Suicide Bombing in Iraq continues unabated:
A suicide bombing Wednesday in the city of Baqouba killed seven people
and wounded 22, police said, while authorities increased the death toll
from a Baghdad suicide attack at a funeral the previous day to 36.
My impression is that the number of such bombings has increased. Below the fold I have collected news of recent suicide attacks in Iraq. The list is likely incomplete. There were at least 17 bombings in the last 30 days. The U.S. military has noticed this too:
Petraeus said the number of high-profile bombings, a trademark of Sunni
insurgents, had dropped 60% from a peak of more than 120 in March.
…
But suicide attacks using explosives vests and car bombs began to inch back up in November and December, the chart showed.
The wikipedia list
of suicide attacks in Iraq ends in October. There were more than one bombing every two days throughout 2007 except for October where only 11 are listed (October may be incomplete.)
The bombings are usually attributed to ‘Al Qaida in Iraq’. At the same time:
[A] spokesman for Iraq’s Interior Ministry said Saturday that U.S. and
Iraqi forces had destroyed 75% of the Al Qaeda in Iraq network
This begs some questions:
- If ‘Al Qaeda in Iraq’ is diminished, why is the number of suicide attacks constant or increasing?
- How effective are the ‘Concerned Citizens’ payed to fight ‘Al Qaida in Iraq’ really?
- Why is there (still) a constant stream of volunteers?
- Where are these from?
- What does this mean for the overall and future situation in Iraq?
I don’t have answers to these questions. Please let me know your ideas on this in the comments.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008:
Suicide bombing kills 7 north of Baghdad
The dead included a policeman and two members of a U.S.-backed armed volunteer group, the Brigades of 1920s Revolution, a police officer said.
Tuesday, January 1, 2007:
Suicide bomb at Baghdad funeral kills 32
In Tuesday’s bombing the east Baghdad neighborhood of Zayouna, a mixed Shiite and Sunni district, a man loaded with explosives walked into a funeral tent outside the home of Nabil Hussein Jassim, a retired army officer killed along with another 13 people in a car bombing in downtown Baghdad’s Tayaran Square on Friday.
Friday, December 28, 2007:
Car bomb hits busy Baghdad market
The attack took place in Tayaran Square, the scene of other deadly bomb attacks in the past two and a half years.
It lies in a predominantly Shia quarter of the city, which makes it the target of Sunni extremists.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007:
Two Bombings Kill At Least 26 in N. Iraq
The bombing in Baiji, near a checkpoint outside a two-story housing complex for oil industry employees, was the more devastating of the two attacks Tuesday. The complex was guarded by members of the Facilities Protection Service, part of the Interior Ministry, and members of the local Sunni volunteer security force, one of the many groups increasingly targeted by insurgents after joining forces with the U.S. military.
…
The second blast occurred about 11 a.m. in western Baqubah, in Diyala province. A suicide bomber blew up a vehicle amid a crowd of protesters following a funeral, …According to Iraqi officials and residents of Baqubah, the funeral was for two members of the city’s Sunni volunteer force, former members of an insurgent group who had turned against al-Qaeda in Iraq and allied themselves with the U.S. military.
Monday, December 31, 2007:
Bomber at checkpoint in Iraq kills 12
In the most serious attack against one of the groups Monday, a suicide bomber drove a minibus rigged with explosives into a checkpoint in Tarmiyah, 30 miles north of Baghdad, police and a member of the local awakening council said.
Friday, December 25, 2007:
Suicide Bomber Kills 20, Wounds 80 in Iraq
A suicide bomber killed at least 20 people, injuring another 80, in the town of Baiji, 250 kilometres north of Iraqi capital Baghdad, the BBC reported on Tuesday.
The bomber detonated the charge when he was stopped by police and local militias in the town, but appears to have been targeting queuing to buy gas cylinders in a residential area, the BBC said.
The bomber detonated the charge when he was stopped by police and local militias in the town, but appears to have been targeting queuing to buy gas cylinders in a residential area, the BBC said.
Sunday, December 20, 2007:
Suicide bomber attack in Iraq kills 13
At least 13 Iraqi volunteer fighters, including a leader, were killed and eight wounded in a suicide attack in Baquba city, 60 km southeast of the Iraqi capital on Thursday, a medical source said.
The bomber blew himself up targeting a volunteer centre linked to local public committees in Baquba, according to the source.
Sunday,
December 20, 2007:
Suicide bomber attacks MND-N Soldiers, Iraqis (Diyala)
A Multi-National Division – North Soldier and five Iraqi civilians were killed from a suicide vest attack while conducting combat operations in the Diyala province Dec. 20.
Sunday,
December 20, 2007:
Suicide bomber kills 14 in Iraq
U.S. forces said the suicide bomber struck a foot patrol near a building where a city council meeting was to be held, killing one soldier and wounding 10. Iraqi police said the building was also being used to recruit volunteers for neighbourhood patrols, 13 of whom were killed and 10 wounded.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007:
Suicide bombing kills 10, wounds 24 in Diala
At least ten people were killed and 24 others wounded on Tuesday when a suicide bomber blew himself up amid a popular café in Diala, central Iraq, a security source said.
Saturday, December 15, 2007:
3 die in attacks on Iraqi volunteers
In northeast Baghdad’s Adhamiya neighborhood, a former Sunni insurgent stronghold, two volunteers died and 10 were injured when a bomb exploded next to their checkpoint.
…
Also Saturday, a suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle in Baghdad’s Bayaa neighborhood, killing one Iraqi civilian.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007:
Bomber targeting Iraq lawmakers kills 2
Two prominent Iraqi lawmakers, including a former prime minister, escaped assassination Tuesday when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a checkpoint near their offices here and killed two guards.
…
In addition, the United States announced that an American soldier had died of injuries suffered Monday in a suicide bombing. Two other service members were wounded in the attack.
Sunday, December 9, 2007:
Suicide Bombing Kills 8 In Northern Iraq Oil Town
A suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden truck attacked a police station north of Baghdad on Saturday, the latest in a week of bombings that have left 80 people dead.
The truck was allowed through the main gate of the complex in the town of Baiji after the driver told guards he was delivering sand to a construction site inside.
Saturday, December 8, 2007:
Suicide bomber kills at least seven
A SUICIDE truck bomber attacked a police station in one of Iraq’s major oil hubs in the north of the country yesterday, killing at least seven and injuring 13 in an area home to many refinery workers and engineers.
The attack in Beiji was at least the third deadly suicide attack in 24 hours in Iraq and came a day after a key oil pipeline in the city was struck by an insurgent bomb.
Friday, December 7, 2007:
Female suicide bomber kills 16 in Iraq
A female suicide bomber today killed 16 people in an attack north-east of Baghdad on former Sunni Arab insurgents who have turned against al-Qaida.
…
The building is used by members of the 1920 Revolutionary Brigades, some of whose members have begun working alongside security forces against al-Qaida.
Friday, December 7, 2007:
Attacks in Iraq Kill 25 People
The separate car bomb attack on the checkpoint in the restive city of Baquba killed seven Iraqi soldiers and three volunteers who had been working with American forces. Baquba was the scene of a suicide car bomb attack earlier this week that detonated at the entrance to a bus station and killed five people.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007:
Suicide bomber kills six in Iraq attack
A suicide bomber blew himself up at the gate of a police station northeast of Baghdad, killing at least six people, including five security personnel, police said Tuesday.
Police Colonel Ibrahim al-Obeidi from Baquba, capital of Diyala province, said the bomber attempted to enter the police station in the town of Jawalaa, 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of the city.
