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sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/sfl-flairaq1216sbdec16,0,4016408.story
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Seven killed in bomb attacks
Volunteer patrols, police are targeted
By LORI HINNANT
The Associated Press
December 16, 2007
BAGHDAD
A series of attacks on Iraqi police and volunteer patrols killed at least
seven people in Baghdad and neighboring provinces on Saturday, including
Diyala, where clashes erupted in villages ringing the provincial capital,
officials said.
The U.S. military also announced the death of an American soldier shot
Friday in northern Ninevah province.
Early Saturday in eastern Baghdad, a pair of synchronized roadside bombs
targeted a passing police patrol, killing two civilians. The second bomb
detonated about two minutes after the first, hitting bystanders who had
gathered at the site, a police officer said, speaking on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to release details of the attack.
In the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Azamiyah, a member of a U.S.-backed
volunteer patrol was killed by an explosives-rigged bag he received from a
stranger who claimed to have found it in the street, according to Iraqi army
Col. Riadh al-Samaraie. The explosion wounded a second security volunteer,
al-Samaraie said.
Sunnis have been turning against al-Qaida in significant numbers and signing
up for the volunteer security forces - partly in disgust at the militant
group's brutal tactics, and partly to seek American protection against what
they see as government-backed Shiite militias. American officials say the
volunteers now number about 72,000 nationwide, and as their numbers grow,
they are increasingly targeted.
In southern Baghdad, gunmen attacked a checkpoint staffed by another of the
anti-al-Qaida groups, and three of the volunteers were wounded, police said.
At a similar roadblock in Salahuddin province, about 55 miles north of the
capital, gunmen in a passing car opened fire on the volunteers, killing one,
police said.
And in neighboring Diyala, which has suffered from repeated al-Qaida
attacks, the provincial deputy police chief resigned on Friday after
al-Qaida abducted his son and threatened to kill him. Brig. Gen. Ayad Ismael
quit in hopes his son - kidnapped two weeks ago - would be freed, said
Diyala police Brig. Gen. Khudhayer al-Timimi.
Police officials in Ismael's hometown of Kanan, who spoke on condition of
anonymity in the town heavily infiltrated by militants from al-Qaida in
Iraq, said the terror group was warning villagers in surrounding areas not
to let their sons join Iraqi security forces.
Fighting erupted Saturday in Diyala villages outside Baqouba, beginning when
gunmen attacked a police checkpoint nine miles north of the provincial
capital, killing three officers, a police official said.
There were also clashes about seven miles south of Baqouba between al-Qaida
militants and members of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, former insurgents who
joined the Sunni revolt against al-Qaida, a police officer said. The officer
said the fighting lasted about an hour and casualties were unknown.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
Seven killed in bomb attacks
Volunteer patrols, police are targeted
By LORI HINNANT
The Associated Press
December 16, 2007
BAGHDAD
A series of attacks on Iraqi police and volunteer patrols killed at least
seven people in Baghdad and neighboring provinces on Saturday, including
Diyala, where clashes erupted in villages ringing the provincial capital,
officials said.
The U.S. military also announced the death of an American soldier shot
Friday in northern Ninevah province.
Early Saturday in eastern Baghdad, a pair of synchronized roadside bombs
targeted a passing police patrol, killing two civilians. The second bomb
detonated about two minutes after the first, hitting bystanders who had
gathered at the site, a police officer said, speaking on condition of
anonymity because he was not authorized to release details of the attack.
In the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Azamiyah, a member of a U.S.-backed
volunteer patrol was killed by an explosives-rigged bag he received from a
stranger who claimed to have found it in the street, according to Iraqi army
Col. Riadh al-Samaraie. The explosion wounded a second security volunteer,
al-Samaraie said.
Sunnis have been turning against al-Qaida in significant numbers and signing
up for the volunteer security forces - partly in disgust at the militant
group's brutal tactics, and partly to seek American protection against what
they see as government-backed Shiite militias. American officials say the
volunteers now number about 72,000 nationwide, and as their numbers grow,
they are increasingly targeted.
In southern Baghdad, gunmen attacked a checkpoint staffed by another of the
anti-al-Qaida groups, and three of the volunteers were wounded, police said.
At a similar roadblock in Salahuddin province, about 55 miles north of the
capital, gunmen in a passing car opened fire on the volunteers, killing one,
police said.
And in neighboring Diyala, which has suffered from repeated al-Qaida
attacks, the provincial deputy police chief resigned on Friday after
al-Qaida abducted his son and threatened to kill him. Brig. Gen. Ayad Ismael
quit in hopes his son - kidnapped two weeks ago - would be freed, said
Diyala police Brig. Gen. Khudhayer al-Timimi.
Police officials in Ismael's hometown of Kanan, who spoke on condition of
anonymity in the town heavily infiltrated by militants from al-Qaida in
Iraq, said the terror group was warning villagers in surrounding areas not
to let their sons join Iraqi security forces.
Fighting erupted Saturday in Diyala villages outside Baqouba, beginning when
gunmen attacked a police checkpoint nine miles north of the provincial
capital, killing three officers, a police official said.
There were also clashes about seven miles south of Baqouba between al-Qaida
militants and members of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, former insurgents who
joined the Sunni revolt against al-Qaida, a police officer said. The officer
said the fighting lasted about an hour and casualties were unknown.
