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Perween Rahman, activist for the poor, murdered in Karachi

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:09:00 +0000

KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen shot and killed a pioneering Pakistani activist in Karachi who helped bring services like sewer and water to the city's poorest neighborhoods, a police official said Thursday.

The killing was a sign of the escalating chaos that has gripped Pakistan's largest city.

Perween Rahman, the director of the Orangi Pilot Project, was on her way home Wednesday night when she was shot and killed by gunmen on a motorcycle, said senior police officer Javed Odho.

She was struck four times in the chest and neck and died on the way to the hospital, he said.

Rahman was an architect who left private practice early in her career to help the poor.

The Orangi Pilot Project operated in the squatter slums that make up a huge part of Karachi. The innovative project, started in the 1980s, helped residents of those poor communities build their own sewer and water systems.

The port city is a sprawling metropolis of roughly 18 million people.

It is made up of a mish-mash of essentially illegal land settlements where poor people purchased land from developers and built their homes. Few of these settlements have basic services like sewage lines or running water, let alone access to hospitals or schools.

5 U.S. troops killed by rocket, Iraq officials say

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:26:00 +0000

Iraqi security officials say that a rocket attack has killed five American troops in Iraq.

Two Iraqi security officials say a barrage of at least three rockets hit an Iraqi base in eastern Baghdad on Monday morning and killed the five American troops.

Earlier, the U.S. military said in a brief statement that five troops were killed but gave no additional details about where the incident occurred or how they died.

The Iraqi officials say the Americans were staying on the Iraqi base as advisers and the rockets hit near their living quarters.

The Iraqi officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Five American troops were killed Monday in central Iraq, U.S. officials said -- the single largest loss of life for the American military in Iraq in the past two years.

The military said in a brief statement that the five were killed Monday, giving no additional details about where the incident occurred or how they died.

The incident was under investigation and the names of the deceased were being withheld pending notification of the next of kin, the military said.

Radical cleric returns to Iraq from exile

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:20:00 +0000

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, a fierce opponent of the United States and head of Iraq's most feared militia, came home Wednesday after nearly four years in self-imposed exile in Iran, welcomed by hundreds of cheering supporters in a return that solidifies the rise of his movement.

Al-Sadr's presence in Iraq ensures he will be a powerful voice in Iraqi politics as U.S. forces leave the country. He left Iraq in 2007 somewhat as a renegade, a firebrand populist whose militiamen battled American troops and Iraqi forces. He returns a more legitimized figure, leading an organized political movement that is a vital partner in the new government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Al-Sadr can wield a bully pulpit to put strong pressure on al-Maliki -- and is likely to demand that no American troops remain beyond their scheduled final withdrawal date at the end of this year. His return caused trepidation among many Iraqis, particularly Sunnis who remember vividly the sectarian killings carried out by his militia, the Mahdi Army, and believe he is a tool of Iran.

But his supporters were jubilant.

Car bombs in Iraqi Shiite cities kill 21

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 22:37:00 +0000

Car bombs struck three Shiite cities in southern Iraq on Monday, killing more than 20 people in an apparent move to derail progress toward forming a new government as political leaders tried to break the eight-month deadlock.

The blasts in the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf and in Iraq's second largest city of Basra were the third major attacks since last week, after the slaughter of more than 50 Christians in a Baghdad church and a string of 13 coordinated bombings across Baghdad that killed more than 90 people.

There was no claim of responsibility for Monday's attacks, but the violence underscores the desire of al-Qaida and other Sunni extremists to foment sectarian division at a time when Iraqis are watching to see if their leaders can form a new government accepted by both the Shiite majority and the Sunni minority.

In the northern town of Irbil, leaders of Iraq's major political blocs met Monday for the first time since parliamentary elections in March. The 90-minute televised session, the start of three days of talks, did not lead to a breakthrough.

The battle is largely a contest between the Iranian-favored coalition of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki along with followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr against a Sunni-backed secular coalition led by former prime minister Ayad Allawi.

Top Saddam ally sentenced to death by hanging

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 19:41:00 +0000

Tariq Aziz, the dapper diplomat and highest-ranking Christian in Saddam Hussein's regime, was sentenced Tuesday to death by hanging for persecuting members of the Shiite religious parties that now dominate the country.

The decision to execute the 74-year-old Aziz, who has suffered a series of strokes in prison, shows the depth of hatred among the country's current Shiite leadership for top figures in a Baathist regime that sent hundreds of thousands of opponents to death or exile.

Among Shiites in the vast, eastern Baghdad slum called Sadr City, a gallows death for one of Saddam's ardent aides was considered a fitting end.

"This is a fair judicial court ruling against those whose hands are still bloodied," said Kamil Jassim, a 32-year-old teacher.

Many Sunnis, the minority Muslim sect that dominated Iraq under Saddam, questioned whether the death sentence was merely revenge masquerading as justice.

