Excerpts: Iraq: July, 1,000 killed 2 August 2013

+++SOURCE:Jordan Times 2 Aug.’131:””July deadliest month for Iraq in five
years”, Agence France Presse

SUBJECT: Iraq: July, 1,000 killed

QUOTES:”the security situation in Iraq is worsening”;”Violence in Iraq . . .
killed about 1,000 people in July, more than any month since 2008”

FULL TEXT:BAGHDAD — Violence in Iraq, from bombings against cafés to
assaults on prisons, killed about 1,000 people in July, more than any month
since 2008, when the country was emerging from a bloody sectarian conflict.

“We haven’t seen such numbers in more than five years, when the blind rage
of sectarian strife that inflicted such deep wounds upon this country was
finally abating,” UN envoy Gyorgy Busztin said in a statement.

Iraq was racked by a bloody Sunni-Shiite sectarian conflict that peaked in
2006-2007, when thousands of people were killed because of their religious
affiliation or forced to abandon their homes under threat of death.

“I reiterate my urgent call on Iraq’s political leaders to take immediate
and decisive action to stop the senseless bloodshed, and to prevent these
dark days from returning,” Busztin said.

According to Iraqi government figures, 989 people were killed in July,
making it the deadliest month since April 2008.

The vast majority of the dead were civilians, though Iraqi security forces
were also targeted in attacks.

The United Nations put the toll for July at 1,057 people killed, while AFP
counted 875 deaths.

Tolls vary depending on sources and methodology, and officials in Iraq often
give differing numbers in the chaotic aftermath of attacks.

But all show that the security situation in Iraq is worsening.

Illustrating the severity of the violence, UN figures show more than twice
as many civilians were killed in Iraq during the first six months of 2013
than over the same period in Afghanistan.

In one of the month’s deadliest attacks, a suicide bomber detonated
explosives in a café in the northern city of Kirkuk, killing 41 people.

Militants regularly targeted cafés, where Iraqis often meet after breaking
their daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan, and also attacked
mosques, where extended evening prayers are held during the month.

Al Qaeda front group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant claimed
attacks on Abu Ghraib and Taji prisons in July that killed over 50 people
and saw more than 500 inmates, including senior Al Qaeda leaders, escape.

“The prison attacks demonstrate that the security forces are poorly
resourced and unable to protect what should have been well-defended
facilities,” said John Drake, an Iraq specialist with risk management firm
AKE Group.

And in an incident reminiscent of the worst years of sectarian conflict in
Iraq, militants set up a checkpoint on a highway north of Baghdad, examined
the ID cards of truck drivers and then executed 14 who were Shiite Muslims.

“We don’t go out of the house anymore. You go to the café, you get killed,
you go to your car, you get killed, you go to the supermarket, you get
killed,” 47-year-old Imad said in the Iraqi capital.

Officials should “fix politics so security gets better, but [a] political
solution in this country needs a miracle”, he said.

Widespread discontent among members of Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority is a major
factor behind the heightened violence this year, experts say.

“There is widespread frustration with the predominantly Shiite government
and security forces amongst the Sunni community, because they feel
marginalised and persecuted,” said Drake.

“The terrorists, most of whom are radicalised Sunnis, are conducting attacks
against the government and security forces to try and capitalise on this
frustration,” he said.

“Animosity towards the government is also likely to persist as long as the
security forces use excessive force to arrest suspects and deal with
protests in predominantly Sunni parts of the country,” Drake said.

Protests broke out in Sunni-majority areas of Iraq at the end of 2012, and
are still ongoing.

International Crisis Group Iraq analyst Maria Fantappie said an April 23
security forces operation at a protest camp near the town of Hawijah, which
sparked clashes that killed dozens, was a key factor in the unrest.

“I think that it’s very important to see Hawijah as the turning point for
the violence,” Fantappie said.

The incident triggered the reactivation of some insurgent groups in the
north and also corresponded to increasing Al Qaeda activity and sectarian
attacks — three main factors driving the heightened violence, she said.

It is ultimately up to the government to act to curb the violence, she said,
with negotiating local ceasefires with Sunni officials being one option.

The government “was part of the problem, and it is part of the solution”,
Fantappie said. “It’s the only actor that can bring things [back] on track.”

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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA