Tuesday, February 22, 2005
No claims for Ashura attacks?
Last year, attacks against Shia worshippers in Karbala, Najaf, and Baghdad killed over 170 and were linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Given continued jihadist desires to target Shias and the symbolism of mass casualty attacks against Shias on Ashura, we assumed that the potential for such attacks last weekend remained high.
This year, in total there were about 10 suicide attacks that killed around 50 people over the entire holiday (before and including 20 February), most centered in Baghdad. However, there have been no claims of responsibility, save a 19 February internet statement by al-Zarqawi's group regarding a car bomb against a Shia mosque NE of Baghdad in which at least 13 people were killed. Zarqawi's group denied responsibility for attacking the mosque, claiming the patrol they actually were targeting happened to be "just passing by" the area.
When Ashura came around last year, Zarqawi still had not formally allied with Usama bin Laden. One point of contention in the alliance is that UBL is not in favor of targeting Shia.
This year, in total there were about 10 suicide attacks that killed around 50 people over the entire holiday (before and including 20 February), most centered in Baghdad. However, there have been no claims of responsibility, save a 19 February internet statement by al-Zarqawi's group regarding a car bomb against a Shia mosque NE of Baghdad in which at least 13 people were killed. Zarqawi's group denied responsibility for attacking the mosque, claiming the patrol they actually were targeting happened to be "just passing by" the area.
When Ashura came around last year, Zarqawi still had not formally allied with Usama bin Laden. One point of contention in the alliance is that UBL is not in favor of targeting Shia.
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