A "Humanitarian War" on Syria? Military Escalation. Towards a Broader Middle East-Central Asian War?

"As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan." General Wesley Clark

An extended Middle East Central Asian war has been on the Pentagon's drawing board since the mid-1990s.

As part of this extended war scenario, the US-NATO alliance plans to wage a military campaign against Syria under a UN sponsored "humanitarian mandate".

Escalation is an integral part of the military agenda. Destabilization of sovereign states through "regime change" is closely coordinated with military planning.

There is a military roadmap characterised by a sequence of US-NATO war theaters.

War preparations to attack Syria and Iran have been in "an advanced state of readiness" for several years. The Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 categorizes Syria as a "rogue state", as a country which supports terrorism.

A war on Syria is viewed by the Pentagon as part of the broader war directed against Iran. President George W. Bush confirmed in his Memoirs that he had "ordered the Pentagon to plan an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities and [had] considered a covert attack on Syria" (George Bush's memoirs reveal how he considered attacks on Iran and Syria, The Guardian, November 8, 2010)

This broader military agenda is intimately related to strategic oil reserves and pipeline routes. It is supported by the Anglo-American oil giants.

The July 2006 bombing of Lebanon was part of a carefully planned "military road map". The extension of "The July War" on Lebanon into Syria had been contemplated by US and Israeli military planners. It was abandoned upon the defeat of Israeli ground forces by Hizbollah.

Israel's July 2006 war on Lebanon also sought to establish Israeli control over the North Eastern Mediterranean coastline including offshore oil and gas reserves in Lebanese and Palestinian territorial waters.

The plans to invade both Lebanon and Syria have remained on the Pentagon's drawing board despite Israel's setback in the 2006 July War: "In November 2008, barely a month before Tel Aviv started its massacre in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military held drills for a two-front war against Lebanon and Syria called Shiluv Zro’ot III (Crossing Arms III). The military exercise included a massive simulated invasion of both Syria and Lebanon" (See Mahdi Darius Nazemoraya, Israel's Next War: Today the Gaza Strip, Tomorrow Lebanon?, Global Research, January 17, 2009)

The road to Tehran goes through Damascus. A US-NATO sponsored war on Iran would involve, as a first step, a destabilization campaign ("regime change") including covert intelligence operations in support of rebel forces directed against the Syrian government.

A "humanitarian war" under the logo of "Responsibility to Protect" (R2P) directed against Syria would also contribute to the ongoing destabilization of Lebanon.

Were a military campaign to be waged against Syria, Israel would be directly or indirectly involved in military and intelligence operations.

A war on Syria would lead to military escalation.

There are at present four distinct war theaters: Afghanistan-Pakistan, Iraq, Palestine and Libya.

An attack on Syria would lead to the integration of these separate war theaters, eventually leading towards a broader Middle East-Central Asian war, engulfing an entire region from North Africa and the Mediterranean to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The ongoing protest movement is intended to serve as a pretext and a justification to intervene militarily against Syria. The existence of an armed insurrection is denied. The Western media in chorus have described recent events in Syria as a "peaceful protest movement" directed against the government of Bashar Al Assad, when the evidence confirms the existence of an armed insurgency integrated by Islamic paramilitary groups.

From the outset of the protest movement in Daraa in mid-March, there has been an exchange of fire between the police and armed forces on the one hand and armed gunmen on the other. Acts of arson directed against government buildings have also been committed. In late July in Hama, public buildings including the Court House and the Agricultural Bank were set on fire. Israeli news sources, while dismissing the existence of an armed conflict, nonetheless, acknowledge that "protesters [were] armed with heavy machine guns." (DEBKAfile August 1, 2001. Report on Hama, emphasis added)

"All Options on the Table"

In June, US Senator Lindsey Graham (who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee) hinted to the possibility of a "humanitarian" military intervention directed against Syria with a view to "saving the lives of civilians". Graham suggested that the "option" applied to Libya under UN Secuirty Council resolution 1973 should be envisaged in the case of Syria:

“If it made sense to protect the Libyan people against Gadhafi, and it did because they were going to get slaughtered if we hadn’t sent NATO in when he was on the outskirts of Benghazi, the question for the world [is], have we gotten to that point in Syria, ...

