Separate drive-by shootings by suspected insurgents Wednesday in Iraq killed
11 civilians on their way to work in a company bus and the director of public
relations for Iraq's Defense Ministry, police said.
An Iraqi soldier
inspects the blindfolds on some of 16 suspected insurgents who are
detained by Iraqi military near Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles)
northeast of Baghdad, Tuesday, May 9, 2006. Large quantities of
ammunition, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and mortar shells were
recovered in a joint US-Iraqi Army operation in Baqouba on Tuesday, police
said. [AP] |
The violence followed a suicide truck bomb attack in a crowded market in Tal
Afar late Tuesday, which killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 130 in
a city cited by President Bush as a success story in battling insurgents.
Meanwhile, leaders of Sunni-Arab, Shiite and Kurdish tribes were holding a
conference in Baghdad to discuss ways of promoting unity in Iraq and reducing
sectarian violence. Ashraf Qazi, the U.N.'s special envoy in Iraq, was one of
the attendees.
Legislators also met in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone to discuss
procedural issues such as the formation of parliamentary committees.
Incoming Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Tuesday that he had almost
finished assembling a Cabinet, the final step in establishing a national unity
government. U.S. officials had predicted insurgents would step up attacks to try
to block the new administration.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said al-Maliki would soon launch a four-part
plan to restore order by securing Baghdad, Basra and eight other cities,
promoting reconciliation, building public confidence in the police, and army and
disbanding sectarian militias.
Wednesday's worst attack occurred about 9 a.m. near Baqouba, 35 miles
northeast of Baghdad, when suspected insurgents riding in a car opened fire on a
bus, killing at least 11 Iraqi passengers and wounding three, police said.
The victims were heading to work at a state-run electronics company that
makes products such as television sets, and the bus was operated by their
company.
In Baghdad, suspected insurgents fatally shot Mohammed Musaab Talal al-Amari,
a Shiite who directs the Defense Ministry's public relations office, said police
Capt. Jamil Hussein.
Al-Amari was on his way to work when his car was stopped by another vehicle
in the residential neighborhood of Bayaa, Hussein said. Three men then got out
of another car and opened fire, killing al-Amari and wounding an Iraqi
pedestrian, he said.
The suicide attack in Tal Afar, 260 miles northwest of Baghdad, occurred
Tuesday evening as shoppers were scurrying to finish their purchases before
closing, police said. The attacker had attracted a crowd of people to his pickup
truck by hawking flour at half-price, police said.
Lt. Col. Ali Rasheed of the Interior Ministry said the main target of the
bombing may have been a police station within the market area.
The director of the city hospital, Saleh Qado, said 20 people were killed and
70 wounded, but the U.S. command said Wednesday that 134 Iraqis were wounded, at
least 24 of them critically.
As casualties mounted at the local hospital, the overflow of wounded were
taken to nearby coalition medical facilities, the command said. Some of the
critically wounded also were flown on coalition aircraft to hospitals in Mosul
and Tikrit.
At least 500 Iraqis have been killed by vehicle bombs in 2006, out of a total
of at least 3,525 Iraqis killed in war-related violence this year. These numbers
include civilians, government officials, and police and security officials, and
are considered only a minimum based on Associated Press reporting.
In March, President Bush praised American efforts to stabilize Tal Afar,
saying he had "confidence in our strategy" and that success in the city "gives
reason for hope for a free Iraq."
U.S. and Iraqi forces launched an operation in September to clear the city of
insurgents — the second such attempt in a year. However, by the end of that
month a woman suicide bomber slipped into a crowd of recruits, killing at least
six people and wounding 30. Since then, the city has been hit by repeated
suicide attacks.
Tal Afar's population is a volatile mix of Turkomen, Kurds and Arabs, which
complicates efforts to control the city. Trouble started in 2003 when Kurdish
fighters took over the city, angering the majority Turkomen population.
Insurgents are also believed to have used Tal Afar as a hub for smuggling
weapons and fighters from Syria, about 90 miles to the west.
