Bombings, revenge killings in Tal Afar

Massive car bombings blamed on Sunni insurgents, followed by what looks like a payback rampage by Shia militias mixed with police in Tal Afar. ####, what happened after 3rd ACR left?!

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Marauding mobs that included men in police uniforms went on a killing spree in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar on Wednesday to avenge a massive car bombing, murdering at least 60 Sunni Muslims in a stark reminder that Iraq's sectarian tensions can explode at any provocation.


A year ago, President Bush hailed the predominantly Shiite Muslim city as a model of peace and a sign that the U.S. military strategy in Iraq was working. But order in the city broke down within hours after two car bombs tore through a busy marketplace Tuesday and left at least 55 people dead.


Police officials in Tal Afar said Shiite militias and men in police uniforms stormed through the streets early Wednesday, pulling residents from their homes and executing them. The killings continued until the morning, when Iraqi military and police forces surrounded the city and imposed a curfew.


Forty-five bodies had been taken to Tal Afar's main hospital by noon, residents said. By evening the death toll was 60, with more bodies lying in the streets.

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Tal Afar's mayor, Najim Abdullah al-Jubouri, said he hadn't confirmed that police officers were involved in Wednesday's rampage, which he called a reaction to Tuesday's car bombing. But he said his office had received information that the rampage would result in more car bombings.


"If that happens the city will be totally devastated," he said.

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Update on Tal Afar situation.

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The governor of Nineveh province, which includes the town of Tal Afar, said policemen who took part in the reprisal shootings were arrested but then freed again to prevent unrest.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, has ordered an inquiry into the involvement of police in the killings.

Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, the most senior Sunni Arab politician, said militias acting under "official cover" in the reprisal killings should be treated as severely as insurgents.

A statement from his office said car bombs against "our Shi'ite brothers" must stop and condemned "the criminal behaviour by some policemen in randomly killing many civilians".

"It requires efforts from both sides to put an end to this bloodshed which aims to destroy all of Iraq. But this is not enough if the government does not move quickly to clear the security forces of militias," the statement said.

"Any delay in dealing with this issue will lead to more bloodshed," he said.

Militia infiltration of security forces has long been a problem in restoring stability to Iraq, with many Sunni Arabs complaining they are unfairly targeted by police and army.

Nineveh provincial governor Durad Kashmula told a news conference policemen were involved in the reprisal attacks.

"They have been arrested but released afterwards due to the demonstrations and to deter strife," he said, referring to protests in Tal Afar on Wednesday. But he said the culprits would be brought to justice in due course.

HUGE CRATER

A senior U.S. military officer said one of the Tal Afar truck bombs was thought to have used between 7,000 and 10,000 pounds (3.2 and 4.5 tonnes) of explosives, which he said would make it one of the largest bombs since the March 2003 invasion.

It left a huge crater and buildings reduced to rubble over a wide area with crumpled bodies, including several children, in the ruins. The attacker had lured victims to the scene by pretending to have flour to sell from the truck.

The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said he saw the hand of al Qaeda in the truck bombs.

"They did succeed in Tal Afar in killing a number of innocent civilians in a predominantly Shi'ite market-place that touched off, and we are still trying to get the exact details, but it appears there were some kind of retribution killings by police," he told Reuters and another news agency.

He said interior and defence ministry officials had gone to the town to find out what had happened.

"It's obviously a horrific situation for a community that has generally stayed together pretty much," he said in Baghdad.

In March 2006, Bush called Tal Afar a "free city that gives reason for hope in a free Iraq".

Doctor Salih Qadu, head of Tal Afar hospital, said the final toll from the two bombs had risen to 85. He said 60 bodies of men shot in the aftermath had been brought to the hospital. A senior Iraqi army officer put the toll from those attacks at 70.

The new U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, was sworn in on Thursday and pledged to stand by Maliki's government but said the prime minister and parliament must push ahead with reconciliation.

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