Suicide bombing strikes funeral tent in Sunni village
BAGHDAD (AP) - January 21,2008
There were no immediate claims of responsibility, but the attack
bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida in Iraq, which has been trying to
derail a movement that has seen Sunnis join forces with the U.S.
against the terror network.
The attacker detonated his explosives belt amid mourners in the
Hajaj village on the outskirts of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown
some 80 miles north of Baghdad, a police officer said, speaking on
condition of anonymity because of security concerns.
The blast brought down the tent and the casualty toll rose to at
least 14 killed and 17 wounded as victims were pulled from the
rubble.
"I heard a big explosion and I ran away out of fear. I came
back to the tent after hearing the voices of wounded begging for
help," said Awad Jassim, a 25-year-old who had been making coffee
over an open fire. "The tent fell down and there was chaos
everywhere, but we managed to carry out the dead and the wounded."
Police, meanwhile, rounded up clansmen in Anbar province as a
U.S.-backed tribal leader suggested a teenager who carried out a
suicide bombing against the anti-al-Qaida fighters had help from
inside the group.
Sunday's suicide attack near Fallujah killed six people in the
former insurgent stronghold and raised concerns about the
infiltration of Sunni groups that have joined forces with the
Americans against al-Qaida in Iraq.
The attacker was a teenage relative carrying a box of candy at a
gathering of tribal members to celebrate the recent release of a
relative, Hadi Hussein, who had been released after more than a
week in U.S. custody. Hussein and five other people were killed in
the blast.
The young man blew himself up in a reception area as Hussein was
greeting well-wishers in the compound of Aeifan al-Issawi, a
leading member of the Anbar Awakening Council. Al-Issawi said he
believed he was the target but the bomber got nervous and detonated
his explosives before he arrived.
"I was the target," al-Issawi said. "This is not the first
time that we have been targeted by our relatives who live in the
same area around us."
Al-Issawi said the bomber was Ali Hussein Allawi, the
15-year-old son of an al-Qaida militant who had traveled to the
area from Samarra to visit relatives.
The tribal leader said some two dozen suspects had been rounded
up and five remained detained after the attack.
He also said police were investigating how Allawi had been
armed, suggesting he must have received the explosives after
arriving in the area to penetrate tight security and avoid
extensive checkpoints along the way.
"After the explosion, police forces detained uncles and
relatives of this boy," al-Issawi said. "It is unbelievable that
he came from Samarra with an explosive belt on him."
The implication that it was an inside job reflects the tangled
relationships of tribes in Anbar province, a vast desert area that
has been relatively calm in recent months as Sunnis switched sides
to join forces with the U.S. against al-Qaida in Iraq.
The so-called awakening movements have spread to other areas and
have been hailed by the U.S. military as one of the main reasons
for a recent decline in violence. But the military has acknowledged
concerns that some members could retain allegiances to al-Qaida.
Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, a U.S. military spokesman, said members
were carefully screened and must pledge to renounce violence before
being accepted.
"That's not to say that al-Qaida has not found a way to
infiltrate some members, some groups, that clearly could be the
case," Smith said Sunday, referring to the Sunni movements.
The U.S. military also said a Marine was killed Saturday during
fighting in Anbar, the first U.S. combat death in the province
since Oct. 8.
South of Baghdad, a roadside bomb killed another soldier in the
rural al-Qaida in Iraq stronghold of Arab Jabour on Saturday, the
military said separately.
In the capital, hundreds of men carried a huge Iraqi flag as
they followed the coffin of Jawad Abdul-Kadim during a funeral
service in the Amil neighborhood. Protesters said he was not
affiliated with any militant groups.
The military said the slain extremist brigade commander led a
network of 10 groups in Baghdad that were implicated in murder,
kidnappings and other criminal activity against Iraqi security
forces and civilians. The suspect had established a group to
collect information used to target Iraqi troops, according to the
statement.
"Credible intelligence indicates he and his group are
responsible for the sectarian murder of several hundred Iraqi
civilians in the past year," the statement said.
The man, who was not identified by the military, ran into
another room after the assault force entered the building,
according to the military's account. He was killed after troops
forced the door open and saw him trying to grab a weapon, it said.
U.S.-led forces have routinely carried out raids in Baghdad
searching for Shiite extremists since they launched a security
crackdown in the capital nearly a year ago. Residents frequently
complain of unnecessarily heavy-handed behavior at the hands of the
troops.
Abdul-Kadim's son, Hamza Jawad, said his father was trying to
keep the troops out of the bedroom until his wife could dress
properly, but one of the soldiers reached through a space in the
door and opened fire.
"My father is innocent, and he is not affiliated with any
group," the 13-year-old said.
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Associated Press Writer Hamid Ahmed contributed to this report.