Now that violence is down in Baghdad? huh?

BAGHDAD (AP) - With violence down in Baghdad, U.S. troops will fan out into communities on the rim of the capital to shut down car bomb factories, which remain a threat despite a recent drop in execution’style killings in the city, the U.S. military said Monday.

At least 55 people have been killed by bombs in Baghdad over the last three days, including three security guards who died Monday in a blast targeting an Agriculture Ministry convoy.

Chief U.S. spokesman Maj. Gen. William C. Caldwell said most of the car bombs and improvised explosive devices - the military’s term for roadside bombs - are believed to be assembled in makeshift factories in towns just outside the capital.

“And that’s where the greater presence of these forces will go,” Caldwell said without elaborating or giving a timeframe.

U.S. officers have said Baghdad, a city of about 6 million, cannot be secured without extending the security operation into communities that control major highways into the capital. Many Sunni and Shiite extremists are believed to have withdrawn to those outlying areas since the U.S.-led security crackdown.

More here

Email this Post  | RSS 2.0  |  Trackback  |  Filed under: Iraq