We may not be there yet, but we are getting very close, so if you really care about protecting the Syrian people from slaughter, now is the time to let Assad know that all options are on the table,” (CBS "Face The Nation", June 12, 2011)

Following the adoption of the UN Security Council Statement pertaining to Syria (August 3, 2011), the White House called, in no uncertain terms, for "regime change" in Syria and the ouster of President Bashar Al Assad:

"We do not want to see him remain in Syria for stability's sake, and rather, we view him as the cause of instability in Syria," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Wednesday.

"And we think, frankly, that it's safe to say that Syria would be a better place without President Assad," (quoted in Syria: US Call Closer to Calling for Regime Change, IPS, August 4, 2011)

Extended economic sanctions often constitute a leadup towards outright military intervention. A bill sponsored by Senator Lieberman was introduced in the US Senate with a view to authorizing sweeping economic sanctions against Syria. Moreover, in a letter to President Obama in early August, a group of more than sixty U.S. senators called for "implementing additional sanctions... while also making it clear to the Syrian regime that it will pay an increasing cost for its outrageous repression."

These sanctions would require blocking bank and financial transactions as well as "ending purchases of Syrian oil, and cutting off investments in Syria's oil and gas sectors." (See Pressure on Obama to get tougher on Syria coming from all sides - Foreign Policy, August 3, 2011).

Meanwhile, the US State Department has also met with members of the Syrian opposition in exile. Covert support has also been channelled to the armed rebel groups.

Dangerous Crossroads: War on Syria. Beachhead for an Attack on Iran

Following the August 3 Statement by the Chairman of the UN Security Council directed against Syria, Moscow's envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin warned of the dangers of military escalation:

"NATO is planning a military campaign against Syria to help overthrow the regime of President Bashar al-Assad with a long-reaching goal of preparing a beachhead for an attack on Iran,...

"[This statement] means that the planning [of the military campaign] is well underway. It could be a logical conclusion of those military and propaganda operations, which have been carried out by certain Western countries against North Africa," Rogozin said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper... The Russian diplomat pointed out at the fact that the alliance is aiming to interfere only with the regimes "whose views do not coincide with those of the West."

Rogozin agreed with the opinion expressed by some experts that Syria and later Yemen could be NATO's last steps on the way to launch an attack on Iran.

"The noose around Iran is tightening. Military planning against Iran is underway. And we are certainly concerned about an escalation of a large-scale war in this huge region," Rogozin said.

Having learned the Libyan lesson, Russia "will continue to oppose a forcible resolution of the situation in Syria," he said, adding that the consequences of a large-scale conflict in North Africa would be devastating for the whole world. "Beachhead for an Attack on Iran": NATO is planning a Military Campaign against Syria, Novosti, August 5, 2011)

Dmitry Rogozin, August 2011


While Libya, Syria and Iran are part of the military roadmap, this strategic deployment if it were to carried out would also threaten China and Russia. Both countries have investment, trade as well as military cooperation agreements with Syria and Iran. Iran has observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Escalation is part of the military agenda. Since 2005, the US and its allies, including America's NATO partners and Israel, have been involved in the extensive deployment and stockpiling of advanced weapons systems. The air defense systems of the US, NATO member countries and Israel are fully integrated.


The Role of Israel and Turkey

Both Ankara and Tel Aviv are involved in supporting an armed insurgency. These endeavors are coordinated between the two governments and their intelligence agencies.

Israel's Mossad, according to reports, has provided covert support to radical Salafi terrorist groups, which became active in Southern Syria at the outset of protest movement in Daraa in mid-March. Reports suggest that financing for the Salafi insurgency is coming from Saudi Arabia. (See Syrian army closes in on Damascus suburbs, The Irish Times, May 10, 2011)
The Turkish government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan is supporting Syrian opposition groups in exile while also backing the armed rebels of the Muslim Brotherhood in Northern Syria.

Both the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood (MB) (whose leadership is in exile in the UK) and the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir (the Party of Liberation) are behind the insurrection. Both organizations are supported by Britain's MI6. The avowed objective of both MB and Hizb-ut Tahir is ultimately to destabilize Syria's secular State. (See Michel Chossudovsky, SYRIA: Who is Behind The Protest Movement? Fabricating a Pretext for a US-NATO "Humanitarian Intervention", Global Research, May 3, 2011).

In June, Turkish troops crossed the border into northern Syria, officially to come to the rescue of Syrian refugees. The government of Bashar Al Assad accused Turkey of directly supporting the incursion of rebel forces into northern Syria:

"A rebel force of up to 500 fighters attacked a Syrian Army position on June 4 in northern Syria. They said the target, a garrison of Military Intelligence, was captured in a 36-hour assault in which 72 soldiers were killed in Jisr Al Shoughour, near the border with Turkey.

“We found that the criminals [rebel fighters] were using weapons from Turkey, and this is very worrisome,” an official said.

This marked the first time that the Assad regime has accused Turkey of helping the revolt. ... Officials said the rebels drove the Syrian Army from Jisr Al Shoughour and then took over the town. They said government buildings were looted and torched before another Assad force arrived. ...

A Syrian officer who conducted the tour said the rebels in Jisr Al Shoughour consisted of Al Qaida-aligned fighters. He said the rebels employed a range of Turkish weapons and ammunition but did not accuse the Ankara government of supplying the equipment." (Syria’s Assad accuses Turkey of arming rebels, TR Defence, Jun 25 2011)

The Israel-Turkey Military Cooperation Agreement

Israel and Turkey have a military cooperation agreement which pertains in a very direct way to Syria as well to the strategic Lebanese-Syrian Eastern Mediterranean coastline (including the gas reserves off the coast of Lebanon and pipeline routes).

Already during the Clinton Administration, a triangular military alliance between the US, Israel and Turkey had unfolded. This "triple alliance", which is dominated by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, integrates and coordinates military command decisions between the three countries pertaining to the broader Middle East. It is based on the close military ties respectively of Israel and Turkey with the US, coupled with a strong bilateral military relationship between Tel Aviv and Ankara. ....

The triple alliance is also coupled with a 2005 NATO-Israeli military cooperation agreement which includes "many areas of common interest, such as the fight against terrorism and joint military exercises. These military cooperation ties with NATO are viewed by the Israeli military as a means to "enhance Israel's deterrence capability regarding potential enemies threatening it, mainly Iran and Syria." (See Michel Chossudovsky,"Triple Alliance": The US, Turkey, Israel and the War on Lebanon, August 6, 2006)

Meanwhile, the recent reshuffle within Turkey's top brass has reinforced the pro-Islamist faction within the armed forces. In late July, The Commander in Chief of the Army and head of Turkey's Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Isik Kosaner, resigned together with the commanders of the Navy and Air Force.

General Kosaner represented a broadly secular stance within the Armed Forces. General Necdet Ozel has been appointed as his replacement as commander of the Army the new army chief.

These developments are of crucial importance. They tend to support US interests. They also point to a potential shift within the military in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood including the armed insurrection in Northern Syria.

"New appointments have strengthened Erdogan and the ruling party in Turkey... [T]he military power is able to carry out more ambitious projects in the region. It is predicted that in case of using the Libyan scenario in Syria it is possible that Turkey will apply for military intervention." ( New appointments have strengthened Erdogan and the ruling party in Turkey : Public Radio of Armenia, August 06, 2011, emphasis added)

MB Rebels at Jisr al Choughour

Muslim Brotherhood Rebels at Jisr al Shughour Photos AFP June 16, 2011

[Note: this photo is in many regards misleading. Most of the rebel gunmen are highly trained with modern weapons.]

The Extended NATO Military Alliance

Egypt, the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia (within the extended military alliance) are partners of NATO, whose forces could be deployed in a campaign directed against Syria.

