Summary
The Iraqi Sunni militia leader known as Abu al-Abed claimed that the group he leads consists of 600 men who receive on average $360 per month plus up-to-date weapons from the US forces, as well as logistical and military support during confrontations with al-Qaeda forces.\n He told me he chose to fly to Irbil to meet his brother-in-law and his sister rather than risk visiting them in their home town of Kirkuk. Besides being armed and supported by the resident US forces, the Sunni militiamen joining the fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq are receiving military back-up from Iraqi forces during their confrontations with al-Qaeda fighters, and are bringing some semblance of security to their towns and villages.
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Extract
Iraq: No End to the Suffering
Any Iraqis who had dared believe that security was returning to their troubled country had their illusions shattered when, on 23 November, an explosion at al-Ghazl pet market in central Baghdad claimed the lives of 15 Iraqis and injured about 60 more.
Four members of a Shia cell were arrested by Iraqi and US forces and admitted that they had carried out the attack, planting the bombs in crates to blend innocently with those of traders selling chickens, pigeons and sheep for household use. They claimed under interrogation that they had hoped local people would assume alQaeda had targeted the market - as it has many t...See the full content of this document
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