Worst violence since US pullback hits Iraq

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Worst violence since US pullback hits Iraq

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer Torchia, Associated

Press Writer – 37 mins ago

BAGHDAD – Bombs killed nearly 60 people in Iraq on Thursday in the worst

violence since U.S. combat troops withdrew from urban areas last week, and

American forces released five Iranian officials suspected of aiding Shiite

insurgents.

U.S. officials said they believe the Iranians, detained in northern Iraq in

January 2007, had facilitated attacks on American-led forces but handed them

over to the Iraqi government at its request because they were obliged to do so

under a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement.

The U.S. State Department said it was concerned their release could present a

security threat to American troops in Iraq.

Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, called the release a " good initiative "

that could encourage dialogue between Washington and Tehran, which are longtime

foes.

Iranian Embassy spokesman Amir Arshadi said Iraq had transferred the Iranians,

described by their government as diplomats, to the embassy. Washington believes

they are associated with the Quds Force, part of Iran's powerful Revolutionary

Guard Corps, and that they trained Iraqi militants.

The carnage within Iraqi borders Thursday was a sign that insurgents remain

intent on destabilizing Iraq as the United States shifts its focus to the war in

Afghanistan. Attacks are down sharply from past years of war and militants have

been driven from many strongholds, but they routinely inflict casualties in

Baghdad and northern Iraq, a cauldron of ethnic and sectarian tension.

The most lethal attack Thursday was in the northern city of Tal Afar, where

women sat in the street amid torn and bloodied bodies in the aftermath of

suicide bombings, wailing and beating their chests in grief. Several men

crouched and wept into their hands. Others rushed the wounded to ambulances;

some used a bed sheet as a makeshift stretcher.

In a statement on his Web site, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani condemned the

attacks and said the " forces of evil and terrorism " were trying in vain to

demoralize Iraqi security forces and the civilian population.

Some 130,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, but they have a much lower profile and

are preparing for a complete pullout by the end of 2011. Iraqi attitudes are

mixed, with some rejoicing over the absence of American troops in their streets

and a new sense of sovereignty, and others worried that extremists will now have

more freedom to operate.

" Our security forces are still weak, with poor intelligence, " said Saeed Rahim,

a government employee in Baghdad. " Deploying more unqualified troops into the

streets does not necessarily lead to better results. "

The day's violence began at 6:30 a.m., when a suicide bomber in a police uniform

and carrying a radio and a pistol knocked on the door of an investigator in the

anti-terrorism police force in Tal Afar. When the officer opened the door, the

bomber detonated his explosive belt, killing the officer, his wife and son, said

Maj. Gen. Khalid al-Hamadani, police chief of the northern Ninevah province.

As people gathered in the aftermath, another suicide bomber detonated his

explosives belt, al-Hamadani said. The coordinated attack killed a total of 38

people and injured 66. Army Brig. Abdul-Rahman Abu Raghef said the first suicide

bomber was a local resident who had been jailed for one year on suspicion of

terrorism, but was released in an amnesty in June.

A day earlier, car bombs in two Shiite villages near Mosul, another northern

Iraqi city, killed 16 civilians and injured more than two dozen.

Haneen Qaddo, a lawmaker representing Shiites in the Mosul region, complained

about a " big security vacuum " in the north and said Kurdish forces, known as

peshmerga, should withdraw from some areas and allow Iraqi army units to deploy.

Tensions between Iraqi Arabs and Kurds, who run a virtual mini-state in part of

northern Iraq, are considered a major threat to long-term stability.

Factions are maneuvering for control of Kirkuk, a disputed northern city in an

oil-rich area that is seen as a flash point for conflict. Police there said a

civilian bystander died in a bomb attack on a police patrol on Thursday.

Insurgents also struck Baghdad on Thursday morning, detonating bombs that killed

18 people and injured dozens. Eight of them died and 30 were injured in

coordinated blasts near an outdoor market in the Shiite district of Sadr City,

said Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Mousawi, spokesman for the city's operations command

center.

Hassan Abdullah, a vegetable salesman, said he heard the first blast and went to

see what was happening when a second bomb hidden in trash about 100 yards away

exploded. He was taken to a hospital with hand and leg injuries.

In the Karrada district of central Baghdad, one civilian died in a bomb attack

on the convoy of Central Bank Gov. Sinan al-Shibibi, a police officer said on

condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The

governor was unharmed.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian said the U.S. had to release

the Iranians under a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that took effect in January.

said the release was not part of a deal or prisoner exchange with Tehran.

He said Iraq has issued arrest warrants for all non-Iraqi detainees held by

American forces and asked the U.S. to transfer them to the Iraqi government's

custody.

described the five Iranians as being " associated with " the Quds force.

said the possibility of the five creating security problems in Iraq was " a

big concern. "

A senior Iraqi government official said on condition of anonymity that the

Americans had advised Iraqi counterparts that the Iranians should leave the

country.

Also Thursday, the U.S. military said it was investigating the death of a U.S.

soldier who had been found " unresponsive " on a military base.

___

Associated Press Writers Qassim Adbul-Zahra and Saad Abdul-Kadir in Baghdad and

Lee in Washington contributed to this report.