- Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community by Ezaldeen-ahmed

Bombers breach Baghdad security again, killing five

Ahmed — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 11:22:43 +0000

Car bombs ripped through downtown Baghdad early Tuesday, killing five and wounding at least 16 people in the latest attack near government buildings in the Iraqi capital, police and health officials said.

At least three blasts occurred within minutes of each other near the heavily protected Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy, the Iraqi parliament and other government offices. The attacks raise fresh questions about the government’s ability to protect itself and its citizens as U.S. forces prepare to leave Iraq.

“There were two military checkpoints using detectors at the beginning of the street, how can such car bombs manage to enter and explode?” said a woman who identified herself as Um Ali, her cheeks smeared with blood as she screamed at reporters, echoing the frustrations voiced by many Iraqis.

The explosions came exactly a week after suicide bombers killed 127 people and wounded more than 500 in a series of five bombings across the capital — three of which appeared to target government buildings. Suicide bombers on Aug. 19 and Oct. 25 also targeted government ministries and buildings in a series of horrific bombings in which more than 250 people were killed.

Iraq Approves Election but Kirkuk Kurd's Tensions Remain

Ahmed — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:39:01 +0000

Behind-the-scenes U.S. pressure has finally forced Iraq’s leaders to accept a political compromise, with Sunday’s vote in the Iraqi parliament to adopt an electoral law setting rules for national elections in January — and potentially...

16 al-Qaida prisoners escaped from Tikrit prison, Iraqi city locked

Ahmed — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:46:18 +0000

Sixteen al-Qaida-affiliated prisoners, including five sentenced to death, escaped from a prison in Tikrit City, the capital of Salahudin province, a provincial police source said on Thursday.

The 16 prisoners affiliated to al-Qaida in Iraq network broke through a ventilation duct in the prison located in central Tikrit on Wednesday evening, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

One of the five prisoners sentenced to death has been re- captured by the Iraqi police on Thursday morning, the source said, noting that the rest were still on the run.

Kuwait Wedding Fire Kills 41 Women And Children In 3 Minutes

Ahmed — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:09:30 +0000

The fire at a wedding tent in Kuwait that killed 41 women and children consumed the structure in a blazing inferno lasting just three minutes, the fire department chief said Sunday.

“It was a horrific scene with bodies and many shoes stuck to the ground at the only exit, they must have trampled over one another,” said Brig. Gen. Jassem al-Mansouri, the day after the disaster.

He said Kuwaiti authorities were running DNA tests to identify the 35 women and six children killed in the fire, which left many victims unrecognizable.

Al-Qaeda's Internet woes

Ahmed — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 23:19:08 +0000

Three al-Qaeda propaganda websites have closed down after reportedly coming under cyber-attack from Western intelligence agencies.The al-Ekhlas, al-Buraq and al-Firdaws websites, all linked to al-Fajr the propaganda wing of al-Qaeda, have been out...

From an ‘Iraqi widow’ to an ‘American widow’

Ahmed — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:26:29 +0000

Yesterday , my dear sister !,in my dream,I saw a cascade of tears from your eyes;When asked about the cause of your grief,You showed me the image of your husband.You hurled abuses at me,as he was killed,By a brutal terrorist in my...

Iraq: Women candidates fear attacks if their names are published on ballots

Ahmed — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:14:11 +0000

The 38-year-old teacher wanted to participate in Iraq’s first provincial elections in four years — until she realized that a new law would require the ballot to list her name, not just her...

Apache Helicopters Strikes US Troops in Baghdad

Ahmed — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:43:00 +0000

The US military says an Apache helicopter has accidentally destroyed one of its own armoured vehicles in eastern Baghdad.

The military says the incident occurred yesterday afternoon, when the chopper spotted a group of four militants placing roadside bombs. It says a Hellfire missile hit the group, killing two gunmen.

Robots: Combat Robot Attempts Rebellion Against Human Masters in Iraq, Army Pulls Plug for 1020 Years

Ahmed — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:39:09 +0000

The army’s machine-gun wielding, insurgent-slaying robot SWORDS is no longer spraying foes with hot doom in Iraq. Actually, it never got the chance to notch a single frag, and never will. Apparently, there was an incident where “the gun started moving when it was not intended to move,” meaning it totally pointed somewhere it wasn’t supposed to—like at friendlies, which resulted in recall from the field and might’ve set the program back 10-20 years, according to the Army’s Program Executive Officer for Ground Forces, Kevin Fahey.

A confidence trickster, a need to believe and an intelligence failure

Ahmed — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:22:07 +0000

Colin Powell, one of the most respected members of President Bush’s war Cabinet, sat in the heart of the UN Security Council, surrounded by the world’s diplomats and in front of a global television audience.

The former US Secretary of State – with George Tenet, the CIA Director, behind him – presented a bone-chill-ing account of Iraqi biological weapons sites. At one point he waved a model vial of anthrax (it was talcum powder) to demonstrate the danger Saddam Hussein posed to the world.