.Iraq: Kidnap victims used for blasts
BAGHDAD -- Insurgents are now using unwitting kidnap victims as suicide bombers--seizing them, booby-trapping their cars without their knowledge, then releasing them only to blow up the vehicles by remote control, the Defense Ministry warned Thursday.
The Iraqi announcement--the latest development in the deadly war waged by the insurgency -- came as widespread lawlessness swept the capital Thursday, with kidnappings, deadly attacks on police, the discovery of more mutilated death-squad victims and a brazen daylight bank heist by men dressed as Iraqi soldiers.
It was unclear from the Defense Ministry's statement whether the insurgents are using kidnap victims because they are having trouble finding recruits for suicide missions. Suicide car bombs are responsible for 7 percent of the total Iraqi deaths this year--down considerably from 25 percent of the overall deaths in the last eight months of 2005, according to an AP count.
A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity said he was aware of such incidents but could not provide details. American officials have said in the past that insurgents often tape or handcuff a suicide driver's hands to a car, or bind the foot to the accelerator pedal to ensure that the driver does not back out at the last minute.
In a statement Thursday, Iraq's Defense Ministry said that "recent car bomb explosions targeting checkpoints and public places have nothing to do with [traditional] terrorist operations."
In violence Thursday, more than a dozen apparent victims of death squads were found in the capital, many showing signs of torture.
A U.S. soldier was killed in Anbar province, the military said. Earlier in the day, the military said another GI was killed in northern Baghdad on Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded next to the vehicle in which he was traveling.
Coalition forces moved ahead with plans to turn security over to Iraqi troops by the end of 2007. Italy handed over the reins of the relatively quiet Dhi Qar province in the south, the second province turned over to local control.
In the Baghdad robbery, an AP reporter saw armed men in pickups pull up outside a bank in a downtown commercial neighborhood. Police said a bank manager was injured and the assailants got away.
Chicago Tribune
The Iraqi announcement--the latest development in the deadly war waged by the insurgency -- came as widespread lawlessness swept the capital Thursday, with kidnappings, deadly attacks on police, the discovery of more mutilated death-squad victims and a brazen daylight bank heist by men dressed as Iraqi soldiers.
It was unclear from the Defense Ministry's statement whether the insurgents are using kidnap victims because they are having trouble finding recruits for suicide missions. Suicide car bombs are responsible for 7 percent of the total Iraqi deaths this year--down considerably from 25 percent of the overall deaths in the last eight months of 2005, according to an AP count.
A U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity said he was aware of such incidents but could not provide details. American officials have said in the past that insurgents often tape or handcuff a suicide driver's hands to a car, or bind the foot to the accelerator pedal to ensure that the driver does not back out at the last minute.
In a statement Thursday, Iraq's Defense Ministry said that "recent car bomb explosions targeting checkpoints and public places have nothing to do with [traditional] terrorist operations."
In violence Thursday, more than a dozen apparent victims of death squads were found in the capital, many showing signs of torture.
A U.S. soldier was killed in Anbar province, the military said. Earlier in the day, the military said another GI was killed in northern Baghdad on Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded next to the vehicle in which he was traveling.
Coalition forces moved ahead with plans to turn security over to Iraqi troops by the end of 2007. Italy handed over the reins of the relatively quiet Dhi Qar province in the south, the second province turned over to local control.
In the Baghdad robbery, an AP reporter saw armed men in pickups pull up outside a bank in a downtown commercial neighborhood. Police said a bank manager was injured and the assailants got away.
Chicago Tribune
posted by madtom at 2:08 PM
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