western Anbar province Wednesday in an apparent ambush of local
leaders, killing at least 24 people and wounding 58 others, including
the provincial governor whose goal is an economic renaissance in
territory once controlled by insurgents.
The sophisticated attack in the provincial capital of
was the deadliest in months for Anbar, and it raised fears that an
uneasy peace that has prevailed in the province since Sunni tribes and
security forces joined forces with U.S. troops to weaken al-Qaida in
Once most of the militants were killed or driven
underground, the factions turned to internecine fighting for control of
security forces and lucrative reconstruction contracts, and now those
struggles appear to be escalating. The rival camps accuse one another
of insurgent infiltration, corruption and cronyism, fragmenting the
Sunni political bloc ahead of elections in March.
“The city is moving toward destruction because of
the parties who rule the province, from the head of the Anbar
provincial council to the Anbar police commander. The issue is a power
struggle that’s resulted in the return of terrorists to the city,” said
Sheikh
With U.S. troops preparing to withdraw from
presidential elections scheduled for early March, the government and
security forces dominated by Shiites and tensions between Sunni Arabs
and Kurds still high, there also are growing fears that Anbar could
again become a flashpoint for Sunni resentment, as it was after the
2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled
At a minimum, Wednesday’s attack is sure to
exacerbate Anbar’s tense political climate and deepen the frustration
many residents express about a lack of trusted candidates in the
approaching elections. Despite the efforts of the Anbar Gov.
an accomplished engineer and businessman, to lure investors to the
devastated province, residents complain of widespread unemployment,
poor basic services and security restrictions that hinder
entrepreneurship.
“
future is far from settled,” said a senior U.S. military official
Wednesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he isn’t
authorized to talk to the news media. “The (Obama) administration is
going to turn its back on the situation, I have no doubt, but we may be
leaving behind an unholy mess that the Iranians and others may try to
exploit.”
“The city is a cake that’s shared among the leaders
of the Awakening and the tribal leaders at the expense of the powerless
citizens. We don’t know when the next car bomb will explode or the next
roadside bomb will go off,” said
“I’m asking: Is there any al-Qaida now?” Salman
continued. “It’s politics, and the sad thing about the city is how it’s
divided between the ordinary citizens who don’t have even a meter of
land in which to live, and the provincial council members who have
villas in
Militants have targeted every Anbar governor since
the invasion. Two previous governors were assassinated — one kidnapped
and executed in captivity, the other killed in a car bombing after he
left office.
Another former governor resigned and appeared in a
videotape, begging insurgents for forgiveness in exchange for the
release of his kidnapped sons. Still another claimed that he had
survived more than 30 assassination attempts while in office.
Wednesday’s three-pronged attack began at about
The explosion occurred as Gov. Fahdawi prepared to
leave the compound for a ground-breaking on a city project, said a
member of his security detail,
“As we were stepping out of the provincial office
building, a car bomb exploded in the nearby intersection,” al-Dulaimy
said. “The governor was supposed to have gone to lay the foundation for
a new project and, because of security concerns, even we didn’t know
where we were heading.”
A suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest detonated
near Fahdawi’s entourage, killing Anbar’s deputy police commander and
other police officers, Anbar authorities said.
A third bomb exploded on another side of the
compound at around the same time as the first two blasts, three Iraqi
security officials said, suggesting that insurgents had surrounded the
building in an apparent strategy to target officials leaving from
various exits.
The governor insisted on visiting the blast scene over the repeated objections of his bodyguards, al-Dulaimy said.
Local TV stations initially reported that the
governor was killed, but later amended their reports to say he had
suffered serious injuries. At least two provincial council members also
were wounded.
“We thought the governor had died. We ran to him and
found his face burned, and with other injuries all over his body,”
al-Dulaimy said, adding that the security detail took the governor to a
nearby military base where he was treated by U.S. medics.
Authorities immediately imposed a citywide curfew
and barred journalists from the scene, leading to widely varying
reports about how many bombs had gone off, where they exploded and
whether the walk-up bomber was an insurgent disguised as a policeman or
a member of the governor’s security detail.
for treatment of broken bones. Al-Halbusi said the attacks were
intended to derail economic initiatives, the cornerstone of the
governor’s agenda.
—
(c) 2009, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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