IRAQ: Car bombs kills two as security is boosted in the capital

Record ID: 358081

  • Title: IRAQ: Car bombs kills two as security is boosted in the capital
  • Date: 14th June 2006
  • Summary: PEOPLE LOOKING AT SCATTERED DEBRIS AT SITE OF ATTACK
  • Embargoed: 29th June 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA43MQ7D6XIO9SG2OJ18LIRPUS8
  • Story Text: A car bomb killed two people and wounded seven in Baghdad on Wednesday (June 14), a police source said, hours after Iraqi troops stepped up security in the capital..
    Pointing to the seen of the blast, an eyewitness said, "A car bomb exploded here, this man with his son (were killed) in the blast. He was a poor man working to earn a living," said unidentified eye witness.
    Across the capital, Iraqi troops manned extra checkpoints in addition to those already in existence.
    In western Mansour district, there were at least four additional army checkpoints backed by armoured vehicles and a larger than normal deployment of Iraqi soldiers, according to a Reuters reporter.
    But there appeared to be no marked increase of troops in the dangerous, mostly Sunni areas of Dora and Adhamiya, where officials said they would focus efforts of a clampdown they said would include more than 40,000 Iraqi and US-led forces backed by tanks and armoured vehicles.
    One Baghdad resident said he was happy with the plan as long as it restored order to the capital.
    "The most important thing for us is the security situation. If this plan is in the interest of the people we will support it, God willing and we will co-operate with them (the Iraqi forces). God willing if it is in the interest of the people," said Abu Ismail, as he drove through an Iraqi army checkpoint.
    Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's plan also includes banning the possession of personal weapons and implementing an overnight curfew from 2030 (1630gmt) to 0600 (0200gmt), which hitherto had begun at 2300 (1900gmt). The new curfew was expected to begin Friday.
    The government had trumpeted the clampdown in a city rocked almost daily by car bombs and kidnappings as a bid to put further pressure on al Qaeda militants after a US air strike killed their leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi last week.
    It comes one day after George W. Bush made a surprise visit to Baghdad to try to bolster Iraq's new government.
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