"The aim of this court, formed by this government, is to kill and liquidate all of the former regime's senior figures if they committed crimes or not. It is an unfair trial and unfair verdict," said Jameel Sahib Ali, a 50-year-old merchant in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit.

Last U.S. combat brigade heads home from Iraq

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:45:00 +0000

As their convoy reached the barbed wire at the border crossing out of Iraq on Wednesday, the soldiers whooped and cheered. Then they scrambled out of their stifling hot armored vehicles, unfurled an American flag and posed for group photos.

For these troops of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, it was a moment of relief fraught with symbolism. Seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion, the last American combat brigade was leaving Iraq, well ahead of President Barack Obama's Aug. 31 deadline for ending U.S. combat operations there.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: The 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was officially designated the last combat brigade to leave Iraq under Obama's plan to end combat operations in Iraq by Aug. 31. Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana joined the troops on their final journey out of the country.

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When 18-year-old Spc. Luke Dill first rolled into Iraq as part of the U.S. invasion, his Humvee was so vulnerable to bombs that the troops lined its floor with flak jackets.

Now 25 and a staff sergeant after two tours of duty, he rode out of Iraq this week in a Stryker, an eight-wheeled behemoth encrusted with armor and add-ons to ward off grenades and other projectiles.

Twin car bombs kill 25 in Iraqi city of Karbala

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:16:00 +0000

Two car bombs targeting Shiite pilgrims during a religious festival in the holy city of Karbala killed 25 people on Monday, Iraqi police and hospital officials said. Sunni extremists are suspected.

Militants detonated two parked cars filled with explosives about two miles (three kilometers) apart as crowds of pilgrims passed by. Police and medical officials in Karbala, 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Baghdad, said 68 people were injured in the attacks.

The pilgrims were on their way to Karbala to take part in an important religious holiday, known as Shabaniyah, that attracts devout Shiites from around the country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Monday bombings, but the method is the hallmark of Sunni extremists.

While violence has dropped dramatically in the past years in Iraq, suspected Sunni insurgents regularly target Shiite religious ceremonies and holy places in an attempt to re-ignite sectarian tensions that brought Iraq to the brink of civil war in 2005 and 2007.

The Shabaniyah festival marks the birth of Imam Mohammed al-Mahdi -- known as the "Hidden Imam" -- a Shiite saint who disappeared in the ninth century, and is held in the middle of the month preceding the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

15 killed in Baghdad on last day of Shiite holiday

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:17:00 +0000

At least 15 people were killed Thursday by bombs targeting the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who defied violence to take part in the final day of a Shiite religious holiday, officials said.

The deaths came one day after nearly 60 people were killed in attacks in and around the Iraqi capital, most of them by a suicide bomber who targeted pilgrims heading to a mosque in northern Baghdad to mark the anniversary of the death of a revered Shiite figure.

While violence in Iraq has plummeted since the height of the insurgency a few years ago, the attacks targeting devout Shiites who walk from across Iraq to take part in the holy occasion underscore the tentative nature of the security gains and the persistent attempts by insurgents to once again foment sectarian divisions.

The attacks come as Iraq is struggling to seat a government a little over four months after the March 7 election failed to bring about a clear winner to lead the country. As opposing political blocs jockey to form a ruling coalition, the ongoing political uncertainty has raised questions about whether insurgents will try to destabilize the country just as American troops are reducing their numbers to 50,000 by the end of August.

Baghdad recount could change Iraq election results

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:55:00 +0000

An Iraqi court on Monday ordered a recount of more than 2.5 million votes cast in Baghdad during the March 7 parliamentary election, a decision that could tilt the results in favor of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and inflame sectarian tensions after what has already been a contentious election.

Al-Maliki's bloc won 89 of parliament's 325 seats, putting him just two seats behind former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. Neither has been able to cobble together a majority coalition with the support of other parties yet. In the meantime, al-Maliki has been trying to alter the outcome through court appeals and other challenges, and by trying to woo support away from Allawi.

Al-Maliki's State of Law bloc has claimed election fraud and demanded a recount in five provinces, including Baghdad, which accounts for almost a fifth of parliamentary seats.

The recount was ordered by a three-member court that investigates election-related complaints and will be carried out by Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission, said commission official Hamdia al-Hussaini.

She said the election commission has so far only received the court's decision on Baghdad and has not received any decisions about the other provinces. She said the electoral commission would decide how and when the recount would be carried out.

Little fanfare for 7th anniversary of war in Iraq

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:58:00 +0000

Almost seven years after the first bombs in the war to oust Saddam Hussein, Iraqis went about their business Friday with little observance of the anniversary, looking to the future with a mixture of trepidation and hope.

The seven-year anniversary comes as Iraqis await results from the country's second nationwide parliamentary election, a key milestone that will determine who will oversee Iraq as U.S. forces go home.

There was little fanfare in Baghdad and around the country for an event many Iraqis first viewed with hope only to see it sour into sorrow and anger as the invasion unleashed rampant sectarian violence.

