Violence back in 'secure' areas

2006-09-28 22:20

Baghdad - Insurgents murdered at least 15 Iraqis on Thursday as US military intelligence warned that militias are re-infiltrating previously cleared neighbourhoods while local police turn a blind eye.

A minibus packed with explosives drove into an army post in the largely Shiite Shaab neighbourhood of Baghdad, killing two Iraqi soldiers in an area near where US forces had recently conducted a comprehensive security sweep.

Meanwhile, a double bomb attack in the city centre killed seven people and wounded 35 more, hospital medics said, while a car bomb near a police investigation department killed one officer and wounded four civilians.

Fleeing homes

Iraq's migration ministry said the violence was driving increasing numbers of people from their homes, with 40 000 families or just under half a million people now seeking shelter or new accommodation around the country.

Fighting raged on as a coalition intelligence official told reporters that illegal armed groups were returning to Baghdad areas once deemed to have been secured by a massive joint US and Iraqi security operation.

Worse, he said there was evidence that the Iraqi police units left behind after military forces move through the areas were collaborating with death squads, whose victims' corpses lie scattered through Baghdad every morning.

Support for attacks

A poll conducted by the programme on international policy attitudes at the University of Maryland, had 78% of respondents saying they thought the US presence in Iraq provoked more conflict than it prevented.

Support for attacks on US troops had also increased considerably, the poll found.

It said 61% approved of the attacks - up from 47% in January.

A separate internal US state department poll quoted by the Washington Post had similar results - nearly three-quarters of Baghdadis would feel safer if US and foreign forces left Iraq, with 65% supporting an immediate pull-out.

- AFP