Baghdad bombings put pressure on Iraq government
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is being pushed to do more to stop violence that has spiked this summer in Iraq.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is being pushed to do more to stop violence that has spiked this summer in Iraq.
鈥� A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
A wave of bombings in and around Baghdad in the past 24 hours has underscored the challenges the Maliki government faces in its campaign to rein in the violence that has soared this summer.
July ranked as the country's bloodiest month since 2008, with 1,057 people killed, spurred by Sunni militants who are chafing under a predominantly Shiite government that has systematically marginalized Iraq's Sunni minority.
Reuters reports that a series of car bombings in Baghdad today聽killed 33 people, with one blast going off near the still-heavily fortified Green Zone. They came on the heels of two bombs in Baquba, north of Baghdad, last night, that killed 14 people, according to Agence France-Presse. After last night,聽August's death toll was up to 300聽鈥� an average of more than 21 people killed each day.
Last night's attacks prompted public reassurances from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the government would continue with the mass arrests and targeting of militant camps that have been ongoing since a jailbreak at nearby Abu Ghraib prison last month freed hundreds of prisoners, some of them senior militants, reports AFP.
The attacks are believed to be carried out mostly by Sunni militants, seeking to destabilize the Shiite-dominated government that has steadily marginalized Iraq's Sunnis since taking power.
A Gulf News editorial blames Mr. Maliki and his government for the violence,聽pinning it on the lack of inclusive policies.
The international community, particularly the US, is watching Iraq's violence with growing concern as it merges with the fighting happening next door in Syria, where Al Qaeda-linked groups are now openly fighting alongside the Syrian rebels against the Assad regime. Al Qaeda in Iraq leader聽Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi is now believed to be in Syria.聽
Time Magazine points to recent US government statements on Syria as a sign that despite almost 10 years in Iraq, the country's violence is far from over.
Time also contrasts news reports from December 2011, when the last American troops left Iraq, with this week's: