Diyala’s governor survives a suicide bomb attack; Shia pilgrims killed in suicide attack; UK Indicates it will withdraw troops from Iraq
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    • Iraqi authorities imposed a curfew in Baquba, capital of Diyala province after Raad Rasheed governor survived a suicide bomb attack on his convoy. Two people died and seven were wounded in the attack. US-backed Iraqi forces had launched a 2-week old offensive against al-Qaeda and other Sunni militants in the province, in which over 350 people were arrested. Many of such recent attacks had been carried by female suicide bombers, a tactic used increasingly by al-Qaeda in the year.

    Political progress in Iraq meanwhile faced a major setback when parliament adjourned for its summer break without passing a law regarding the holding of provincial elections scheduled for October 1. The election law has been held up by wrangling over power sharing by the Kurds in Kirkuk1.

    A roadside bomb killed a pilgrim on a bus packed with pilgrims bound for the Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala, to mark the birth of Imam al-Mehdi. The incident occurred even as
    Iraqi authorities deployed over 40,000 police and soldiers to avert violence. Earlier, 19 people were killed and 75 wounded by a female suicide bomber who detonated an explosive vest among pilgrims who stopped for their evening meal. Suicide attacks in Baghdad and Kerbala during a 2004 pilgrimage killed 171 people. More than 1,000 pilgrims were killed in 2005 during a stampede on a bridge triggered by a rumour of a bomber in their midst2.

    The outgoing commander of British forces in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Barney White-Spunner indicated that most of the 4,100 troops in the country could be withdrawn by next summer. He noted that the Iraqi-led crackdown on Shia militia groups in Basra had improved security. A Ministry of Defence spokesman however stated that although UK military presence in Iraq would decrease "significantly in the future," it was too early to determine the exact numbers3.

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