New al-Qaida attacks target U.S.-allied Sunnis

[unhappycamper]

Soldiers from Ghostrider Company, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment search a man who tried to approach one of their vehicles during a foot patrol on the outskirts of Baqubah, Iraq on Jan. 2.


New al-Qaida attacks target U.S.-allied Sunnis
By Patrick Quinn - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jan 2, 2008 18:03:12 EST

BAGHDAD — A suicide bombing north of Baghdad on Wednesday and a string of attacks against members of a burgeoning Sunni tribal movement have demonstrated al-Qaida in Iraq’s concern over the alliance between the U.S. military and the grass-roots groups.

U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner said the attacks were the “clearest indication” that the foreign-led al-Qaida was worried about losing the support of its fellow Sunni Arabs.

Last week, Osama bin Laden warned Iraq’s Sunni Arabs against joining the groups fighting al-Qaida or participating in any unity government. The overwhelmingly Sunni tribal groups — known as Awakening Councils or Concerned Local Citizens — have since been the targets of a series of deadly attacks.

In the latest one, a bomber wearing a vest loaded with explosives killed seven people Wednesday and wounded 22 in Baqubah, the capital of Diyala province, police said. The dead included a policeman and two members of an Awakening Council group called the Brigades of 1920s Revolution, a former insurgent group, police said.

Police Col. Raghib al-Omari said the bomber detonated the vest near a hospital in the center of Baqubah, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. The U.S. military, however, said the suicide bomber killed four people and wounded six after jumping onto the hood of a car being driven by an Awakening Council member.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_sunniattacks_080102/