Israel is a de facto member of NATO following an agreement signed in 2005.

The process of military planning within NATO's extended alliance involves coordination between the Pentagon, NATO, Israel's Defense Force (IDF), as well as the active military involvement of the frontline Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Egypt: all in all ten Arab countries plus Israel are members of The Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.

We are at a dangerous crossroads. The geopolitical implications are far-reaching.

Syria has borders with Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. It spreads across the valley of the Euphrates, it is at the crossroads of major waterways and pipeline routes.

Syria is an ally of Iran. Russia has a naval base in North Western Syria (see map).

Establishment of a base in Tartus and rapid advancement of military technology cooperation with Damascus makes Syria Russia's instrumental bridgehead and bulwark in the Middle East.

Damascus is an important ally of Iran and irreconcilable enemy of Israel. It goes without saying that appearance of the Russian military base in the region will certainly introduce corrections into the existing correlation of forces.

Russia is taking the Syrian regime under its protection. It will almost certainly sour Moscow's relations with Israel. It may even encourage the Iranian regime nearby and make it even less tractable in the nuclear program talks.( Ivan Safronov, Russia to defend its principal Middle East ally: Moscow takes Syria under its protection, Global Research July 28, 2006)

World War III Scenario

For the last five years, the Middle East-Central Asian region has been on an active war footing.

Syria has significant air defense capabilities as well as ground forces.

Syria has been building up its air defense system with the delivery of Russian Pantsir S1 air-defense missiles. In 2010, Russia delivered a Yakhont missile system to Syria. The Yakhont operating out of Russia's Tartus naval base "are designed for engagement of enemy's ships at the range up to 300 km". (Bastion missile systems to protect Russian naval base in Syria, Ria Novosti, September 21, 2010).

The structure of military alliances respectively on the US-NATO and Syria-Iran-SCO sides, not to mention the military involvement of Israel, the complex relationship between Syria and Lebanon, the pressures exerted by Turkey on Syria's northern border, point indelibly to a dangerous process of escalation.

Any form of US-NATO sponsored military intervention directed against Syria would destabilize the entire region, potentially leading to escalation over a vast geographical area, extending from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border with Tajikistan and China.

In the short run, with the war in Libya, the US-NATO military alliance is overextended in terms of its capabilities. Whiel we do not forsee the implementation of a US-NATO military operation in the short-term, the process of political destabilization through the covert support of a rebel insurgency will in all likelihood continue.

Source

Syrian security forces open fire on thousands at protest; at least 6 killed

By Zeina Karam, The Associated Press

BEIRUT — Syrian security forces opened fire on thousands of protesters Friday, killing at least six people as soldiers tried to head off demonstrations by occupying mosques and blocking public squares, human rights activists said.

A leading activist told The Associated Press that three people were killed in Homs, two in Damascus and one in a village outside Daraa, the southern city where the nationwide uprising began in March. He asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisals by the government.

In Damascus, the capital, three rallies were held - the largest number of protests held at one time in the city during the two-month revolt against President Bashar Assad.

Thousands in Syria have persevered with the demonstrations, turning up in huge numbers on Fridays - the Islamic day of prayer - only to be met with bullets, tear gas and batons by security forces.

One activist in Homs, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said security forces dressed in black and shadowly pro-regime gunmen known as "shabiha" were doing the shooting. He said the regime forces first fired in the air, then shot directly into the crowd as protesters continued their way.

Human rights groups say that between 700 and 850 people have been killed since the start of the revolt against Assad's repressive regime.

In Damascus, security forces fired tear gas in the Zahra neighbourhood, forcing scores of people to disperse. In nearby Mazzeh, protesters ran away when security forces arrived. In Muhajereen, security forces used batons to scatter dozens of people, activists said.

Assad has come under scathing criticism for the crackdown, with the United States and Europe imposing sanctions.

On Friday, Britain summoned Syria's ambassador to warn that new sanctions will target the regime's hierarchy if Assad does not halt the country's violent crackdown on protesters.

