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IRAQ WARS
Bomb attacks on army and pilgrims kill 10 in Iraq
by Staff Writers
Baghdad (AFP) May 25, 2013


Five dead in Iraq bomb attack on Iran pilgrims
Samarra, Iraq (AFP) May 25, 2013 - A car bomb targeting a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims north of Baghdad killed five people on Saturday, police and a doctor said, the second attack on Shiite Muslim faithful this week.

The bomb, which exploded on the highway from Balad to Samarra, also wounded 19 people, the sources said, adding that most of the casualties were Iranians.

It followed another car bomb against pilgrims travelling the same route on Monday that killed eight people and wounded at least 15.

In both cases, the pilgrims were on their way to a Shiite shrine in Samarra, which was bombed in February 2006, unleashing a wave of sectarian bloodletting in which tens of thousands of people died.

Iraq is home to some of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam and is visited by hundreds of thousands of foreign pilgrims each year, most of them from neighbouring Iran.

Sunni militants in Iraq, including those linked to Al-Qaeda, frequently attack Shiites, whom they regard as apostates.

Biden warns on violence in calls with Iraqi leaders
Washington (AFP) May 24, 2013 - US Vice President Joe Biden called Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki Friday amid anxiety over a rash of bombings and violence in the country and the situation in Syria, the White House said.

"The vice president expressed concern about the security situation in Iraq and pledged continued US support for Iraq in its fight against terrorism," said a statement from Biden's office.

A wave of bombings and attacks across Iraq has killed 420 people so far this month and has sparked fears of a return to widespread sectarian violence.

Biden also raised the importance of Maliki reaching out to leaders across the political spectrum, the White House said, and both men stressed the need for a negotiated settlement to end Syria's vicious civil war.

Washington has been piling pressure on Iraq to step up searches of Iranian flights routed over its territory heading for Syria.

US Secretary of State John Kerry had previously publicly accused Iraq of turning a blind eye to what Washington says are Iranian military shipments to the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On Thursday, Biden called Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani and Iraqi Council of Representatives speaker Osama Nujayfi.

Biden told Barzani that he commended a decision by Kurdish ministers and members of parliament to end a boycott and return to work in Baghdad.

Speaking to Nujayfi, a Sunni leader who has been at odds with Maliki, Biden "expressed concern about the security situation in Iraq, stressing the need for all of Iraq's political leadership to unequivocally renounce violence and seek to marginalize extremists," a statement said.

Biden managed the political side of the US withdrawal from Iraq and maintains contacts with the leaders of various factions in the country's fractious political system.

Violence in Iraq has fallen from its peak in 2006 and 2007 but attacks are still common, killing more than 200 people in each of the first five months of this year, according to AFP figures.

A roadside bomb attack on an Iraqi army convoy and a car bomb targeting Iranian pilgrims killed 10 people and wounded 19 on Saturday, security officers and doctors said.

Iraq is struggling to contain a wave of violence that has killed more than 430 people so far in May -- the second month in a row in which over 400 people died in unrest.

A roadside bomb hit an army convoy near Heet, a town in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, killing five soldiers including a lieutenant colonel, army Brigadier General Haqi Ismail and a doctor said.

The security situation in Anbar, home to two of the main centres of Sunni anti-government protests that broke out almost five months ago, has deteriorated sharply.

And a car bomb targeting a bus carrying the Iranian pilgrims detonated on the highway from Balad to Samarra, killing five people and wounding 19, police and a doctor said, adding that most of the casualties were Iranians.

That attack followed another car bomb against pilgrims travelling the same route last Monday that killed eight people and wounded at least 15.

In both cases, the pilgrims were on their way to a Shiite shrine in Samarra, which was bombed in February 2006, unleashing a wave of sectarian bloodletting in which tens of thousands of people died.

Iraq is home to some of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam and is visited by hundreds of thousands of foreign pilgrims each year, most of them from neighbouring Iran.

Sunni militants in Iraq, including those linked to Al-Qaeda, frequently attack Shiites, whom they regard as apostates.

Tensions are festering in Iraq between the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite, and the Sunni Arab minority which accuses authorities of discriminating against their community, including through wrongful detentions and accusations of involvement in terrorism.

Violence in Iraq has fallen from its peak in 2006 and 2007 but attacks are still common, killing more than 200 people in each of the first five months of this year, according to AFP figures.

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IRAQ WARS
Iraq PM to alter security strategy as violence rages
Baghdad (AFP) May 21, 2013
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced an overhaul of Iraq's security strategy Monday as a fresh surge of violence killed dozens of civilians and police officers, bringing the month's toll to 366. "We are about to make changes in the high and middle positions of those responsible for security, and the security strategy," Maliki told journalists in Baghdad Monday. Cabinet would discuss the m ... read more


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