Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
ATTACKS TARGETING IRAQI police and anti-Al-Qaeda militiamen killed 15 people today, in spiralling violence that has claimed almost 1,500 lives in three months and sparked fears of renewed sectarian war.
The surge in unrest has coincided with months of protests by the Sunni Arab minority and a protracted political deadlock which analysts warn could persist until general elections due next year.
The violence is the latest in a spate of attacks which have killed more than 140 people in the past week, including 27 killed on Thursday, mostly in blasts targeting cafes.
Today’s deadliest attack struck on the southern outskirts of Ramadi, capital of western Anbar province.
Two explosions went off at around midday, the first being a magnetic “sticky bomb” attached to the car of a Sahwa fighter.
As onlookers gathered at the scene, another device detonated, a common tactic used by militants in Iraq to maximise the number of casualties.
Overall, nine people were killed and 21 wounded, according to Sahwa Colonel Jubeir Nayef and Dr Ahmad al-Aani of Ramadi hospital. Most of the victims were Sahwa fighters, they said.
The Sahwa are a collection of Sunni tribal militias who turned against Al-Qaeda and joined forces with the US military from late-2006 onwards, helping to turn the tide of Iraq’s bloody insurgency.
They are paid by the government, and officials have pledged to integrate them into the civil service or security forces. But they are often targeted by Al-Qaeda-linked militants who regard them as traitors.
Kidnapped
Also today, a Sahwa officer was found dead south of Baghdad after being kidnapped a day earlier, while one Sahwa fighter was killed and four others wounded in a shooting in Sharqat, north of Baghdad.
And near the town of Dujail, also north of the capital, a suicide car bomb targeting a group of policemen killed four people and wounded a dozen more, officials said.
The latest attacks pushed the overall nationwide death toll for June to 411, the third successive month the figure has topped 400, according to an AFP tally based on reports from security and medical officials. April and May saw more than 1,000 people killed in all.
Figures compiled by the United Nations, however, are higher still, pegging the death toll for April and May at more than 1,750.
Iraq has seen a rise in violence since the beginning of the year, coinciding with rallies among the Sunni Arab minority against what demonstrators see as discrimination by the Shiite-led authorities.
Analysts say a government failure to address protesters’ grievances has given militant groups recruitment fodder and room to manoeuvre.
- © AFP 2013.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Sure gsoc find the gards guilty until inncoent. They dont trust them anyway
@O Hiongardail Collie: Garda don’t seem to trust Garda. Hense the growing number of whistle blowers.
@Daithi Ó Raghallaigh: so many of them know of the criminals within but
say what you want about the guards, but of all the main stories of a member being prosecuted, the majority have been prosecuted by a fellow Garda and not GSOC. The DPP also have to make a decision. so it’s difficult to hide. GSOC seem to constantly be complaining. They should look at their own behaviour. What about the poor sergeant in Donegal who committed suicide after they failed to tell him he was clear of his complaint!
No change in the GDA force, still the same corrupt,deceitful, culture going on.
@@mdmak33: all of them?
@Patrick James Walsh: typically from Irish politicians, they set up a garda ombudman purely for show, but gave no real powers to the office. It’s all for show to make it look as if we are doing something about police curruption
If there are criminal investigations then a file is submitted to the DPP’s office for recommendations,so how is there any room for interference, usually the DPP’s office recommend prosecution and allow the courts to adjudicate when a member of the gardai is involved.
This is a cryptic message from GSOC to the public about an Garda Corruptchána. Thank you for putting us on alert, although I suspect many will not be surprised. It seems that our national police force needs to be dredged to remove the filth that has been festering all these years. Has anyone an update on the missing phones from the Maurice McCabe case?
Guards covering up for their own surely this has never & will never happen in cronyism ireland
I currently have a complaint lodged against the Garda with gsoc the investigating superintendent has so far not investigated nothing only believing the Garda with whom the complaint is lodged just because he a superintendent doesn’t mean he not corrupt
@James Wallace: GSOC have more statutory powers than Gardai actually.
@Jumanji: but yet the Gardai can and do refuse to cooperate with them?
@James Wallace: because GSOC was never intended to have any teeth, it was always supposed to be window dressing. It was introduced by Michael McDowell in 2004 as Justice minister in the teeth of opposition from Garda management and the representative bodies, and now we know why. Every Police force in the world except those in `Police states`, have some form of complaints/ombudsman procedure.
But An Garda Siochana do not see themselves as being accountable to anyone. Bizarrely the legislation allows GSOC to hand the complaints made against members back to the force to investigate themselves! it could only happen in Ireland.
Do these people not know of the maxim thou shall not be a judge of self thus they are breaking Common law
What’s new with the gardai the constitution is also a joke with them
Well in fairness, of course they can be accused of a cover up. If you want it reported to the ombudsman, then make it more than a recommendation.
That ending to Line of Duty was rubbish, so disappointing
@Patrick James Walsh: they hand it back when they deem it appropriate to be handled internally. A minor infraction not involving the public. GSOC have plenty of teeth more invasive than Garda powers. The problem is that you just expected more corruption than there is, so you lash out and call GSOC corrupt or toothless
have your say