Syrian Ambassador Sami Khiyami was called in for talks with political director Geoffrey Adams - the second time in recent weeks he had been ordered to explain his government's actions.

In several volatile areas of Syria, residents said soldiers occupied mosques and blocked off major public areas Friday to prevent people from leaving their homes.

"The army has transformed major mosques in the city into military barracks where soldiers sleep, eat and drink," said a resident in the coastal town of Banias. "They've put up barriers and sandbags around the mosques."

Up to 1,200 security forces have deployed in the public square in the centre of town, and soldiers and armed thugs have broken into shops, offices and homes to intimidate people.

There is a media blackout in Syria, making it impossible to confirm witness accounts independently. Witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for their personal safety.

Other protests were around the northeastern city of Qamishli, where about 5,000 people marched in the streets chanting "Freedom!" and "Freedom to political prisoners!" said rights activist Mustafa Osso.

Thousands also were demonstrating in the nearby towns of Amouda and Derbasiyeh, he said.

The government's crackdown has increased in intensity in recent days. On Wednesday, the army shelled residential areas in central and southern Syria, killing 19 people, a human rights group said.

On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton slammed the Syrian government's assault on demonstrators and said the violence indicates that Assad is weak, though she stopped short of saying he must quit.

"Treating one's own people in this way is in fact a sign of remarkable weakness," Clinton said during a trip to Greenland.

The revolt was touched off in mid-March by the arrest of teenagers who scrawled anti-regime graffiti on a wall. Since then, the protests have spread nationwide and the death toll already has exceeded those seen during the uprisings in Yemen and Tunisia.

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m77673&hd=&size=1&l=e

Inside Story - Who is winning the Libyan conflict?

In recent days, rebel groups have been hit hard by pro-Gaddafi forces. The situation on the ground remains uncertain, but latest reports suggest those loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, the Libya leader, have recaptured Azzawiya - 30 km to the west of Tripoli. The frontline is now moving towards the east. Just who is winning this conflict? And are hopes that the Libyan leader would be ousted proving premature?

5 US troops die in blasts in southern Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan – Five American troops died Saturday in bombings in southern Afghanistan where international forces are stepping up the fight against the Taliban, officials said.

Four of the victims died in a single blast, NATO said in a statement without specifying nationalities nor providing further details. A fifth service member was killed in a separate attack in the south, NATO said.

U.S. officials confirmed all five were Americans. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under rules regarding casualty identification.

The latest deaths bring to 75 the number of international troops killed in Afghanistan this month, including 56 Americans.

The U.S.-led force is ramping up operations against the Taliban in their southern strongholds, hoping to enable the Afghan government to expand its control in the volatile region.

Rising casualty tolls, however, are eroding support for the war even as President Barack Obama has send thousands of reinforcements to try to turn back the Taliban.

On Tuesday, an international conference in Kabul endorsed President Hamid Karzai's plan for Afghan security forces to assume responsibility for protecting the country by the end of 2014. Obama has pledged to begin removing U.S. troops starting in July 2011, although he has linked the drawdown to security conditions on the ground.

Click image to see more photos of Afghanistan effort


AP

In the eastern province of Khost, a candidate in upcoming parliamentary elections died late Friday of wounds suffered when a bomb exploded earlier in the day in a mosque in the Mando Zayi district, according to local health director Dr. Amir Pacha.

The candidate, Maulvi Saydullah, was making a speech inside the mosque when the blast went off. His bodyguards and at least 15 other civilians were also hurt, officials said.

Afghanistan is due to hold national parliamentary elections Sept. 18 despite fears that they could provoke a surge in Taliban attacks.

Also Saturday, the Afghan Interior Ministry reported that five Afghan civilians were killed by a bomb in the Chora district of Uruzgan province. A total of seven militants died in clashes with Afghan and international forces since Friday night in the provinces of Khost, Uruzgan and Kunar, the ministry added without giving further details.

Four suspected insurgents were captured in two raids late Friday on Taliban hide-outs in Baghlan province of northern Afghanistan, NATO said.

