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| Iraq | |
| Qaeda in Iraq claims deadly central bank attack | |
| 2010-06-18 | |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate claimed responsibility on Thursday for an attack by gunmen and suicide bombers on Iraq's central bank, in which at least 15 people died. The attack on Sunday triggered a 90-minute gun-battle in the heart of the Iraqi capital, a day before parliament sat for the first time since a March election that produced no clear winner. National Security Minister, Sherwan al-Waeli, told Reuters the attack was not a robbery, adding that it involved 15 gunmen, including seven suicide bombers. In a statement published on jihadist websites on Thursday, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) said it was behind the "unique" attack, which was carried out by five men. "The Bank was targeted because it is the artery that feeds the Satanic alliance with life via oil money and the stolen wealth of Muslims," said the statement.
Overall violence in Iraq has dropped since the sectarian carnage in 2006/07, but bombings and shootings are still common. Insurgents continue to pose a threat as the United States moves ahead with a plan to end combat operations in August and cut troop numbers from around 85,000 to 50,000 by Sept. 1, before a complete withdrawal by the end of 2011. Also on Thursday, an anti-al-Qaeda fighter and four family members were killed as they slept in their garden to escape the heat in a former insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, officials said. It was the second attack against Sunni figures who have turned against the terror network in as many days. Gunmen broke into the house of Khudr al-Issawi and opened fire on him and his family during the pre-dawn attack in a village near Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad. The farmer, his wife, two daughters and a son were killed, according to local police chief Brig. Gen. Mahmoud al-Issawi. Another son was wounded. The police chief, who blamed al-Qaeda in Iraq, said the slain man was a member of one of the local government-backed Sunni militias known as Awakening Councils in the village of Fhelat. The groups helped changed the course of the war when they revolted against al-Qaeda and joined the Americans in late 2006 and 2007. | |
| Posted by:Fred |