BAGHDAD, Sept 30: Iraqi security forces locked down their strife-torn capital on Saturday in a largely successful attempt to ward off attacks by suicide bombers against the country’s embattled government.
The streets of Baghdad fell silent, apart from the rumble of US armoured vehicles and Apache helicopter gunships, after authorities banned pedestrian and road traffic until 6am on Sunday.
Occasional muffled thuds of distant explosions were audible from the town centre early in the day, but there were no reports of attacks causing mass casualties, in contrast to the carnage of previous days.
“We received intelligence tips about car bombs and suicide bombers entering Baghdad and trying to make attacks today and we are targeting them now,” said Brig Gen Qassim Mussawi, military spokesman for the prime minister.
“What happened today is a precautionary measure to prevent harm to civilians and to prevent terrorists from targeting them. Security forces are restoring their control over Baghdad and all the provinces,” he said.
The first week of Ramazan saw the highest number of suicide bomb attacks in Iraq, putting Baghdad in a state of extreme tension.
“The curfew was implemented on the advice of multinational forces to the prime minister because they felt violence would increase today,” interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf said.
A US military spokesman would not confirm whether or not western officials had recommended the curfew, but added that ‘intermittent curfews have been an effective means of reducing violence in the past’.
On Friday, US forces arrested a security guard working for Adnan Dulaimi, a leading lawmaker and head of the National Concord Front, which is the main Sunni bloc in Iraq’s parliament and its fragile coalition government.
“The detained individual is suspected of involvement in the planning of a multi-vehicle suicide operation inside Baghdad’s International Zone,” a US military statement said, alleging the suspect was a member of Al Qaeda.
“This operation in no way implies Dr al-Dulaimi was associated with any illegal activity. He was not the target in this operation,” the military said later, in an updated version of the news release.—AFP
BAGHDAD, Sept 30: Iraqi security forces locked down their strife-torn capital on Saturday in a largely successful attempt to ward off attacks by suicide bombers against the country’s embattled government.