Yahoo news - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100724/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

Report: “Israeli soldiers Killed 5 Palestinians In Gaza in June”

The al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, based in Gaza, issued a report on the Israeli violations in the Gaza Strip in June and stated that Israeli soldiers continued their attacks and killed five Palestinians in different part of the Gaza Strip.

The attacks targeted the residents and their property, while the soldiers killed five Palestinians in different parts of the Gaza Strip and wounded several other residents.

The center said that the army used excessive and deadly force against unarmed civilians in direct violation to the international law and the Fourth Geneva Conventions.

Israel is trying to create a "buffer zone" near the borders of Gaza and carried out nine invasion during which army bulldozers uprooted dozens of farmlands in order to create this zone. The lands are the only source of income to dozens of families.

The al-Mezan report also slammed the ongoing Israeli siege and the closure of border terminals. It added that the Israeli Navy continued its violations against Palestinian fishermen by opening fire at them and their boats, and by chasing them to the shore.

Israeli soldiers also targeted residents who collect stone and the rubble of bombarded buildings in areas near the northern and eastern borders of the Gaza Strip. The residents collect stones and rubble in an attempt to use them in rebuilding their bombarded homes due to the lack of construction materials. Several residents were wounded by military fire while trying to collect stones.

Furthermore, soldiers kidnapped a patient at the Eretz (Beit Hanoun) crossing as he was heading to an Eye Hospital in the central West Bank city of Ramallah.

Soldiers also kidnapped a paramedic who was on his way to attend a five-day training workshop at the Red Crescent headquarters in Ramallah. Source

Armed men shoot up Mexican party At least 50 people have been killed in Mexican drug violence this weekend alone

Suspected drug gang hitmen armed with machine guns stormed a private party in the northern Mexican city of Torreon, killing at least 17 people in one of the deadliest attacks in Mexico's drug war, police have said.

Five vehicles were driven up to the party in a walled patio and garden on the outskirts of the city in Coahuila state, before the armed men smashed down the door and opened fire on party-goers, the state prosecutors' office said.

A source with the state police department said witnesses reported hearing assailants shout "kill them all" before they opened fire on Sunday.

The prosecutors' office said 18 people were injured in the attack.

Authorities said they found more than 100 bullet casings fired from automatic weapons following the massacre.

'Shot everything that moved'

An official with the state prosecutor's office said the armed men "came in, opened fire and shot against everything that moved".
In depth

They escaped and no arrests have been made, the prosecutors office said in a statement.

Sunday's attack brings the number of shooting victims in Mexico over the weekend to at least 50.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for Sunday's attack, but the area is a key transit point for drugs heading into the US and the scene of a showdown between the Sinaloa cartel led by Joaquin 'shorty' Guzman, Mexico's most wanted man, and the Zetas gang from the country's northeast.

On Saturday, suspected cartels detonated a car bomb that killed at least four people, the first attack of its kind in Mexico's drug war, in Ciudad Juarez, another northern border city.

El Diario, a newspaper in Ciudad Juarez, said that officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other US agencies are investigating the bombing. US and Mexican officials would not comment on the allegations.

More than 26,000 people have been killed in drug violence in Mexico, mostly in the north, since Felipe Calderon, the president, took office and initiated a crackdown on drug cartels in 2006. Source


Mexico's new murder capital

Sucide bombings in Iraq kill 48, including security forces

The bombings were the deadliest in a series of attacks across Iraq Sunday that were aimed at the Sons of Iraq, a Sunni group also known as Sahwa that works with government forces to fight Al-Qaeda in Iraq. The attacks highlighted the stiff challenges the country faces as the US scales back its forces in Iraq, leaving their Iraqi counterparts in charge of security.

The first attack Sunday morning — the deadliest against Iraq's security forces in months — killed at least 45 people and wounded more than 40. It occurred at a checkpoint near a military base where Sahwa members were lined up to receive paychecks in the mostly Sunni district of Radwaniya southwest of Baghdad.

"There were more than 150 people sitting on the ground when the explosion took place. I ran, thinking that I was a dead man," said Uday Khamis, 24, who was sitting outside the Mahmoudiyah hospital where many of the wounded were taken. His left hand was bandaged and his clothes were stained with blood.

