BAGHDAD: Iraq’s prime minister has ordered a shake-up of his military command after a weeklong spike of militant attacks that has killed nearly 300 people, by far the highest toll since the US withdrew its forces in late 2011, an official said yesterday.
The shake-up will include commanders of divisions and operations, said Iraqi government spokesman Ali Al-Moussawi.
It indicates the depth of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki’s dissatisfaction with the military for failing to keep the peace in the country, which is instead hurtling downhill toward the brink of sectarian civil war. As premier, Al-Maliki is the commander in chief of the armed forces.
In violence yesterday, militants shot up a brothel in Baghdad, killing 14 people.
The military shake-up follows the surge of car bombs and shootings that have shaken many Iraqi cities over the past week, killing at least 279 people and further raising sectarian tensions in the country.
The blitz coincides with protests over complaints of sectarian discrimination by the government. Beginning in December, the protests started out largely peaceful. However, the number of attacks rose sharply after a deadly security crackdown on a protest camp in northern Iraq on April 23.
Another factor adding to unease in Iraq is the prospect of the civil war in neighboring Syria spilling across the border.
No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks in Iraqi cities, but such well-organized operations bear the hallmarks of the two elements that have brought nearly nonstop chaos to Iraq for years: Insurgents including Al-Qaeda’s branch in Iraq, and Shiite militias defending their newfound power after dictator Saddam Hussein’s fall in 2003.
In another development, militants broke into a brothel yesterday afternoon in Baghdad’s eastern Zayona neighborhood, killing 10 women and four men, a police officer said. The gunmen sped up in five cars and were armed with pistols fitted with silencers, he said.
A medical official confirmed the casualty figure. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.
Police said the attack appeared to be on a religious background, with Muslim extremists attacking the brothel for moral reasons.
Since 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam, the business of running nightclubs, brothels and selling pornographic videos has flourished as authorities are busy with bigger challenges. Extremist militant groups have launched campaigns of intimidation and violence targeting brothels, alcohol, racy videos and other items they considered forbidden by Islam.
