At least four soldiers from the occupying forces and at least nine Iraqis were killed Saturday in four highly organized suicide bombing attacks in this Shiite holy city 60 miles southwest of Baghdad. More than 100 soldiers and civilians were wounded. Most of the casualties were not American. The fatal strikes were the deadliest in a string of bold assaults against allied forces this holiday week, and they brought a burst of violence to what had been a relatively calm southern Iraq. While more than 90 percent of all attacks on allied forces have occurred north and west of Karbala, in areas with a majority of Sunni Muslims and strong loyalties to Saddam Hussein, the latest attacks in this city sacred to Iraq’s Shiite majority revived a pattern of bomb attacks in the south. A huge bomb in August killed an influential Shiite, Ayatollah Muhammad Bakr al-Hakim, and scores of others in Najaf, and another bombing this fall killed 19 Italian troops in Nasiriya. Full Story
About OODA Analyst
OODA is comprised of a unique team of international experts capable of providing advanced intelligence and analysis, strategy and planning support, risk and threat management, training, decision support, crisis response, and security services to global corporations and governments.