is rising in other areas.
The Iraqi government also acknowledged the rise in violence outside Baghdad and said it was extending the security plan to other areas in a bid to tackle it.
“These efforts are now expanded beyond the limits of Baghdad to provide peace and security backed by economic and political measures,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.
Al-Dabbagh singled out the northern city of Mosul and the volatile province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, although he did not give details about the new security measures to be implemented in those areas.
He said many terrorist groups were using parts of Mosul and surrounding areas as safe havens. Mosul is near the city of Tal Afar, which last week was hit by a devastating truck bombing that killed 152 people in a Shiite market and was followed by a shooting rampage against Sunnis.
Ellie