Actualité - Actions by the resistance double in Iraq

Baghad, September 7 (Prensa Latina) — Several explosions shook this capital today, killing 20 people and injuring 60, in a show of force by resistance forces a few hours before the government takes command of various Army units.

Actions by the rebels have doubled in the last few days despite the exceptional measures implemented by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki, together with the U.S. occupation forces Central Command.

Neither the deployment of 67,000 U.S. soldiers and Iraqis throughout Baghdad as part of Operation Together Forward, nor the most recent decision to extend the national state of emergency for another 30 days have prevented the attacks from continuing.

Two years ago, the Iraqi Cabinet established a state of emergency to try to contain the push forward by the guerrilla forces, but to date it has been ineffective.

Actions over the last 48 hours were aimed mainly against members of the Iraqi Army, who have been killed by some 30 bombs planted along roadsides, walkways and in vehicles.

One of those incidents occurred today, when a car bomb exploded as a police convoy left a gasoline station, leaving 10 dead, four of them police, and 18 injured, according to a security source.

In another attack in the Karrara neighborhood in central Baghdad, a suicide bomber driving a car filled with explosives crashed into a checkpoint, killing three soldiers and injuring 10.

Events of this type were also reported in Al Qahira, where a double attack took place, killing three troops and injuring eight. Three died today.

Meanwhile, the U.S. armed forces transferred the command of several Iraqi naval and airborne units to Maliki, an announcement postponed for seven days by the president.

The U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, William Caldwell, commented that the Iraqi prime minister would take over those forces progressively.

The decision is viewed suspiciously by the majority of the population and some government authorities, who doubt its effectiveness due to the serious deterioration in the domestic situation and the intensified rebel offensive.

(Granma International)