"There were more dead people than wounded," he added.

There were conflicting reports as to how many of the dead were Iraqi soldiers and whether civilians — accountants responsible for handing out money — were among them, but the vast majority of those killed and injured appeared to be Sahwa members.

A military official at the base said the explosion was the work of one suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

In Baghdad, Iraqi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim Al-Moussawi said the bomber struck at 7 a.m. at a checkpoint near the military facility.

Some of those injured complained about what they perceived to be a lack of protection from the Iraqi military for the men lined up to receive their paychecks. Khamis said the men used to be searched but this time they were allowed to line up without any search being conducted.

Another man who was waiting at the hospital with his wounded nephew said this was the fifth day that the men had turned up at the base to collect their paychecks.

"Every time they went to receive their salary, they told them to come the next day and they did that for four days and now in the fifth day this explosion took place," said the man, Hassan Ali.

The area was immediately closed off, and Iraqi helicopters could be seen flying over the site.

In the second attack, a suspected militant stormed a local Sahwa headquarters in the Anbar province town of Qaim, near the Syrian border, and opened fire on those inside. Sahwa fighters returned fire, wounding the attacker, who then blew himself up as they gathered around him, killing three of the fighters and wounding six others, two police officials said, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

Qaim is a former insurgent stronghold.

While violence has dropped dramatically over the past two years in the country, Iraqi security forces remain a favorite target for insurgents bent on destabilizing the country and its Shiite-led government.

The Sahwa fighters have played a key role in the reduction of violence in Iraq since they first rose up against their former Al-Qaeda allies in late 2006, joining the US military and government forces in the fight against the terror group.

But their future role in the Shiite-majority country is contentious. The US used to pay the monthly salaries of about $300 to the nearly 100,000-strong Sahwa force. Last year, the Iraqi government took over paying their salaries and, after heavy pressure from the Americans, agreed to absorb up to 20 percent of the fighters into its security forces. Others were to be absorbed into government jobs.

But members of the Sons of Iraq have complained about late paychecks, and many say they have been given menial jobs.

One of the wounded Sunday, Khamis, said they were to receive two months' worth of salary on Sunday.

In another attack, roughly at the same time as that in Qaim, gunmen in a speeding car opened fire on a Sahwa checkpoint in Mahaweel, about 56 kilometers (35 miles) south of Baghdad, wounding one, according to Babil police spokesman Maj. Muthana Khalid.

Khalid said a roadside bomb went off about 30 minutes later, hitting a car driven by another Sahwa member in Haswa, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Baghdad. The Sahwa member was wounded in the attack.

More than four months after an inconclusive parliamentary election in March, Iraq has no government as politicians continue to bicker over who will lead it. The impasse has raised fears that militants will exploit the political vacuum to re-ignite sectarian violence that brought Iraq to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007.

The attacks against the security forces and the Sahwa are especially worrying because they come at a time when the number of US troops in Iraq is dropping and Iraq's nascent security forces are taking over security in the country. All US combat units are scheduled to leave Iraq by the end of next month and the last American soldier by the end of next year.

Insurgents have used an array of attacks to intimidate and kill security forces, such as drive-by shootings, bombs attached to the undercarriage of vehicles and bombing houses where security forces live. But Sunday's attack in Radwaniya was more reminiscent of the type insurgents used in the past to discourage people from joining the security forces.

Source

Arrests made over Uganda bombings

Ugandan authorities have made a number of arrests in connection with explosions at two sites in Kampala that left at least 74 people dead.

Kale Kayihura, the inspector-general of police, said on Tuesday that investigators had also found a unexploded suicide bomb belt at a third site, a discotheque, in the capital.

Somalia's al-Shabab group has said it carried out the attacks on Sunday.

"We have established that what was found at the discotheque was in fact a suicide vest, and it could also be used as an IED [improvised explosive device]," Kayihura said.

