US military: Crackdown on Awakening Council members not deliberate; Suicide attack at a military base in Anbar kills over 15
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Whatsapp
  • Linkedin
  • Print
  • American military sources indicated that they were closely following the arrests of 15 leaders of the Awakening Councils. They however insisted that the detentions were not part of a deliberate Iraqi government campaign against these mostly Sunni groups.
    Analysts noted that the perception that these arrests were deliberate attempts to crack down on Sunni groups could undermine the highly successful program which has been credited with helping to curb the violence. An American forces spokesperson in Iraq Col. Jeffrey Kulmayer stated that issues of late payment to members of the these militias were being tackled effectively, with the exception of Diyala Province. He reiterated that PM al-Maliki and other officials of the Iraqi government were committed to financing the program and integrating its members into permanent ministry jobs1.

    In other developments, a suicide bomber disguised in an Iraqi Army uniform blew himself up inside a base in Anbar Province on April 16, killing 15 soldiers. This was the second attack on security forces in two days, indicating a spike in bombings that killed more than 70 people during the month2.

    Top