- Title: IRAQ: ATTACKS INTENSIFY AGAINST POLICE / SECURITY SEARCHING PILGRIMS IN KERBALA
- Date: 28th March 2005
- Summary: (BN08) KERBALA, IRAQ (MARCH 28, 2005) (REUTERS- ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE OF PEOPLE WALKING NEAR IMAM AL- HUSSEIN SHRINE 0.06 2. WIDE OF GOLDEN MINARETS AND DOME 0.13 3. VARIOUS OF PILGRIMS ARRIVING AT KERBALA HOLDING GREEN FLAGS 0.19 4. SLV SECURITY WATCHING PILGRIMS 0.26 5. VARIOUS OF SECURITY FORCES CHECKING/ SEARCHING PILGRIM
- Embargoed: 12th April 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: KERBALA AND NAJAF DISTRICT, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVAAXGNJSNXFJ1IOYXUEHNEQXGI9
- Story Text: Attacks against Iraqi police and Shi'ite pilgrims,
ahead of Arbain ceremony later this week, intensify.
A booby-trapped bicycle exploded next to a police
car near the Iraqi holy city of Najaf on Monday (March 28),
killing two policemen, a police spokesman said.
Another two policemen and several civilians were
wounded in the attack on the police car, which was guarding
the highway leading from Baghdad to Najaf in the Musayyib
area.
"At 09:30 (06:30gmt) one of the terrorists put a
bicycle in front of one of the shops and ran away. The
police arrived after receiving information about the
boobytrapped bicycle. Two policemen came to check the
bicycle, then it exploded, killing them and wounding two
others. It is a terrorist action target the pilgrims of
Kerbala," said Mustafa Muhammed Jassim who was near the
site of the explosion.
Insurgents frequently attack U.S.-backed Iraqi security
forces, which have increased their presence around Najaf in
recent days in preparation for religious rites
commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Ali. The Sunni Islamist group
l
ed by Jordanian militant Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi has claimed responsibility for many
attacks against Shi'ite religious gatherings in the past
two years.
Police in Najaf, south of Baghdad, said the bomb struck
on a road leading towards Kerbala, a sacred Shi'ite city
where this week hundreds of thousands of pilgrims will mark
Arbain, an annual mourning ceremony.
Shi'ites have frequently been targeted by members of
the Sunni-led insurgency over the past two years,
particularly during religious occasions. At ceremonies in
Kerbala and Baghdad last year more than 130 pilgrims were
killed by suicide bombs.
Iraqi police have strengthened security in and around
Kerbala over the past week, fearing attacks in the build up
to the commemoration, which mourns the death of a 7th
century martyr, Imam Hussein. The ritual climaxes on
Thursday (April 1).
A member of the Iraqi National guard, Salam Aboudi told
Reuters Television,
"Our message to the terrorists is to stop all the
terrorist actions because it is futile. They can't cause
any harm to us or to the pilgrims. Our spirits are very
good. We welcome the pilgrims to the city of Imam al-
Hussein."
Traditionally, Shi'ites walk from their hometowns to
Kerbala for Arbain and it is those pilgrims, passing
through an area south of Baghdad dubbed the "Triangle of
Death" because of the frequency of insurgent strikes, who
were targeted.
In the Doura district of southwestern Baghdad, police
chief colonel Abdel Karim al-Fahad was gunned down by
unknown assailants as he drove to work. His driver was also
killed.
Haidr Yass, a witness to the shooting of the police
chief later said,
"This morning around 08:00 (05:00GMT) we heard
shooting. Two policemen, one was a colonel and the other
was a lieutenant. Yes (they are dead). They gunned them
down."
In Najaf, south of Kerbala, police Major Nour Karim
Nour was shot dead by U.S. troops after approaching a
checkpoint on the wrong side of the road, Najaf's police
chief said. The U.S. military had no immediate information
on the matter.
gd/jg
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