Chlorine bomb attacks in Iraq kill 2, sicken 350
BAGHDAD — Suicide bombers sent another chilling message to Sunni Arab tribal leaders who have rebuffed Al Qaeda, blowing up three trucks rigged with chlorine-laden explosives in Al Anbar province, the military said Saturday. At least two people were killed, and more than 350 were sickened by the noxious clouds, including seven U.S. troops.
Since January, suspected Sunni insurgents have waged six attacks involving a combination of explosive devices and chlorine, killing 26 people. One of the bombings, in the provincial capital Ramadi, left 16 people dead.
The latest bombings appeared to be part of a vicious campaign by Sunni insurgents against local sheiks who had once harbored them but turned against them last fall in the face of relentless attacks against civilians.
Caught in the middle is the province's overwhelmingly Sunni population, whose mosques, homes and roads have been targeted in retaliation for their elders' decision to work with the Iraqi government and the U.S. military.
Last month, at least 37 Iraqis were killed in a bomb attack as they were leaving a Sunni mosque in the province. A preacher at the mosque in Habbaniya, 40 miles west of Baghdad, had delivered a blistering sermon a day earlier condemning Al Qaeda activities in Iraq, an official in the town said at the time.
Witnesses say one of the latest attacks targeted the home of a sheik who is part of the newly formed Anbar Salvation Council, a Sunni group that has led calls to oppose Al Qaeda.
Another council member, Sheik Hameed Farhan Hays, described the attacks as the last gasps of Al Qaeda. "This is the end of Al Qaeda in Anbar province," he said. "There is nothing left for them but these cowardly acts."
U.S. and Iraqi officials have praised the tribal leaders for turning their backs on the insurgents. Last week, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, visited Ramadi to encourage their continued cooperation.
But the violence resulting from their turnabout is bound to increase pressure on U.S. and Iraqi officials to improve security in Al Anbar at a time when the military is struggling to contain Baghdad's bloodshed.
The issue of security came up during Maliki's talks with the sheiks last week, said Sheik Abdul-Sattar abu Risha, one of those who met with the prime minister.
