Iraq conflict: Diyala Sunni mosque attack kills dozens
23 Aug BBC
An attack by suspected Shia militiamen on a Sunni mosque in Iraq's
Diyala province has killed at least 68 people.
Officials say a bomber blew himself up in the mosque during Friday
prayers and gunmen fired on fleeing worshippers. Diyala province has
seen heavy fighting in recent weeks between IS and Iraqi troops backed
by Shia militiamen.
The attack is seen as a blow to government efforts to secure backing
from Sunni groups in its battle against Islamic State (IS) jihadists.
Prime Minister designate Haider al-Abadi, a moderate Shia, is trying
to form a more inclusive government - following international criticism
of outgoing PM Nouri Maliki, who was widely seen as a divisive
figure.But two influential Sunni politicians, Parliamentary Speaker
Salim al-Jabouri and Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak, have
suspended participation in talks on a new cabinet in protest at Friday's
massacre.
It took place in a village mosque south of the city of Baquba, about
120km (75 miles) from Baghdad.
A security official told AFP news agency that Shia fighters allied
with the government had carried out the assault as a reprisal for a
bombing that had targeted their fighters.
It's just the kind of sectarian provocation that is threatening to
plunge the country back into the dark days of 2006 and 2007, when many
thousands died in a vicious spiral of communal carnage.
It comes at a delicate moment, when the Shia Prime Minister
designate, Haider al-Abadi, is trying to persuade the alienated Sunnis
to take part in a broad, inclusive new government, hoping to turn them
against the militants of the Islamic State.
Bringing the Sunnis on board is a key element in the American
strategy for isolating the Islamic State militants, who have capitalised
on Iraqi Sunni grievances.But actions like the latest massacre in the
mosque are not going to make that task any easier.IS has seized large
swathes of Iraq and Syria in recent months. Since 8 August the US has
backed Iraqi and Kurdish troops tackling the insurgents by conducting
air strikes.On Thursday, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel described the
group as an imminent threat to the US.They marry ideology, a
sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess, they are
tremendously well-funded. This is beyond anything that we have seen.”
Gen Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said
IS was “an organisation that has an apocalyptic, end-of-days strategic
vision and which will eventually have to be defeated”.
He also said that IS fighters could not be defeated without attacking
their bases in Syria. The militants, he said, should be confronted “on
both sides of what is essentially at this point a non-existent
border”.Meanwhile Britain has said it will not work with Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad in the battle against IS, despite suggestions
from a retired top general that it should do so.The warnings came after
IS beheaded US journalist James Foley.UK security services are trying to
identify the jihadist who appeared in footage of his killing.
Unconfirmed reports suggest the man - who had an English accent - is
from London or south-east England.In the video of Mr Foley's murder, IS
militants threatened to kill another American if the US did not stop its
air strikes against the group in northern Iraq.
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