"Now we have democracy and freedom, but the cost was dire and Iraqis have paid that price," said Raid Abdul-Zahra, 38, a technician in Najaf.

While violence has plummeted since the height of the bloodshed in 2006 and 2007, attacks continue across the country, although in much smaller numbers.

On Friday, at least five people were killed in bombs and shootings Friday across Iraq.

Three people were killed when a bomb exploded in the Sadr City slum of eastern Baghdad; gunmen killed an Iraqi soldier in southern Baghdad; and a roadside bomb in the northern city of Mosul killed an Iraqi soldier, police and hospital officials said. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

17 killed in Baghdad blasts targeting voters

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:40:00 +0000

A string of blasts ripped through Baghdad targeting early voters and killing 17 people Thursday, authorities said, raising tensions in an already nervous city as early ballots are cast for Sunday's parliamentary elections.

Insurgents have repeatedly threatened to use violence to disrupt the elections, which will help determine who will oversee the country as U.S. forces go home. It is also a test over whether the country can overcome its deep sectarian divides. Two of the blasts hit voters outside polling stations.

Baghdad was a tense city Thursday as thousands of troops deployed across the capital, and convoys of army trucks and minibuses ferried soldiers and security personnel to and from polling stations.

Many stores were shuttered, and normally crowded streets were near empty as people appeared to be staying home on what was a holiday across the country.

A sandstorm blowing into the capital also gave the already empty streets an even more eerie feel.

"Terrorists wanted to hamper the elections, thus they started to blow themselves up in the streets," said Deputy Interior Minister Ayden Khalid Qader, who's responsible for election-related security across the country.

8 villagers killed south of Baghdad, some beheaded

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:47:00 +0000

Assailants killed eight members of a Shiite family in a village outside Baghdad on Monday, shooting some and beheading others, just one of a series of pre-election shooting and car bombing attacks that swept the country, killing 22 people in all.

Attacks on civilians were commonplace at the height of the sectarian fighting in 2006 and 2007. The targeting of civilians on Monday, especially the beheadings considered a hallmark of Sunni insurgents, raised concerns that the vicious sectarian violence that nearly tore the country apart could resurface.

Associated Press television video of the attack on the family in Wahda, a mixed Shiite-Sunni village 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of Baghdad, showed a blood-soaked mattress and carpet, and stuffed animals strewn across the floor.

The Baghdad-area security command said in a statement that a "terrorist group" using silencers shot and beheaded eight members of a single family. Authorities did not say how many were shot and how many were beheaded, and provided few other details of what they described as an "ugly crime."

AP video from the nearby police station showed four people who authorities said were responsible, but no further details were given. The police statement did not indicate who might have carried out the attack.

Iraq accuses Iran of seizing oil well near border

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:36:00 +0000

Iranian forces crossed into Iraq and seized an oil well just over the two countries' disputed border, Iraq's government said Friday, prompting a protest from Baghdad and providing a dramatic display of the sometimes tenuous relations between the wary allies.

The incident could trouble Iraq's drive to attract the international investment needed to develop its beleaguered oil sector, analysts said, and it raised questions about the two countries' ties, which had improved greatly after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

According to Iraq's deputy foreign minister, Mohammed Haj Mahmoud, Iranian troops crossed into Iraqi territory on Thursday and seized oil well No. 4 in the al-Fakkah oil field, located in Maysan province about 200 miles (about 320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad. The oil field is one of Iraq's largest.

"This is not the first time that the Iranians have tried to prevent Iraqis from investing in oil fields in border areas," Mahmoud told the AP. He said he did not know if the Iranians were still in control of the well.

Iraq's national security council held an emergency meeting Friday to discuss the issue, and government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh later said the seizure showed anew the need for clearly defined borders between Iraq and Iran. He said the two countries have begun diplomatic talks.

85,000 Iraqis killed in almost 5 years of war

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:01:00 +0000

Iraq's government said at least 85,000 people were killed from 2004 to 2008, officially answering one of the biggest questions of the conflict -- how many perished in the sectarian violence that nearly led to a civil war.

What remains unanswered is how many died in the 2003 U.S. invasion and in the months of chaos that followed it.

A report by the Human Rights Ministry said 85,694 people were killed from the beginning of 2004 to Oct. 31, 2008 and 147,195 were wounded. The figures included Iraqi civilians, military and police but did not cover U.S. military deaths, insurgents, or foreigners, including contractors. And it did not include the first months of the war after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

The Associated Press reported similar figures in April based on government statistics obtained by the AP showing that the government had recorded 87,215 Iraqi deaths from 2005 to February 2009. The toll included violence ranging from catastrophic bombings to execution-style slayings.

Until the AP report, the government's toll of Iraqi deaths had been one of the war's most closely guarded secrets. Both supporters and opponents of the conflict have accused the other of manipulating the toll to sway public opinion.