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	Daily violence still mars Iraqi lives by UN News & agencies   May 28, 2013   Wave of car bombings hits Baghdad neighbourhoods.   More than 50 people have been killed in a series of car bombings in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, amid a surge of renewed sectarian violence.   About a dozen bombs exploded around the city, targeting busy markets, bus stops and intersections.   Local officials said at least 55 people were killed, and 187 injured.   Two of the blasts went off in Habibiyah, near Shaab stadium, as Iraq''s national soccer team played against Liberia in a friendly match. Both explosions used vehicles rigged with explosives.   Most of the bombs exploded in suburbs dominated by Shiite Muslims, at a time of heightened tensions in Iraq.   Sunni Muslims are at odds with the Shiite dominated government over a broad range of issues, from sharing political power to claims of oppressive counter-terrorism measures.   No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks. But Sunni militants linked to Al Qaeda are known to set off coordinated explosions targeting Shiites in a bid to undermine confidence in security forces.   Last week a series of bomb attacks killed 70 people, mostly Shiites, in one of the bloodiest days in Iraq in years.   More than 930 people have now been killed in less than two months, and more than 300 of them died in the past two weeks.   Mar 2013   Daily violence still mars Iraqi lives, by Guillaume Decamme. (Agence France-Presse)   BAGHDAD: - "I thought I would die," Umm Khudair said softly, her face streaked with tears.   The car bomb that ripped through a bird market in Baghdad a month ago remains vivid for her -- a bloody reminder of the violence that continues to plague Iraq, a decade after Saddam Hussein"s ouster.   "I saw debris flying in all directions," she said, perched on a stool behind her stall selling mint, sage, thyme and other freshly-cut plants. "There were people wounded, and cars destroyed everywhere I looked."   The twin car bombs on February 8 struck Kadhimiyah, a mostly-Shiite area in north Baghdad, as people crowded the market to look at the doves and pigeons on offer.   In all, 17 people were killed and 45 others wounded.   Jawad and his brother Sajad, who both work in their father"s fruit and vegetable stall near the bird market, were among those hurt.   "I was arranging the bananas when the bomb went off," Jawad recalled. "At first, I did not even feel as though I was injured."   "I first thought of my brother -- he was in his car in the parking lot. I went to see if he was there, but I could not find him. Finally, we got a call from the hospital, which told us he had been in emergency care, hurt."   "That was when the second explosion took place," the 21-year-old said.   Jawad managed to escape with light wounds to his leg, and is now in good health, but as he spoke, his father Dhorgam looked on nervously.   When he discussed the violence that Iraq still grapples with, Dhorgam spoke of the "tests" the country has faced since the beginning of its brutal sectarian war several years ago.   "Every day is worse than the last," Dhorgam muttered. "All the time, there are attacks. We are not safe."   "Sometimes," he admitted, "at night, I wake up in a start -- I feel as though I have heard an explosion."   Violence has declined dramatically since its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common, with hundreds still killed on a monthly basis, according to an AFP tally.   Overall, at least 116,000 Iraqi civilians and more than 4,800 coalition troops died in Iraq between the outbreak of war in 2003 and the US withdrawal in 2011, according to an estimate published in the British medical journal The Lancet on Friday.   Baghdad in particular is still hit by regular bombings and shootings.   But whereas the worst of Iraq"s violence, during which thousands were dying every month, was characterised as a sectarian war, now most of the deadliest attacks are claimed by Sunni militants linked to Al-Qaeda who are bent on destabilising the Shiite-led government.   Despite the still-high levels of violence, deadly attacks in Iraq rarely make the headlines internationally, and according to one diplomat, little will change until the country"s political leaders reform its institutions in a bid to address the root causes of violence.   "The answer to the violence is a political solution," Gyorgy Busztin, deputy head of the UN mission in Iraq, told AFP.   Busztin cited, among other things, strengthening the legal system and guaranteeing adequate representation of Iraq"s various ethnic and religious communities in government departments.   He advocated "creating institutions that serve people, and are strong, and to make sure that no human rights abuses occur, to restore the rule of law."   "All of this, together, would contribute to creating a political system which would be conducive to reducing violence," he said.   At her stall in Kadhimiyah Umm Khudair continues to cry, especially when she thinks of the numerous family members lost to violence over the years.   "They are all gone," she said, trying unsuccessfully to choke back the tears. "It is over. They will not return."   Mar 2013   Iraq, ten years on: Civilians dramatically exposed to armed violence. (Handicap International)   Ten years after the military conflict in Iraq, Handicap International has expressed its alarm at the dire situation facing the country’s civilian population.   For the last 10 years, civilians have borne the brunt of armed violence in Iraq and the withdrawal of coalition troops has not improved the security situation.   The threat from millions of landmines and explosive remnants of war has increased the hardships facing the Iraqi people, who already live in extremely harsh conditions.   In order to save lives, Handicap International plans to develop its risk education activities in the south of the country by adding a component on small arms.   Nearly 250,000 civilians were killed or injured in Iraq between March 2003 and January 2012 - equivalent to more than 75 civilian victims of armed violence every day for nine years. During the same period, civilians accounted for nearly 80% of deaths recorded in Iraq.   There has also recently been an increase in the number of small arms in circulation in Iraq, which very often fall into the hands of inexperienced civilians. More than half of civilian deaths or injuries since 2003 have been caused by small arms.   “The holders of these firearms do not know how to use them properly and they are not given safety training. It’s very common, during celebrations, when a lot of people fire into the air, for people to be injured or even killed,” explains Sylvie Bouko, Handicap International’s risk education specialist. “This is totally unacceptable.”   The presence of anti-personnel mines and explosive remnants of war increases the threat to civilians. After decades of conflict, Iraq is thought to be the country most heavily polluted by mines and explosive remnants of war in the world. It is likely to take several decades to clear more than 1,700 sq.km of contaminated land.   Since 2001, more than 20,000 people in Iraq have fallen victim to by mines and explosive remnants of war. 80% of affected areas in the south of the country are agricultural land farmed by the country’s poorest people. Without any other means of earning a livelihood, these small farmers put their lives on the line by entering the mined areas.   Handicap International has responded to this alarming situation by stepping up its activities in Iraq. The organisation has operated in the country since 1991, carrying out demining, risk education and orthopaedic-fitting activities.   Today, Handicap International trains Iraqis to raise awareness among thousands of people about the dangers posed by mines and explosive remnants of war. In the coming months, the organisation plans to initiate prevention activities to reduce the number of accidents involving small arms. Handicap International also hopes that the international community will support efforts to secure a far-reaching treaty banning the illicit trade in these arms, between 18th and 28th March in New York.   Sep 2012   A wave of more than 20 attacks left dozens of people dead across Iraq.   The most recent attacks were in Baghdad, where car bombs ripped through six mainly Shiite neighbourhoods.   "I heard women screaming, I saw people running in all directions, chairs scattered in the street. My windows were blown out, my mother and two kids were injured too," Alla Majid, still shaking after a blast in Baghdad"s Sadr City, said.   But those blasts came hard on the heels of a wave of coordinated attacks hitting targets including security forces and crowded marketplaces in at least 11 cities across the nation.   Estimates of the death toll range to more than 100 poeople. The attacks also left over 350 people injured, according to figures released by security and medical sources.   The deadliest single incident was near the shrine of Imam Ali al-Sharqi in southern Iraq, where the local hospital said at least 16 people had died and 60 more were injured by two car bombs.   With its main hospital overflowing with the injured, mosques in the nearby city of Amara used prayer loudspeakers to call for blood donations.   23 July 2012   The United Nations mission in Iraq has strongly condemned a wave of attacks that left over 100 people dead and injured many more.   “I strongly condemn the heinous attacks and the senseless violence and bloodshed across the country,” the Secretary-Geneneral’s Deputy Special Representative, Gyorgy Busztin, in a news release from the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).   “The scale and brutality of the attacks are appalling – especially now, when Iraqis are not only celebrating the holy month of Ramadan, with its messages of peace and reconciliation, but are also welcoming thousands of returnees who have fled the ongoing violence in Syria,” he added.   According to media reports, a coordinated string of bombings and shooting in 13 cities, including Baghdad, the capital, killed over 100 people and injured 200 more.   “The criminals who perpetrated these attacks must be held to account,” Mr. Busztin said. He also extended his condolences to the families of those who were killed and wished a speedy recovery for the injured.   “Deliberate attacks on civilians can never be justified. Such attacks show a total disregard for basic principles of humanity and we condemn them,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Director for the Middle East and North Africa.   23 July, 2012 (AFP)   A wave of violence has killed 111 people across Iraq in the country"s deadliest day in two-and-a-half years. Officials said at least 235 people were wounded in 28 different attacks launched in 19 cities, shattering a relative calm which had held in the lead-up to the start on Saturday of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.   In Monday"s deadliest incident - a string of roadside bombs and a car bomb followed by a suicide attack targeting emergency responders in the town of Taji - at least 42 people were killed and 40 wounded, medical officials said.   "I heard explosions in the distance so I left my house and I saw a car outside," said 40-year-old Taji resident Abu Mohammed, who added that police inspectors concluded the vehicle was a car bomb. "We asked the neighbours to leave their houses, but when they were leaving, the bomb went off."   Abu Mohammed said he witnessed the deaths of an elderly woman carrying a newborn baby and of the policeman who had first concluded the car was packed with explosives.   An AFP reporter at the scene said a row of houses were completely destroyed, and residents were searching through the rubble in search of victims.   In Baghdad, a car bomb outside a government office responsible for producing identity papers killed at least 12 people and wounded 33 others, security and medical officials said.   "This attack is a terrible crime against humanity, because they did it during Ramadan, while people are fasting," said one witness.   An AFP journalist said eight nearby cars were badly burnt and many of the victims of the attack could not be identified because their papers were inside the targeted offices.   Two other explosions in the Baghdad neighbourhoods of Husseiniyah and Yarmuk killed at least three people and left 21 others wounded, while a car bomb in the town of Tarmiyah, just north of Baghdad, hurt nine people, officials said.   Checkpoint shootings and bomb blasts in Diyala province reportedly killed 11 people and left 40 others wounded, security officials and doctor Ahmed Ibrahim from the main hospital in provincial capital Baquba said.   Nine bomb blasts, some of them minutes apart, meanwhile killed seven people and wounded 29 in Kirkuk city and the eponymous towns of Dibis and Tuz Khurmatu. Another car bomb, near a Shiite mosque in the town of Dujail, killed a woman and wounded four others.
