Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Iraqi forces put on maximum alert | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
Select Page
Media ID: 55312350
Caption:

In this Monday, July 29, 2013, file photo, people and security forces inspect the site of a car bomb explosion in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)


In this Monday, July 29, 2013, file photo, people and security forces inspect the site of a car bomb explosion in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

In this Monday, July 29, 2013, file photo, people and security forces inspect the site of a car bomb explosion in Basra, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani)

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat–Iraqi security forces have been put on maximum alert in expectation of terror attacks during the end of Eid festival celebrating the end of Ramadan at the end of this week.

A number of attacks have already claimed the lives of several Iraqi civilians on Saturday. A colonel in the Ministry of Interior, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “one person was killed and five were injured as a result of an explosion of an improvised device on the roadside near a shopping center in the Amel district, western Baghdad.”

He added that “two more people were killed and five injured in another explosion in the Abu-Dasheer district of Al-Doura area, southwestern Baghdad.” A medic at Baghdad’s Yarmouk Hospital confirmed the number of casualties, adding that there was a woman among the injured.

Lieutenant Khalis Al-Khalidi, at the Mosul Police Department (almost 220 miles north of Baghdad) said “unknown armed men killed two guards from the judges’ protection unit when they attacked their car at the Hamam Al-Alil neighborhood,” about 20 miles south of the city.

In another attack, a police officer was killed in an armed attack on a checkpoint in the Al-Salamiyah district (18 miles southeast of Mosul), according to security and medical sources. And in Baaqoubah (almost 40 miles northeast of Baghdad), a source from the Awakening Forces, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “unidentified gunmen killed three women, a mother and her two daughters, inside their home in the Bahraz area,” on the southern side of the town.

A senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said “unknown assailants killed two brothers from the Awakening Forces, near their home in Mahoulah district, north of Baaqoubah.” He added that “One person was killed and two members of his family were injured in an explosion near their home in Al-Amin district, in the center of Baaqoubah.”

In another incident, an attack in Tikrit killed a man and his 11 year-old daughter in an explosion near Al-Shuhadaa Mosque, in the center of the city, according to an unnamed Tikrit police officer.

The month of July has claimed the lives of around 1,000 people in Iraq, the highest number of victims of violent incidents since April 2008.

In another development, there are conflicting report about the numbers of car bombs which may have made their way into Baghdad, or may be prepared to sent to Baghdad, with the approach of the end of Ramadan.

The security forces have raised the alert level to Level-C, which is the highest level in the Iraqi army and the internal security forces. While some information said some 100 car bombs had arrived in Baghdad, security forces said “they received intelligence about terror groups’ intentions to carry out attacks on civilians and security forces during the Eid festival.”

He added that “there were fears that the prisoners who had escaped from Al-Taji and Abu Ghraib prisons recently would carry out revenge missions.” The sources also added that “the Iraqi army is on maximum alert and is still looking for the escaped prisoners.”