Trenches planned for Iraqi capital

IRAQI security forces will dig trenches around Baghdad and set up checkpoints along all roads leading into the city to try to reduce some of the violence plaguing the capital, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.

Meanwhile, an Iraqi civilian was killed and five others were wounded when a gunman on top of an abandoned building opened fire in a Sunni Arab neighbourhood.

A spokesman for a prominent Sunni Arab political party was shot and killed by gunmen, said a party official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he fears for his life.

Sheikh Muhammad al-Gharairi was a spokesman for the Conference of People of Iraq, a Sunni-Arab party headed by Adnan al-Dulaimi. He was also an imam at a mosque in Baghdad and was on his way to conduct prayers at a different mosque in Garma, 19 miles outside of Baghdad when he was killed.

The plan to dig trenches around Baghdad will be implemented in the coming weeks, Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier Abdul-Kareem Khalaf said.

It comes as more than 130 people were slain in two days — either killed in attacks or tortured and dumped in rivers or on the city’s streets.

“Trenches will be dug around Baghdad in the coming weeks when the third part of the Baghdad security plan is implemented,” Brig Khalaf said.

The security plan, known as Operation Together Forward, began June 15 and is being implemented in three phases. The first phase included setting up random checkpoints around the city, phase two began August 7 and focused on the most violence-prone areas of Baghdad — mostly the Sunni Arab southern districts.

Phase three reportedly includes cordoning off and searching other parts of Baghdad, including predominantly Shi’ite areas.

Brig Khalaf said that except for the trenches, vehicle and pedestrian traffic would be restricted to just 28 entry points with manned checkpoints.

“We will leave only 28 inlets to Baghdad while all other inlets will be blocked. Supports will be added to the trenches to hinder the movements of people and vehicles. The trenches will be under our watch,” he said.

He did not have any details, but did say that there would be no concrete walls or razor wire. Brig Khalaf did not know how deep or wide the trenches would be.

Meanwhile, a US Marine was killed yesterday in Anbar province, and an American soldier was killed Thursday evening by a roadside bomb northwest of Baghdad, the military said. Five American soldiers died on Thursday. So far in September, 25 US soldiers have been killed.