IRAQ: Car bomb in Bayaa district offer perspective on US claims of a steep drop in violence in Iraq

Record ID: 357083

  • Title: IRAQ: Car bomb in Bayaa district offer perspective on US claims of a steep drop in violence in Iraq
  • Date: 20th November 2007
  • Summary: (BN07) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (NOVEMBER 20, 2007) (REUTERS) WRECKAGE OF CAR ON FIRE AT BLAST SCENE SCATTERED DEBRIS/ WRECKAGE OF CAR ON FIRE IN THE SCENE MORE OF WRECKAGE OF CAR ON FIRE/ MEDICS PUSHING STRETCHER TO BLAST SCENE MAN EXAMINING WRECKED MINIBUS MEN PUTTING COVERED BODY ON STRETCHER/ ONLOOKERS FIREMEN AT BLAST SCENE SMOULDERING WRECKAGE OF CAR VARIOUS OF WRECKED MINIBUS
  • Embargoed: 5th December 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA669QU96OBU3EGFGMGO9MHHYFB
  • Story Text: A car bomb exploded next to civilians in the Bayaa district of southwestern Baghdad early on Tuesday (November 20), killing two people and wounding seven others, police said.
    Another police source put the number of those killed to one, adding that number of vehicles have been wrecked in the blast.
    Even as U.S. officials touted a steep drop in violence, attacks continued in the Iraqi capital and around the country.
    The attacks came as U.S. military spokesman Rear Admiral Gregory Smith heralded a 55-percent reduction in attacks since a deployment of an extra 30,000 U.S. troops was completed in June. Attacks are now at their lowest level since January 2006.
    The drop in violence has also been attributed to improving Iraqi security forces and the growing use of U.S.-backed local police units organised by mainly Sunni Arab tribal sheikhs.
    But U.S. and Iraqi officials say insurgency and sectarian strife between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs, in which tens of thousands of Iraqis have died, could reignite.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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