Shiite gunmen ambush Sunnis in Baghdad

At least 37 killed in escalation of sectarian violence
Reuters

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Masked Shiite gunmen stopped cars in western Baghdad, grabbing people from the street and separating Sunni Arabs from the rest, killing at least 37 people, police said, in a dramatic escalation of sectarian violence in the country.

The attack in the dangerous Jihad neighborhood was apparently in retaliation for the car bombing the night before of a local Shiite mosque that left two dead
Police Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razzaq said 37 bodies were taken to hospitals and police were searching for more victims reportedly left dumped in the streets. He also said U.S. and Iraqi forces had sealed off the area.

Deputy Prime Minister Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie, a Sunni, called the attack "a real and ugly massacre," and threw responsibility on Iraqi security forces that are widely believed to have been infiltrated by Shiite militias blamed for the surge in recent sectarian attacks.

"There are officers who instead of being in charge should be questioned and referred to judicial authorities," al-Zubaie told Al-Jazeera TV. "Jihad is witnessing a catastrophic crime."

After the rampage, Shiite militias sealed off a Shiite district in western Baghdad with burning tires and ordered residents to stay indoors, apparently in fear of reprisal attacks by Sunnis, Reuters quoted a witnesses as saying. Shula district is surrounded by Sunni neighborhoods in the west of the city.

Gunmen pulled up in four cars at about 10 a.m. in the dangerous Jihad neighborhood in western Baghdad and began seizing people from other vehicles and the sidewalk, according to police and witnesses.

An Interior ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said Shiite militiamen wearing masks and black uniforms were roaming the neighborhood, checking the people identity cards, presumably for Sunni names. "They are killing civilians according to their identity cards," he said.

The victims were singled out and driven away, with bodies dumped on streets throughout the neighborhood, Abdul-Razzaq said, adding that police had collected at least 37 bodies.

Intelligence officer killed

Clashes also broke out in northwestern Baghdad between U.S. forces and members of the Mahdi army, the militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, leaving three militia members dead, police said. The U.S. military had no immediate comment on the clashes.

In other violence Sudnay, gunmen killed an Iraqi army intelligence officer in the Shiite holy city of Karbala on Sunday as security forces nationwide faced a series of deadly shootings.

Maj. Qahtan Adnan Abdul-Razzaq, an intelligence officer with the Iraqi army's al-Hussein Brigade, was gunned down after his car was intercepted in the center of Karbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, health official Salim al-Abadi said.

Policeman Mouayad Hussein was killed in a drive-by shooting as he was driving his car in the northern city of Kirkuk, police Brig. Sarhat Qadir said.

Gunmen also opened fire on a police foot patrol in eastern Baghdad, killing one policeman, police Lt. Bilal Ali said.

Several attacks also took place late Saturday.

Former senior Baath Party official and head of the provincial teachers' union Sami Kadhim Ulaiwi was gunned down Saturday night as he was driving with his 5-year-old granddaughter in the volatile Baghdad neighborhood of Dora, police Lt. Hassan Hadi said. Both were killed and their funeral was held on Sunday in Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad.

Gunmen on a motorcycle also shot to death two former security officers during Saddam Hussein's ousted regime as they was walking in separate locations of Karbala, al-Ibadi said.