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Attacks surge in Iraq despite curfew
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-25 22:09
In its statement, the Sunni front said the prime minister's statement
included "positive signs."
"Although we appreciate the stance of the government, it is important that
such decisions be put into force despite the deterioration of the security
situation," the Sunni statement said.
U.S. officials remain hopeful the Sunnis will return to the discussions, but
the crisis may delay forming the government, which had been expected by mid-May.
In Karbala, a city 50 miles south of Baghdad not covered by the daytime
curfew, a car bomb killed at least five people and injured more than 30, police
and hospital officials said.
A suspect arrested after the blast told police the intended targets were the
city's holy shrines of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, and his
half brother Imam Abbas, Karbala Gov. Aqeel al-Khazali told The Associated
Press.
But the suspect could not penetrate the network of checkpoints set up before
this month's massive Ashoura religious festival, according to the governor.
The assailant instead parked the vehicle on a street in the north of the
city, drawing the attention of local residents. When police arrived to
investigate, the car was detonated by remote control, al-Khazali said. The
suspect was captured with the detonator still on him, he said.
In Buhriz, a Sunni-insurgent stronghold covered by the curfew, gunmen burst
into a Shiite house and killed 13 people, provincial police said. The victims —
three generations of one family — were all men, police said.
Followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said his militiamen were
ready to defend Diyala province — an ominous sign of the possible Shiite
reaction to come. Many Shiites fear Iraq's official security forces are
incapable of protecting them and instead look to private militias for security.
The shooting around the home of Harith al-Dhari, head of the Association of
Muslim Scholars, broke out as the funeral procession for Al-Arabiya journalist
Atwar Bahjat was passing by. She was killed Wednesday along with two colleagues
while covering the bombing of the Askariya mosque in Samarra.
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