ஈராக்கில் முழு ஷியா கிராமமும் அழிக்கப்பட்டது 49 பேர் பலி

சுன்னி தீவிரவாதிகள் ஒரு ஷியா கிராமத்துள் புகுந்து ஆண் பெண்கள் குழந்தைகள் எல்லோரையும் கொன்றனர். 29 பேர் இதில் பலியானார்கள்.

இன்னும் செவ்வாய்க்கிழமை நடந்த இதர தாக்குதல்கள் சேர்த்து மொத்தம் 49 பேர் பலியானார்கள்.

டெய்லி ஸ்டார், லெபனான்
Militants clad in military uniform slaughter 29 Iraqis

Compiled by Daily Star staff
Wednesday, July 18, 2007


At least 49 people were killed Iraq Tuesday among them 29 who were slaughtered by men wearing Iraqi military uniforms in the restive Iraqi province of Diyala northeast of Baghdad.

In Baghdad, a suicide car bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol killed 20 people and wounded 20 in the mixed Zayyouna area, police said. At least four soldiers were among the dead. The blast near the Iranian Embassy occurred in late morning a few hundred meters north of the Green Zone, sending a huge cloud of black smoke over the city. Three civilians also were wounded, said police.

In Diyala, armed men stormed Duwailiyya village overnight and massacred men, women and children, Colonel Raghib Rawi al-Omaili, spokesman for the Iraqi military in Diyala told AFP. "Twenty-nine villagers were killed and four were wounded in the terrorist attack on the village of Duwailiyya," al-Omaili said. "The gunmen were wearing Iraqi military uniforms to confuse the victims."

The attack was grimly reminiscent of a similar assault in May in the remote village of Qara Lus in the same province, when gunmen disguised as soldiers dragged 16 villagers from their homes and shot them dead.

Diyala, the second most dangerous region in Iraq after Baghdad, is currently the target of a major US-led operation focused largely on the provincial capital of Baqouba.

But as troops have pushed through the city, militants appear to have fled to the hinterlands, carrying out attacks against remote towns and villages.

Meanwhile, in the latest massive assault following a surge of reinforcements into Baghdad and surrounding areas, more than 9,000 US and Iraqi troops led by marines flooded into the western Sunni Anbar province.

Operation Mawtini (My Homeland) began on Sunday and aims to "neutralize any future attempts by anti-Iraqi forces to re-establish a presence in key urban areas along the Euphrates valley," the military said.
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"We anticipate that the terrorists will attempt to step up their attacks in the urban areas to regain power and influence over the population," Colonel Stacy Clardy said in a statement. In his most optimistic remarks since the US troop buildup began, General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday that parts of Iraq have undergone a "sea change" in security in recent months, and this will influence his recommendation to President Bush on how long to continue the current strategy.

After conferring with Major General Walter Gaskin and other commanders in Ramadi, the provincial capital west of Baghdad, Pace told reporters that he has gathered a positive picture of the security environment not only here but also in Baghdad, where he began his Iraq visit on Monday.

He was asked whether this would inform his thinking about whether to continue the current strategy, with extra US troops battling to secure Baghdad and Anbar province.

"It will because what I'm hearing now is a sea change that is taking place in many places here," he replied.

"It's no longer a matter of pushing Al-Qaeda out of Ramadi, for example, but rather - now that they have been pushed out - helping the local police and the local army have a chance to get their feet on the ground and set up their systems."

Security has improved in some parts of Iraq in the past few months - owing to the increase in US troops in Baghdad and as some Sunni tribes and armed insurgents have turned against Al-Qaeda.

Pace said a day earlier in Baghdad that the US military is continuing various options for Iraq, including an even bigger troop buildup if President Bush thinks his "surge" strategy needs a further boost. - Agencies