Blast destroys key bridge link - Isolation of Kirkuk suspected motive

Blast destroys key bridge link - Isolation of Kirkuk suspected motive
By Damien Cave
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published June 3, 2007

BAGHDAD -- Bomb blasts severely damaged a bridge linking a highway from Baghdad with the northern city of Kirkuk on Saturday, police and witnesses said, heightening tensions between Arabs and Kurds and forcing traffic to detour through some of the most dangerous areas of Diyala province.

An American tank firing at insurgents near Fallujah also killed three Iraqi children on Saturday, the military said, and an American helicopter was damaged by gunfire north of Baghdad and forced to land.

The destruction of the Sarha bridge, about 100 miles north of Baghdad and one of the busiest crossings for vehicles moving between the capital and Kirkuk, appeared to be part of an effort by Sunni insurgents to isolate Kirkuk and limit interaction between different areas and sects.

Salah al-Mufaraji, a prominent tribal leader who lives near the bridge, said groups aligned with Al Qaeda in Iraq were responsible for the bombing.

"Gunmen move through the area freely amid the absence of the government and because the security forces can't control the area," he said. "All the people living here have announced allegiance to Al Qaeda out of fear and because they can't confront it."

Abbas Hilmi, a taxi driver who travels between Baghdad and Kirkuk, said the damaged bridge would hurt the already hobbled local economy. "It's miserable," he said. "We're taxi drivers. We need the roads."

It was the second bridge leading to Kirkuk bombed within the past week, local leaders said, and it came on a day when a prominent Sunni tribal leader was found dead south of the city after he was kidnapped Friday.

The killing and the bridge bombing reflected rising tensions in the oil-rich area between Kurds and Sunni insurgents who oppose Kurdish plans to make the area part of the north's Kurdish-controlled region.

The Iraqi Constitution calls for a referendum on the issue before the year ends, and Iraqi and U.S. officials have predicted that a rise in violence will precede the vote.

Also north of Baghdad, gunmen killed two people, including a teacher, near a prison north of Baqouba, in Diyala province, the police said. An Iraqi soldier was killed and four others were wounded by a roadside bomb in Muqdadiya.

Residents said that frustration with the violence by Sunni extremists appeared to be rising in the province.

On Friday, in southern Baqouba, a Sunni cleric called for joint Sunni-Shiite prayers. Only four Shiites attended, but according to witnesses, the cleric spoke harshly of Al Qaeda and called upon all the area's armed groups to unite against it.

Gunmen standing outside the mosque said they were preparing to fight back and had asked the U.S. military for help.

Despite the recent decision by U.S. commanders to funnel additional troops into the area, and initial signs of local resistance, there have been few signs of improvement.

An American helicopter forced to make a precautionary landing in Diyala on Saturday was the second to be downed by gunfire over the past week.

On Monday, gunmen shot down a helicopter, killed its two pilots and then detonated roadside bombs that killed six soldiers who rushed to recover their comrades and the aircraft.

The military said the tank assault in Fallujah that killed three children was being investigated. A statement said the tank had fired at insurgents trying to set up roadside bombs.