Mosque Raid Ignites Baghdad Battle

New tactic forces out Iraqis who don't endorse radical agenda

(NEWSER) - Sunni extremists burned houses in a mixed city 60 miles from Baghdad over the weekend, a new tactic in the campaign to drive out citizens who don't support a sectarian agenda. Attackers burned as many as 100 homes, both Sunni and Shiite, in an apparent effort to destroy mixed neighborhoods and force allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq. More»

Heightens fears that attacks will increase now that US has withdrawn

(AP) - A wave of bombings targeting Shiites in Iraq killed 72 people today, deepening sectarian tensions that exploded just after the last American troops left the country in mid-December. The bombings began early in the morning when explosions struck two Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, killing at least 27 people. A few hours later, a suicide attack hit Shiite pilgrims heading to the holy Shiite city of Karbala, killing 45; those explosions took place about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad. More»

Victims were members of anti-Qaeda Awakening Councils

(AP) - Gunmen wearing Iraqi military uniforms raided homes in a Sunni village south of Baghdad, killing at least 24 people, including five women, in execution-style attacks. Many of the dead were members of local Sahwa, or Awakening Councils—one of several names for the Sunni fighters who changed the course of the war when they revolted against al-Qaeda in Iraq and joined the Americans in late 2006 and 2007. More»

(AP) - Bombings and shootings killed more than 30 people across Iraq today, including high school students on their way to final exams, in a new round of violence ahead of next week's deadline for US troops to withdraw from urban areas. The attacks came two days after the year's deadliest strike, a truck bombing that killed at least 75 people near Kirkuk. More»

Violence is down, allowing Baghdad to return to its old tricks

(NEWSER) - Religious extremists and kidnappers are mostly gone now from Baghdad’s streets, clearing the way for the return of prostitutes and gamblers, the New York Times says. Violence—and thus nighttime curfews—in Iraq’s capital has subsided, allowing liquor stores and nightclubs to revert back to their Saddam-era numbers. “Everything is going back to its natural way,” said one man. More»