The Situation in Iraq

Situation in Iraq by Hamid Ahmed From The Associated Press

BAGHDAD – Government troops began house-to-house searches for al-Qaida in Iraq militants in Mosul on Thursday, part of a major security operation to cleanse Iraq’s third largest city from cells of the terror network.

Described by the U.S. military as the last major urban base of al-Qaida in Iraq, Mosul has become the site of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s third security drive in two months as he attempts to defeat Shiite militants and Sunni extremists.

Al-Maliki flew to Mosul on Wednesday to take charge of the operation by U.S.-backed Iraqi forces. On Thursday, he sought to enlist the support of former Saddam Hussein-era army officers and local tribal leaders in two separate meetings in Mosul.

Mosul has traditionally supplied the army with a large number of its officers and al-Maliki called on authorities to help bring back those who wish to return to duty, according to a statement issued by his office.

The prime minister also appealed to dignitaries from local tribes to stand behind his security forces.
Al-Qaida in Iraq, though weakened by the U.S. troops buildup over the past year, appears to be far from defeated.

In an attack that bore the group’s hallmarks, a suicide bomber Wednesday blew himself up in a funeral tent in a village west of Baghdad, killing 22 people and wounding 40, according to police Col. Faisal al-Zubaie.

The funeral for Taha Obaid, a primary school principal killed the previous day by gunmen, was attended by local U.S.-backed Sunni tribesmen fighting al-Qaida militants. It was not known how many of them were among the killed and wounded.
Obaid’s 3-year-old son was among those killed, said al-Zubaie

In Baghdad, a fragile cease-fire reached this week between Shiite politicians and followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the Sadr City district came under renewed strain Thursday.

Overnight and early morning clashes between U.S.-backed Iraqi forces and militiamen loyal to al-Sadr left eight men killed and 19 wounded, according to officials from two hospitals in the Shiite enclave.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, said two militants were killed and a third was wounded late Wednesday by an air-to ground Hellfire missile as they placed a roadside bomb on a road between Sadr City and the northern Sunni district of Adhamiyah.

Also in Baghdad, police officials said a roadside bomb struck the convoy of the capital’s Shiite governor, Hussein Tahan. One of his bodyguards was killed in the blast and six others were wounded.