	Deadline looms, but survivors of Assam bloodshed too scared to go home by Nita Bhalla and Biswajyoti Das Reuters Alertnet India   Bilasipara, India. (AlertNet)   There was little time to do anything but grab her two young boys and run as fast as she could when the gunmen came into the northeast Indian village in the dead of night and began firing.   Along with scores of other villagers, nine-months pregnant Rohima Begum hid with her family waist-deep in the rice fields as the gunshots rang out amid the screams of those left behind.   Eighteen days on, Rohima, like hundreds of thousands in Assam state, languishes in a displacement camp - too scared to go home after the worst ethnic violence in India in a decade.   But the government says the violence, in which 75 people have been killed and more than 400,000 displaced, is over and has set a deadline for fleeing villagers to return to their homes - India''s Independence Day on August 15.   "How can we go back? There is nothing left. We saw them burning down the entire village as we escaped. The fire and smoke were visible from a long distance," Rohima says, cradling her three-day-old boy, who was born in the primary school which now houses 800 people in lower Assam''s Dhubri district.   "The people who did this to us live in villages next to us. There is no security. If we go back, they will kill us."   Violence between the Bodo tribespeople and Muslim communities broke out on July 20, after unidentified men killed four Bodo youths. In retaliation, armed Bodos - who dominate Kokrajhar and Chirang districts - attacked Muslims, suspecting them of being behind the deaths.   Communal clashes have since ensued and fleeing survivors speak of large groups of men armed with automatic weapons surrounding entire villages, going on the rampage, gunning down people or hacking them to death with machetes. Hundreds of villages have been looted and razed.   Convoys of police and paramilitary vehicles patrol the main roads which run through the dusty towns in this fertile area and authorities have imposed a night curfew.   The number of killings has decreased, but there are at least one or two reports of fresh corpses being found every day and the situation remains tense.   "People should start going back to their homes now," says Nilomani Sen Deka, an Assam minister. "We will be providing them with relief and compensation. But they should start going back. Many have gone already. It is safe now."   But both the displaced Bodos and Muslim community say they can no longer live together.   Tensions have long existed between the two groups in this region, famed for its lush tea plantations and as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh''s parliamentary constituency.   The Bodos have long fought for a separate homeland and after a 16-year armed struggle, they signed a 2003 peace accord with New Delhi, giving them autonomy over the four districts.   They say many of the Muslims, who over the years have grown to outnumber the Bodos, are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.   The Muslims, who work for Bodos on their fields and construction sites or as rickshaw drivers, say they are Indian citizens and have voting rights.   This is not the first time that the two groups have clashed. In 1993, Bodos attacked Muslims and other communities resulting in around 2,000 deaths and thousands displaced.   Almost 300 schools, colleges and community centres have been converted into relief camps. In the suffocating humidity and soaring temperatures, half-naked children lie perspiring on school benches or desks, while women cradle babies who are listless and weak.   Due to poor sanitation and a lack of clean water, disease has spread rapidly and there are tens of thousands of cases of diarrhoea and dysentery.   Twenty-two people have died so far in the camps, while around 8,000 children are sick, according to government figures.   Medical teams visit every few days to distribute medicines and basic food rations of rice and lentils are being given three times a day to the displaced, but aid workers say there is a desperate need for more aid.   "Most of the displaced fled with nothing," says Zubin Zaman from Oxfam India. "Sanitation has to be stepped up with better hygiene practices, access to clean water and more toilets. There is also a need for bedding, clothing, mosquito nets and tarpaulin sheets."   Survivors say they cannot live in such conditions, but add that it is better than dying at the hands of armed mobs.   "We do not want to live like this, but we will not go back. The security forces cannot protect us. They cannot be there 24 hours a day, guarding us," says Barendra Brahma, 70, a retired school teacher in a camp in the town of Kokrajhar.   "I was born in that village. If I go back now, it will only be to die." Visit the related web page
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