Baghdad
Slipping Into Civil War
By Dahr Jamail and
Arkan Hamed
25 April, 2006
Inter
Press Service
BAGHDAD, Apr 19 (IPS)
- The new clashes between Shia militiamen dressed in Iraqi
military and police uniforms and resistance fighters and residents from
the Sunni Adhamiya district of Baghdad have convinced many that what
Baghdad is witnessing is no less than a civil war.
For long now, some leaders
from both Shia and Sunni communities have been making peace moves, but
this has done little to check escalating sectarian violence following
the Feb. 22 bombing of the Shia Golden Mosque in Samarra.
Over several weeks before
new clashes Monday and Tuesday this week, Adhamiya residents had been
barricading streets with tyres and the trunks of date palm trees to
keep kidnappers and "death squads" away. But clashes broke
out about 12.30 am Sunday night following a 'police' raid on the area.
"We'd had sporadic fighting
for several nights before, but nothing like this," a man who asked
to be referred to as Abu Aziz told IPS.. "My family and I thought
a war was happening because so many heavy guns, mortars and rocket propelled
grenades were being used."
IPS saw the sky over the
area glow red through the night, as U.S. military helicopters hovered
above.
Residents said the attack
was clearly carried out by Shia militia.
"I have seen these members
of the Badr militia and Mehdi Army wearing Iraqi Police (IP) uniforms
and using IP pick-up trucks roaming our streets," said Abu Aziz,
"They tried to reach our sacred Abu Hanifa mosque, but they were
stopped before they could do so, thanks to god. Some were just wearing
civilian clothes with black face masks, others were definitely commandos
from the ministry of interior."
Last month Iraq's minister
of interior Bayan Jabr told reporters that "the deaths squads that
we have captured are in the defence and interior ministries.. There
are people who have infiltrated the army and the interior."
The Badr Organisation is
the armed wing of the Shia Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in
Iraq, and the Mehdi Army is the militia of the fiery Shia cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr.
Through the attack, in which
scores of 'IP' men drove up to attack the district, at least six IP
vehicles were burned, and at least one of the Shia militia members was
killed, local residents told IPS.
They also reported that at
least 10 residents including at a woman were killed in the clashes.
This round of fighting continued until 12.30 pm Monday.
One resident wrote to IPS
to say: "Men in police uniforms attacked the neighbourhood. The
ministry of interior claimed the uniformed men don't belong to the puppet
(Iraqi government) forces, but local residents are quite sure they are
special forces from the ministry of interior, probably Badr brigades.
The neighbourhood was sealed off and the mobile phone network was disconnected
until 10.45 pm. Electricity was cut off from 10 am."
Resistance fighters with
sniper rifles, Kalashnikov machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade
launchers lined rooftops to thwart the onslaught by the Shia militiamen,
he said.
His note added: "When
the uniformed forces entered the neighbourhood, the National Guards
that are usually patrolling the streets left. Young armed men from the
neighbourhood fought side by side with mujahedin against the attacking
forces to protect al-Adhamiya. Several residents have been killed in
the streets, but there are currently no figures available. U.S. troops
also entered the neighbourhood. At first, they only stood by and watched;
later on they too fired at the locals, who tried to repel the attacks."
No independent confirmation
of the account was available. Shia groups officially deny that they
have been attacking Sunni targets in the guise of the army and police.
And while the minister of the interior acknowledged earlier that these
groups and infiltrated the police and army, it is rarely possibly to
obtain independent or official views on every clash.
But U.S. forces were clearly
involved in the fighting. The Associated Press reported that "Army
officials said they had suffered no casualties, and planned to raid
homes to search for the gunmen." Residents said the U.S.. forces
arrived to provide back-up support to the Shia militiamen wearing Iraqi
Police uniforms and army fatigues.
The U.S. military spokesperson
in Baghdad did not respond to phone calls and email messages from IPS
requesting comment on the clashes.
The clashes have continued..
Scores of men wearing white robes and carrying guns, in a manner of
suicide martyrs, arrived in Adhamiya Tuesday morning and moved to attack
the Sunni Jalal mosque. Witnesses said the men fired at the mosque,
and this led to clashes that lasted until 1 pm before the men were forced
to retreat.
Other armed groups approached
Adhamiya from three directions, but were repelled before they could
reach the Abu Hanifa mosque. Clashes erupted near the al-Anbia mosque
in the area. Fierce fighting broke out on one of the two main thoroughfares
into Adhamiya, the Omar Abdul Aziz Avenue.
Tension has remained high
in the area. Just across the Tigris river from the Adhamiya neighbourhood
is the predominantly Shia Khadimiya area. Sporadic gunfire was heard
Tuesday across various locations in Adhamiya.