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Iraqis deploy 5,000 additional security personnel to protect Shiite pilgrims
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi officials deployed 5,000 plainclothes military personnel south of Baghdad on Saturday, beefing up security in an attempt to stop deadly bombings against Shiite pilgrims that have plagued the country over the past three days, police said.

The military personnel will monitor suspicious movements among the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims streaming toward Karbala, said Capt. Alaa Abbas Jaafar, press spokesman for the Karbala police. The government has already deployed 30,000 security personnel in the province that contains Karbala to protect the city, along with 1,500 female security guards to search women and 400 snipers on rooftops, Jaafar said.

Despite the tight security, bombings have killed 60 Shiite pilgrims and wounded 170 over the past three days. The attacks demonstrate the determination of some Sunni extremists to re-ignite sectarian warfare and underscores how fragile security remains here despite a significant decline in overall violence. The vast numbers of pilgrims and the distances many of them must travel make it extremely difficult to protect.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Al-Qaida and other extremist groups have frequently targeted Shiite pilgrims during religious commemorations, which were severely curtailed under Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime.
Posted by: Steve White 2009-02-15
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=262569