Iraq Press Roundup

Al Taakhi newspaper Wednesday quoted security and medical sources as saying 11 people were killed in Baghdad and Basra provinces on Tuesday.

Six of the 11 were killed in two car-bomb explosions in Baghdad, and three were killed in Basra in another car explosion.

"Six people were killed in two car-bomb explosions in Baghdad and 23 others were wounded," the newspaper said.

In details, the paper said the two explosions took place near a bank in Baghdad where "people gathered to receive their retirement checks."

In another incident, one Iraqi civilian was killed and three others wounded in an IED explosion in the Shiite area of Kamalyia, east of Baghdad. And in Karada district in Baghdad, seven civilians were wounded in an IED explosion that targeted a police convoy.

The paper also said that in Basra, the health institute announced Wednesday it received three bodies, and 20 people were injured when a car-bomb explosion took place in the center of the city. In Imara province, south of Iraq, one policeman died and another was wounded in "clashes between the police and armed men."

The Kurdish Al Ahali newspaper said Wednesday Washash district, west of Baghdad, faced strong conflict between Sunni armed groups and Shiite militias, resulting in the widespread displacement of many families and the killing of many others.

"The Sunni who live in that area," the paper said, "confirmed that many Sunni families were displaced, and Shiites said many Shiites were being killed."

Sunni figures accuse the Mahdi Army, loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, of carrying out the ethnic cleansing in "cooperation with U.S. forces." Shiites say many Shiites were killed and detained by U.S. forces.

The paper cited Wameedh al-Ubaidi, a Sadr movement leader, as saying, "The Mahdi Army’s activities are frozen for six months. So if anybody carried out killings or displacement, it means it is someone not from the Mahdi Army."

The Iraqi Islamic Supreme Council’s Al Adala newspaper said Wednesday officials in Najaf announced 20,000 troops will be introduced to the city as part of a security plan to secure visitors coming to a shrine in two weeks.

The visit is to commemorate the death of Imam Ali, Prophet Mohammed's cousin.

Ahmed Duabil, governor of Najaf, said, "A curfew will be enforced, three days prior to the event, on all vehicles except for the ones that have special badges issued by security.”