WELCOME TO IRAQ

One month's toll in Iraq:
67 suicide bombers US losing battle to stem flow of foreign fighters prepared to die for cause

Michael Howard in Sulaimaniya and Ewen MacAskillThursday May 12, 2005The Guardian The number of suicide attacks in Iraq has reached a record high, with more than 67 insurgents blowing themselves up in the month of April alone.

New figures revealed by diplomatic and Iraqi security sources yesterday show that of the 135 car bombings that month, which took hundreds of lives and inflicted thousands of injuries, more than half were suicide missions. The number of car bombings has doubled since March.

The level of suicide attacks has raised fears that American and Iraqi forces are losing the battle to prevent foreign fighters, prepared to die for the cause of defeating the US occupation, entering the country.

Most suicide bombers are believed to come from outside Iraq, intelligence sources say, although they operate with local support.

A western diplomat said that, for the first time since the fall of Saddam Hussein, sui cide bombers now account for most of the car bomb attacks that are causing destruction on a daily basis. "There is an apparent free flow of suicide bombers into Iraq," he said.

A senior Iraqi official added: "Unless we can stop that flood, people will be afraid to gather in public together or lead normal lives without fear."

The warnings followed another series of blasts across the country yesterday that killed at least 71 people and wounded more than 100.

Since the new government led by prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari was announced on April 28, nearly 400 people have been killed and up to 1,000 wounded in a wave of insurgent attacks.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1481952,00.html