Hundreds of Fallujah Police Disappear After Threats
A Fallujah police major who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals said that at least 1,400 policemen had left their jobs since Friday, 400 of them above the rank of officer.
56 Iraqis Die in Attacks on Marketplace
Baghdad district is hit by shells, a car bomb and a suicide bomber. Police in Fallouja stay home.
By Solomon Moore, Times Staff WriterAugust 14, 2006
BAGHDAD — Coordinated attacks Sunday in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in south Baghdad killed at least 56 people and wounded 148, local officials said.The attacks on a market in Zafaraniya included a barrage of mortar rockets, a car bomb and a suicide bomber on a bicycle, police reported.
The attacks on a market in Zafaraniya included a barrage of mortar rockets, a car bomb and a suicide bomber on a bicycle, police reported.
Elsewhere, insurgents appeared to strike a blow to efforts to bolster security in the restive western city of Fallouja, where hundreds of newly recruited police officers failed to show up for work Sunday after insurgents circulated pamphlets threatening officers, said police officials.
"We will kill all the policemen infidels," read the pamphlets, "whether or not they quit or are still in their jobs."
Fallouja Police Lt. Mohammed Alwan said that the force, which he estimated had increased to more than 2,000, had now shrunk to 100. He said insurgents had killed dozens of policemen in their homes and also attacked relatives in a weeks-long intimidation campaign.
A Fallouja police major who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals said that at least 1,400 policemen had left their jobs since Friday, 400 of them above the rank of officer.
"During the last three months more than 100 policemen were killed here," including a number of senior officers, the major said.
Marine Lt. Lawton King, who is stationed in Fallouja, called those figures "inaccurate." He said 32 police officers had been assassinated since January and that "substantially fewer than the exaggerated 1,400" officers had failed to report for work.
The Marines stationed in the western province of Al Anbar, the heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency, have struggled to recruit police officers in Fallouja, which was the scene of major clashes in 2004 and has since remained under a strict Marine cordon and curfew. Some units were recently moved to nearby Ramadi during the same period that Fallouja officials say insurgents launched their campaign.
A prominent Shiite militia leader, citing U.S. and Iraqi forces' inability to provide security, called Sunday for the creation of "popular committees" to guard neighborhoods.
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56 Iraqis Die in Attacks on Marketplace
Baghdad district is hit by shells, a car bomb and a suicide bomber. Police in Fallouja stay home.
By Solomon Moore, Times Staff WriterAugust 14, 2006
BAGHDAD — Coordinated attacks Sunday in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in south Baghdad killed at least 56 people and wounded 148, local officials said.The attacks on a market in Zafaraniya included a barrage of mortar rockets, a car bomb and a suicide bomber on a bicycle, police reported.
The attacks on a market in Zafaraniya included a barrage of mortar rockets, a car bomb and a suicide bomber on a bicycle, police reported.
Elsewhere, insurgents appeared to strike a blow to efforts to bolster security in the restive western city of Fallouja, where hundreds of newly recruited police officers failed to show up for work Sunday after insurgents circulated pamphlets threatening officers, said police officials.
"We will kill all the policemen infidels," read the pamphlets, "whether or not they quit or are still in their jobs."
Fallouja Police Lt. Mohammed Alwan said that the force, which he estimated had increased to more than 2,000, had now shrunk to 100. He said insurgents had killed dozens of policemen in their homes and also attacked relatives in a weeks-long intimidation campaign.
A Fallouja police major who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals said that at least 1,400 policemen had left their jobs since Friday, 400 of them above the rank of officer.
"During the last three months more than 100 policemen were killed here," including a number of senior officers, the major said.
Marine Lt. Lawton King, who is stationed in Fallouja, called those figures "inaccurate." He said 32 police officers had been assassinated since January and that "substantially fewer than the exaggerated 1,400" officers had failed to report for work.
The Marines stationed in the western province of Al Anbar, the heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency, have struggled to recruit police officers in Fallouja, which was the scene of major clashes in 2004 and has since remained under a strict Marine cordon and curfew. Some units were recently moved to nearby Ramadi during the same period that Fallouja officials say insurgents launched their campaign.
A prominent Shiite militia leader, citing U.S. and Iraqi forces' inability to provide security, called Sunday for the creation of "popular committees" to guard neighborhoods.
Link Here
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