The vest, laden with explosives and fitted with a detonator, was found on Monday, packed in a laptop bag at a club in the southwestern Kampala district of Makindye.

"It's possible that the person who was supposed to do this was [a coward] because the system was intact," he said.

One blast hit an Ethiopian restaurant in the south of the city on Sunday, while the other occurred at a rugby sports club as people watched the World Cup final.

Al-Shabab statement

The near-simultaneous attacks on Sunday were the first time the group, which has carried out multiple suicide attacks inside Somalia, has struck outside of the country.

"Al-Shabab was behind the two blasts in Uganda," Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage, the group's spokesperson, announced in Mogadishu.

"We thank the mujahideens that carried out the attack. We are sending a message to Uganda and Burundi, if they do not take out their Amisom [African Union Mission in Somalia] troops from Somalia, blasts will continue and it will happen."
interact
Were you at the scene of the Kampala attacks?
Send us your photos, video and personal accounts

Uganda and Burundi currently have peacekeepers in Somalia as part of a stabilisation mission supported by the African Union.

"[Al-Shabab's] strategy is to undermine getting troops into Somalia through attacks like this," Simmons said.

Hussein Mohammed Noor, a Somalia analyst, said the Ethiopian restaurant was likely targeted because of "Ethiopia's involvement in Somalia".

However, he told Al Jazeera that these attacks were unlikely to make African countries reconsider sending troops to Somalia.

Lieutenant-Colonel Felix Kulaigye, a Ugandan army spokesman, said: "Al-Shabab is the reason why we should stay in Somalia. We have to pacify Somalia."

Kayihura that the attacks, which took place amid large crowds at the two locations, could have been carried out by suicide bombers.

"These bombs were definitely targeting World Cup crowds," he said.

Severed head found

Investigators reportedly found the severed head of a Somali national at the scene of one of the blasts.

Officials said 60 Ugandans, nine Ethiopians or Eritreans, one Irish woman, and one Asian were also among those killed.

Two people could not be identified. At least 85 people were wounded.

Source

Violence flares in Northern Ireland

Shots have been fired at police in Northern Ireland during a third night of rioting in Irish-nationalist parts of Belfast.

Police said on Wednesday that a lone attacker armed with a handgun fired four to six shots overnight as riot police fought groups of masked protesters in Ardoyne, in the north of the city.

Demonstrators also hurled petrol bombs and a pipe bomb at police officers, who deployed water cannon in response.

Around 82 police officers have been injured during the three days of rioting, which began on Sunday night when three officers were hit with gun pellets.

The disturbances come at the height of Northern Ireland's marching season, a traditional flashpoint in the troubled province's history.

Unrest often flares as Protestant marchers, in favour of continued British rule of the province, pass through areas mainly populated by Catholics, who are generally opposed to rule from London.

'Outright thuggery'

In the most violent riots of the past few days on Monday, dissident republicans threw petrol bombs and concrete slabs at Protestant Orangemen and their police escort as they marched through Ardoyne.

Peter Robinson, Northern Ireland's first minister, and his deputy Martin McGuinness, who have appealed for calm, are to meet Northern Ireland's police chief later on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing tensions.

Both Robinson and McGuinness criticised the violence on Tuesday night, saying it was out of keeping with modern-day Northern Ireland.

"I am disgusted at the outright thuggery and vandalism that has taken place over the course of the last 48 hours," Robinson said.

"There is no excuse and no place for violence in civilised society ... We must keep our entire focus on defeating those who would seek through violence and destruction to drag us back."

Through dialogue

For his part, McGuinness said: "Our experience demonstrates that the way to deal with any disputes or contention is through dialogue and agreement."

Authorities are blaming a small group of troublemakers for the unrest.

Witnesses have also described children becoming involved.

"I was directly confronted by a nine-year-old last night," Father Gary Donegan, a local priest, told BBC radio, saying he had "physically pulled stones out of children's hands".

Despite the relative calm in Northern Ireland since the 1998 peace accords, violence frequently breaks out around July 12, which sees Protestants marking Prince William of Orange's victory over the Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

Aljazeera Reports