IRAQ: Violence continues in Iraq with heavy fighting in the restive city of Ramadi and bombers targetting beer shops in Baghdad; Iraqi Sunnis accuse US of "atrocity" over raids

Record ID: 836457

  • Title: IRAQ: Violence continues in Iraq with heavy fighting in the restive city of Ramadi and bombers targetting beer shops in Baghdad; Iraqi Sunnis accuse US of "atrocity" over raids
  • Date: 16th May 2006
  • Summary: (BN06) RAMADI, IRAQ (MAY 15, 2006) (REUTERS) AUDIO OF GUNFIRE WIDE SHOT SMOKE RISING OVER BUILDINGS IN DESERTED STREET; AUDIO OF GUNFIRE/ SMOKE RISING; BLACK SMOKE RISING/ GUNFIRE; AUDIO OF GUNFIRE; BLACK SMOKE RISING
  • Embargoed: 31st May 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • City:
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,War / Fighting
  • Reuters ID: LVA7UXAMUC6NQLYL5L1DUNNOH690
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Bombs damaged three shops known for selling alcohol in a commercial district of downtown Baghdad early on Tuesday (May 16, 2006) in what may have been the latest attack by militants seeking to impose Islamic customs in Iraq.
    The sequence of explosions at dawn in the Karrada shopping district wrecked the stores' frontages and, in one case, an advertising display for beer.
    Police said no one was hurt as the streets were largely deserted at that hour, just before 6 a.m. (0200 GMT).
    They had no immediate comment on the motive. Violence driven by business rivalry is also not unknown in Baghdad.
    But alcohol sellers, many from Iraq's Christian minority, have been intimidated by Islamist militants on both sides of the Sunni-Shi'ite sectarian divide, driving many out of business or pushing the trade underground in a city once noted, under the secular rule of Saddam Hussein, for its nightlife and liberal social culture.
    Among other aspects of a new emphasis on Muslim traditions are the increased wearing of veils and headscarves by women in public -- a cause of complaint among some women's rights groups -- and proclamations by militants threatening those who do not observe conservative dress and moral codes.
    Though a new, U.S.-sponsored constitution introduced last year makes Islamic law a main reference for legislation, no new restrictions have been imposed on the sale of alcohol, as is common in other Muslim countries, or on other social customs.
    Islamist parties dominate the national unity government that is in the process of formation this week, but it is unclear whether the new ministers will seek to change that.
    In the restive city of Ramadi, heavy fighting erupted between insurgents and U.S. forces on Monday (May 15), witnesses said. A doctor at the city's main hospital said eight bodies and nine wounded people had been received.
    Ramadi, the capital of semi-lawless Anbar province, is a base of the Sunni Arab-led insurgency.
    U.S. and Iraqi troops have launched a series of offensives in Anbar over the past few months aimed at securing western Iraq against the insurgents.
    Doctors said twelve bodies and twelve wounded people had been brought to Ramadi's main hospital.
    "Up to now, we have received 12 wounded from the U.S. air strike. They (U.S. forces) prevented ambulances from evacuating the wounded. Yesterday, we received 12 martyrs too, in addition to the 12 wounded," said Dr. Samir Abdul Hamid.
    Also on Tuesday, Iraq's main Sunni religious grouping accused U.S. forces on Tuesday (May 16) of killing 25 civilians in raids near Baghdad in the past two days, rejecting the U.S. account that only suspected insurgents had died.
    "The US forces accompanied by the government army have launched brutal operations when intentionally killing innocent civilians, especially the bombing of Latifiya, Shakha Wahid area," Abdul Salam al-Kubaisi, top Sunni figure told news conference.
    The U.S. military earlier on Monday said its forces had killed more than 41 insurgents in and around the villages of Latifiya and Yusifiya, south of the capital, on Saturday and Sunday. It also said a U.S. helicopter was shot down, killing two soldiers.
    Two separate U.S. statements on the air and ground raids did not mention any civilian deaths, but said several women and children were wounded.
    The U.S. military says al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, uses the area as a staging ground for suicide attacks in Baghdad. It says he aims to incite a sectarian civil war between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunnis.
    The Sunni association accused U.S. forces of attacking civilian houses and killing people as they tried to flee.
    It said 25 people were killed in Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, on Saturday and Sunday. The U.S. military had said 15 "suspected terrorists" were killed in Latifiya and more than 25 in raids on Sunday in nearby Yusifiya.
    "American and Iraqi forces on Saturday evening carried out a severe air strike in the area of Latifiya against houses with civilians," the statement said.
    It said people ran away from their houses to seek protection but that U.S. forces followed them and killed them.
    "Families ran away from their houses, to use farms and orchards as a shelter but the US helicopter followed those people and killed the men, women and children," said al-Kubaisi.
    U.S. troops detained six people, including two women and a child, and returned on Monday and seized more people, it said. The military said it had detained eight suspects in Latifiya.
    The area south of the capital, sometimes popularly called the "triangle of death", has been a stronghold of the Sunni Arab insurgency raging against U.S. and Iraqi forces.
    Iraq's minority Sunnis dominated the country under Saddam Hussein but have seen their influence wane since he was overthrown by U.S. forces in 2003.
    Al-Kubaisi advised people to stop travelling to the areas of armed militia so that they can avoid being incited through terrorists plans.
    "The association advised the civilians in general to avoid travelling to the areas where armed militias are based. People know these areas so that they can avoid the plans of these militias who aim to incite people into civil war through conveying a false message that the Sunnis are killed by the Shi'ites. They aimed from this to divert us away from the fact that those people were killed by organised militias that represent the highest point of terrorism. " he said.
    The accusation comes as violence continued in Baghdad.
    On Tuesday, gunmen opened fire on civilians near a bus station in southern Baghdad, killing six civilians and wounding five others, police said.
    "Taxi drivers and civilians were waiting in al-Michanic square when a car with masked gunmen came from Abu Dasheer road and opened fire on the people. Nobody knew who they were. This is what happened," said an unidentified witness. END
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