[-/AFP/Getty Images] Scores of terrorists have been killed in recent weeks by accidental explosions.
Fourteen terrorists were killed and three were wounded across Iraq last week when their car bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) detonated prematurely, security officials announced Saturday (August 28th).
Officials said the accidental detonations were likely due to lack of bomb-making experience and the fact that Iraqi security forces have seized large quantities of explosives and weapons in recent months.
"Terrorists have started to resort to compounded and complex materials for making car bombs and IEDs after facing a huge crisis in their stock of weapons and explosives," said Maj. Gen. Jihad al-Jabri, director of the explosive ordnance disposal bureau in Baghdad.
Ramadi police chief Col. Salih al-Dulaimi said two terrorists were killed on August 26th while attempting to plant an IED.
"The IED exploded while they were trying to plant it and killed them right away," al-Dulaimi said. "They have been identified. Thanks to that, we managed to arrest a whole network that makes these IEDs."
Two weeks earlier, a car bomb exploded when terrorists tried to park the car near a gas station in central Ramadi. Al-Dulaimi said the explosion killed three terrorists and wounded a fourth, who was taken in custody.
"It is as if God wants to protect the people against their evil," he said. "They were the victims of their own evil deeds."
In Fallujah, city police chief Brig. Gen. Mahmoud al-Issawi said a number of terrorists were killed on August 24th when they were planting an IED on al-Tharthar Street.
"The terrorists turned into charred bodies because of that IED," al-Issawi said. "God has spared the lives of innocents by taking the lives of those murderers."
"Confusion on the part of the terrorists and their fear of being arrested in the act made them rush and commit mistakes, causing the IEDs to explode in their faces," al-Issawi said.
Capt. Sohail al-Obaidi of Mosul police said one terrorist was killed and another lost his leg in al-Ghazlani, northwest of Mosul, while trying to put a timer on an IED.
"The IED exploded suddenly while they were trying to place it in a hole on the side of a street," al-Obaidi said. "The policemen found the body of a terrorist torn to pieces, while the other was lying on the ground after losing his leg and sustaining serious wounds."
Al-Obaidi said accidental explosions of IEDs and car bombs have increased significantly recently, prompting the police to open a record of these accidents to examine their causes.
Col. Khalid Issa, director of the explosive ordnance disposal unit in Mosul, said in the past, terrorists used pre-made explosives found in caches of the former Iraqi army.
"Today, after Iraqi forces seized most of such explosives and cracked down on them, the [terrorists] started using dangerous materials with chemical reactions that explode in their faces with any friction, heat, or vibration. We are noticing this development in all cities across Iraq," Issa said.
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READER COMMENTS
سامية
2010-10-8
May God protect the Iraqis from all evils and from every spiteful Wahhabi who hates the Iraqis.
سعد
2010-9-30
We ask God to protect Iraq and Iraqis from all evils.
عمر
2010-9-20
This issue is extremely important and I wish that the citizens would report any suspicious movements in their areas to the police, because it is known that when the terrorists plan to carry out any terrorist operation, they move to a near location to their targets. Consequently, I call on all the citizens to report any suspicious activity in their areas, especially from the new residents. This is the responsibility of the people who rent out their houses, who must verify the IDs of the renters and keep copies of their IDs. I wish the housing card system would be adopted again, because it would decrease the terrorist operations and reassure the citizens. This system requires anyone who wants to move from one area to another to go to the police station to register his new address. This would document the movement of people among the Iraqi cities and facilitate the process of hunting and pursuing anyone who commits a terrorist act. On the other hand, the owners of the houses should refuse to rent their houses to anyone has not obtained the housing card.
باسم العتابي
2010-9-11
No one disagrees with the fact al-Qaeda is a criminal organization and that its members are criminal terrorists, as proved by their acts since their advent to Iraq following the recent war until today. They have committed the most horrible crimes against the Iraqis during the past few years. These crimes targeted all Iraqis and tried to soil and tarnish everything that is good and clean in Iraq, to turn it into a swamp for the terrorist parasites and one of its bases and strongholds. The attack against a recruitment center in Baghdad a few days ago provides further evidence of the perversion and deviation of this organization. This attack has killed tens of Iraqi citizens, who were seeking a job that would allow them to serve their country, make a living, and provide their families with their basic needs honorably.
حسن
2010-9-8
[offensive] all terrorists, those sons of dogs that destroy Iraq. There are explosions on a daily basis. Let those [offensive] go back to their countries. Why do they come here in the name of Jihad and blow up Iraqis?
عاصم
2010-9-5
To hell with the terrorists.
عمار
2010-9-5
They are filthy killers. God willing, they will all die.
بيداء حسين
2010-9-5
God take revenge on anyone who kills the good Iraqis. See how many innocent people have been killed by them, but despite that, they claim to be Muslims. I wonder what religion they believe in, since it is impossible for anyone who believes in the Creator, whether he is Muslim, Christian or Jewish, to kill people in such a way. Those terrorists do not have any religion.
هيثم
2010-9-4
God willing, whenever a terrorist tries to make a bomb, it will explode in his face. What are the children, women and men guilty of? People are always killed because of those damned people. What do they want? Is it a state like the state of the Taliban in Iraq? You should understand that Iraq is not Afghanistan. In Iraq, there are colleges, and people with certificates and intellectuals. We are a community that did not have terrorists at all and will never have terrorists. We are moderate people and brothers, Sunni, Shiites and Kurds. For instance, we have Abu-Delshad a Kurd in our neighborhood, who has been a friend of my father’s since they were children living in Al-Washash in Baghdad. They were brought up together since they were five years old. I am now grown up and my father has died. When I face problems, I go to Abu-Delshad and consult him… when my father died, the Abu-Delshad brothers came from Suleimaniyah, and neither they nor their sons spoke any Arabic. They joined the ceremony, staying for three days, as they were my cousins; they were actually better than my cousins. We Iraqis, are nice people; we need to live in peace. You and your dirty ideas; where did you get those ideas? During the seventies, people gathered together, Sunnis and Shiites, in the Al-Amel neighborhood, preparing meals to celebrate the memory of Al-Hussein, and there were no differences. I have even seen Christians joining us in cooking “Hareesa.” May God take revenge on the rotten Saddam, who planted the seeds of differences amongst the people. May God take revenge on any politician who promotes differences, as well as any terrorist who plants differences.
خالد العباسي
2010-9-3
Thank God, Who kicks them out and saves the Iraqis from their harms. Those terrorists are like beasts that search for their victims with no mercy. You terrorists, haven't you had enough killing Iraqis?
هيثم
2010-9-1
Let them go to hell. They have killed many innocent people, and now God is taking revenge on them and their acts against the Iraqis, since they are criminals. Why do they kill people? Isn’t that prohibited?!
عالية فرمان
2010-9-1
God willing, the blood of the innocent Iraqis, of the children, the elderly and the women will not have been shed in vain. God willing, the terrorists will be eliminated. They should know that God is righteous and they have to let the Iraqis live in peace.