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| Iraq |
| Bomb Hits Iraq Defence Minister's Convoy, Wounds Two |
| 2013-12-25 |
| [An Nahar] A bomb struck the acting Iraqi defense minister's convoy west of Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... on Tuesday, wounding two of his guards, the ministry said. The roadside kaboom hit Saadun al-Dulaimi's convoy as it traveled between Fallujah and Ramadi, "wounding two of his guards and damaging one of the vehicles," the ministry said on its website. It did not specify whether or not Dulaimi was travelling in the convoy, but a senior defense ministry official told Agence La Belle France Presse that he was not present at the time of the attack. The bombing comes after five senior officers, among them a divisional commander, and 10 other soldiers were killed on Saturday during an operation against gunnies in Anbar, the same province in which Dulaimi's convoy was travelling when it was attacked. The Iraqi government responded by launching an operation dubbed "Avenge the Leader Mohammed," named after the divisional commander who was killed. "Military operations are continuing in Anbar 24 hours per day, and we are focusing on areas near the border," the bigwig said, adding there was a major deployment along the Syrian border to stop the movement of gunnies and weapons. On Monday, defense ministry front man Mohammed al-Askari said Iraqi forces had destroyed two bad turban camps in Anbar. Such camps have proliferated in areas near the border with neighboring Syria, where a brutal civil war has bolstered bad turban groups and fueled violence in Iraq, Askari said at the weekend. Speaking to AFP, he said aerial photographs and other information pointed to "the arrival of weapons and advanced equipment from Syria to the desert of western Anbar and the border of Nineveh province". This has encouraged al-Qaeda-linked gunnies to "revive some of their camps that were eliminated by security forces in 2008 and 2009," Askari said, adding that aerial photos showed 11 bad turban camps near the border with Syria. "Photographs and intelligence information indicate that whenever there is pressure on gangs in Syria, they withdraw to Iraq... to regroup and then carry out terrorist operations in the two countries," Askari said. |
| Posted by:Fred |