BAGHDAD — Iraq has reported gains by Al Qaida in the Sunni Triangle.
After months of a purported slide in Al Qaida strength, Iraqi officials
said Islamic insurgents have regained control of areas in such provinces as
Anbar, Diyala and Saleh Eddin. They said the Al Qaida offensive threatens to
reverse gains by the U.S.-led coalition as well as the central government in
Baghdad.
"If we want to rebuild the country, we need to provide security," Iraqi
Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki said. "If security is lost, the country cannot
be built."
[On Sunday, Sunni insurgents executed 21 people at a makeshift roadblock
in Udhaim near Diyala, Middle East Newsline reported. Police said the Shi'ite victims, most of them
students, were dragged from their vehicles and shot dead.]
The warnings by Iraqi officials contrast with the reassurances from U.S.
military commanders of a stable security situation in the country. The U.S.
military has not confirmed the reports by Iraqi regional officials of
sectarian killings, expulsion and a siege of such major cities as Baqubah.
"It started with attacks against patrols that hold the access points to
Baqubah city and all parts of the governorate," Diyala Governor Ra'd Rashid
Al Mulla Jawad said. "They have now launched systemic operations within
Diyala governorate that consist of planting roadside bombs,
kidnappings, and daily cases of murders."
In Duluiyeh, north of Baghdad, Al Qaida has paralyzed operations.
Officials said city workers fear to maintain such essential services as
water, electricity and medical while Iraqi forces prevent people from
entering or leaving.
"The city [of Duluiyeh] has been exposed to a severe blockade for eight
consecutive days," Iraqi parliamentarian Abdul Karim Yassin told parliament
on May 29. "All access roads and bridges have been closed and the blockade
has been in force day and night."
The spread of the Islamic insurgency has gone beyond the four troubled
provinces since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Until April 2006,
officials said, the lion's share of violence was in Anbar, Baghdad, Basra
and Diyala.
Officials said Al Qaida has regained control over much of Anbar, the
largest province in Iraq. They said Iraqi security forces, comprised of
pro-U.S. tribal members, have halted operations in wake of the assassination
of nearly a dozen tribal leaders by Al Qaida.
The Al Qaida-aligned Mujahadeen Shura [Council of Holy Warriors] has
announced the imposition of Islamic law in an area that extends from Ramadi
to Baghdad. The group has already abducted women who have
not complied with the new dress code.
The U.S. military has acknowledged difficulties in Anbar. In late May,
coalition commander Gen. George Casey ordered 1,500 troops to the western
province in an effort to increase security amid Al Qaida threats to pro-U.S.
tribes.
"We've seen a lot of activities and events that give us a lot of hope
and encouragement as we watch the leadership of the Iraqi government and the
Iraqi [security forces] take greater control," Maj. Gen. William Caldwell,
the spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said on June 1.
But Iraqi officials said Al Qaida has achieved significant gains in
other provinces, such as Diyala. They said Al Qaida has fomented sectarian
violence in Diyala that some of them term a civil war.
"There is a war with clearly sectarian features with the aim to cause a
demographic change in Diyala governorate," parliamentarian Jalal Al Din Al
Saghir said. "There is a strange silence by the Multinational Force on what
is taking place in this governorate, despite the fact that it holds
strategic importance. Any group that dominates this governorate could block
the northern road [to Baghdad]."
Still, regional officials doubt whether the solution is simply
additional Iraqi troops. They said the question was whether Iraqi commanders
have the will to stamp out the insurgency and reestablish control in the
Sunni Triangle.
"Some administration, army, and police officials carry high ranks,"
Jawad, the governor of Diyala, said. "But I cannot see that their
abilities — other than on paper — are sufficient to confront terrorism."
