Blast in Iraq Kills 8 In Paramilitary Force
Bombing at Army Base Also Hurts Soldiers
Map locates Jbala, Iraq where a suicide bomber attacked members of U.S.-allied Sunni paramilitary
(W. Castello - AP)
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Sunday, April 12, 2009
BAGHDAD, April 11 -- A suicide bomber detonated explosives Saturday south of Baghdad, killing eight members of a Sunni paramilitary force who were waiting to be paid outside an Iraqi army base, officials said.
At least 30 people were hurt in the attack, which took place in Iskandariyah, a town in Babil province about 30 miles south of Baghdad.
Iraqi soldiers were among the wounded, according to Maj. Muthana Ahmad, a provincial police spokesman.
Shaker al-Janabi, 31, said he was standing outside the base with other members of the force -- known as Awakening councils or Sons of Iraq -- when the assailant approached.
"The security breach was caused by the army soldiers at the camp who did not allow the Sahwa members to go inside the camp to receive their salaries," he said, using the Arabic word for Awakening.
"Because we came from different areas of Babil, we didn't know each other well and that made it easy for the suicide bomber to infiltrate the crowd," Janabi added.
Sons of Iraq members, many of whom are former insurgents, were put on the U.S. payroll in 2007 in a high-stakes strategy to quell the insurgency. The U.S. government recently handed control of the group to the Shiite-led Iraqi government, but many members complain that they have been paid late or not at all since then.
At its peak, the Sons of Iraq included about 100,000 fighters. The program was instrumental in weakening the hard-line Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq, which had become the de facto authority in parts of the country.
"Unfortunately, the government is not serious about dealing fairly with the Sahwa forces," said Khudier al-Janabi, a Sons of Iraq leader in Babil. "They do not trust us, and we do not trust them now."
"The Americans have abandoned us believing al-Qaeda is finished," he said. "But, in fact, al-Qaeda is still here."
Janabi also said the Iraqi government has not made good on its promise to give the Sunni guards law enforcement and civilian government jobs.
In recent weeks, U.S. officials have said that their partnership with Sons of Iraq groups remains strong and have expressed confidence that the Iraqi government will handle the matter responsibly.
