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11 US troops killed in one day in Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-06 21:32
The U.S. military on Friday announced the deaths of six more American troops
killed in the recent barrage of violence that has swept Iraq, bringing to 11 the
number of troops slain on the same day.
A U.S. Marine and soldier died in the attack by a suicide bomber who
infiltrated a line of police recruits in Ramadi on Thursday, killing at least 58
and wounding dozens. Two soldiers were also killed in the Baghdad area when
their vehicle hit a roadside bomb, the military said Friday.
In addition, two U.S. Marines were killed by separate small arms attacks
while conducting combat operations in Fallujah, the military said.
The military had previously announced the deaths of five soldiers hit by a
roadside bomb south of Karbala. The attack came minutes before a second suicide
bomber struck Shiite pilgrims in that city, killing 63.
It was the fourth-deadliest day in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in
2003, with at least 136 total deaths, including the U.S. troops.
The 11 U.S. deaths were the most in a single day since 11 Americans were
killed on Dec. 1. On that day, 10 Marines were killed by buried bombs as they
gathered for a promotion ceremony in an abandoned flour mill in Fallujah, and
one soldier was killed in Ramadi.
At least 2,194 members of the U.S. military have died since the war began,
according to an Associated Press count.
Ball bearings from the suicide attacker's vest lay scattered on the earth
next to Shiite Islam's holiest shrine in Iraq after the Karbala attack.
In Ramadi, a Sunni insurgent stronghold 70 miles west of the capital, Marine
Capt. Jeffrey S. Pool said police recruits got back in line to continue the
screening process after a suicide bomber attacked. They were apparently
desperate for a relatively well-paying job in the impoverished area.
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite, denounced the violence as an
attempt to derail the political process at a time when progress was being made
toward a broad-based government that would include the Sunni Arabs and thus
possibly weaken the insurgency.
Iraq's main Shiite religious party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic
Revolution, issued a veiled threat to Sunnis supporting the insurgency that its
patience was wearing thin.
But in a chord struck by several politicians, the party also condemned
policies it said were imposed by the U.S.-led coalition that were hampering
Iraqi security forces' counterterrorism work. The Americans have increased their
oversight of Shiite-dominated security forces following widespread charges of
abuse, especially of Sunni Arab detainees.
"Not allowing these two ministries to do their job means exposing helpless
Iraqis to ruthless terrorists," SCIRI said. "They should know that the patience
of our people will not last for a long time with these sectarian dirty crimes."
The warning to Sunnis carried the possibility of using militias like the Badr
Brigade, the former military wing of SCIRI, to exact vengeance against Sunni
supporters of insurgents.
Hadi al-A'meri, the secretary general of the Badr Brigade, also blamed the
attacks on the U.S.-led coalition. "Why are they putting obstacles in the way of
the work of the Interior Ministry?" he asked.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said it was appalled by the attacks. "This terror
aims simply to kill innocent Iraqis and provoke further conflict between them,"
the embassy said.
The Iraqi Accordance Front, the main Sunni coalition that is negotiating with
Shiites and Kurds over a coalition government after the Dec. 15 election,
denounced the violence but blamed Iraq's leaders for allowing it to happen.
"This government ... has become an accomplice in the cycle of violence by
adopting sectarian policies and by weakening the state and strengthening militia
groups," said Izzat al-Shahbandar, a senior official with the Sunni coalition.
The three main attacks Thursday all took place within an hour. The death toll
was the largest single-day total since Sept. 14, when 162 died.
Mohammed Saheb, who was wounded in the head in the Karbala attack, said he
travels to the shrine every Thursday in advance of Friday prayers — as many
pilgrims do.
"I never thought that such a crime could happen near this holy site," Saheb
said. "The terrorists spare no place from their ugly deeds."
The Karbala bomber detonated a vest stuffed with about 18 pounds of
explosives and several hand grenades, Col. Razaq al-Taie said.
The bombing brought back memories of the deadliest civilian attack in Iraq
since the war began. On March 2, 2004, coordinated blasts from suicide bombers,
mortars and planted explosives exploded near shrines in Karbala and Baghdad,
killing at least 181 people. Since then, however, Karbala had been relatively
free of violence.
Karbala Gov. Aqeel al-Khazraji blamed "takfiris and Saddamists" for the
attack. The takfiri ideology is followed by extremist Sunnis bent on killing
anyone they consider an infidel, even fellow Muslims.
The attack in Ramadi came 40 minutes later, when a bomber standing among some
1,000 police recruits struck near the Ramadi Glass and Ceramics Works. Mohammed
al-Ani, a doctor at Ramadi General Hospital, said 56 people were killed and 60
wounded.
In other violence Thursday, a suicide car bomb killed three Iraqi soldiers in
Baghdad, Lt. Col. Thamir al-Gharawi said, and gunmen killed three people in
separate incidents, police said, raising Thursday's toll to 136.
On Wednesday, 53 people died in attacks, including 32 killed by a suicide
bomber at a Shiite funeral.
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