WASHINGTON — In July, the Islamic State carried out one of the deadliest car bombings in Iraq since the American invasion in 2003, killing more than 300 people in Baghdad.
The Pentagon responded by rushing a three-star general to the capital to offer the Iraqi authorities new technology, tactics and advisers to help thwart additional attacks. And in the weeks before the current Iraqi push to reclaim Mosul, the American-led air campaign against the militant group redoubled its strikes on car bombs and car-bomb factories.
So far, the strategy has worked. The threat by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, to retaliate for the Mosul assault with crippling car bombings in Baghdad has been largely neutralized. Such bombings, military …show more content…
Gen. Sean MacFarland, who was the top American military commander in Iraq until August, said about the need to combine tactics, technology and intelligence to identify and combat car bombs. “The enemy is adaptive, and we need to be adaptive, too.”
But given the long history of terrorism in Baghdad, the efforts have not completely quieted the worries of Iraqi officials. “We don’t deny that we still have fears that they will target Baghdad, especially from the outskirts of Baghdad,” said Gen. Tahseen Ibrahim, the spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. “ISIS is still there, although less so because of our intelligence efforts.”
Immediately after the July attack, Mr. Abadi announced a series of new security measures, most prominently an order that the Iraqi police and soldiers stop using bomb detectors sold by a British company that were determined to be fake. The wandlike devices had been used for years at Baghdad’s checkpoints and were derided by a public that was angered by the government’s inability to protect its …show more content…
On Oct. 30, a parked car bomb exploded in Huriya, a neighborhood in northwestern Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 34. The bombing, which hit a popular fruit and vegetable market in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood, was the fifth such explosion in the capital that day.
Despite the smaller bombings, a general sense of calm has enveloped the streets of Baghdad in the months since the July attack. While Iraqis are nervous that it will not last, many said they now had more confidence in the government’s ability to prevent attacks, a sentiment that has rarely been heard in Baghdad in recent years.
“We feel much better because there are fewer explosions,” said Labid Ahmed, 23. “The situation will be very good after Mosul is liberated, and I think that the explosions have been reduced because of the security checkpoints, and also intelligence is playing a role in this.”
“ISIS has become broken and defeated,” said Shahab Ahmed, 29, who works in a grocery store. “I don’t think ISIS will be able to carry out attacks if they lose Mosul, because the security forces are fully ready to deal with any
The Pentagon responded by rushing a three-star general to the capital to offer the Iraqi authorities new technology, tactics and advisers to help thwart additional attacks. And in the weeks before the current Iraqi push to reclaim Mosul, the American-led air campaign against the militant group redoubled its strikes on car bombs and car-bomb factories.
So far, the strategy has worked. The threat by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, to retaliate for the Mosul assault with crippling car bombings in Baghdad has been largely neutralized. Such bombings, military …show more content…
Gen. Sean MacFarland, who was the top American military commander in Iraq until August, said about the need to combine tactics, technology and intelligence to identify and combat car bombs. “The enemy is adaptive, and we need to be adaptive, too.”
But given the long history of terrorism in Baghdad, the efforts have not completely quieted the worries of Iraqi officials. “We don’t deny that we still have fears that they will target Baghdad, especially from the outskirts of Baghdad,” said Gen. Tahseen Ibrahim, the spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Defense. “ISIS is still there, although less so because of our intelligence efforts.”
Immediately after the July attack, Mr. Abadi announced a series of new security measures, most prominently an order that the Iraqi police and soldiers stop using bomb detectors sold by a British company that were determined to be fake. The wandlike devices had been used for years at Baghdad’s checkpoints and were derided by a public that was angered by the government’s inability to protect its …show more content…
On Oct. 30, a parked car bomb exploded in Huriya, a neighborhood in northwestern Baghdad, killing at least 10 people and wounding 34. The bombing, which hit a popular fruit and vegetable market in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood, was the fifth such explosion in the capital that day.
Despite the smaller bombings, a general sense of calm has enveloped the streets of Baghdad in the months since the July attack. While Iraqis are nervous that it will not last, many said they now had more confidence in the government’s ability to prevent attacks, a sentiment that has rarely been heard in Baghdad in recent years.
“We feel much better because there are fewer explosions,” said Labid Ahmed, 23. “The situation will be very good after Mosul is liberated, and I think that the explosions have been reduced because of the security checkpoints, and also intelligence is playing a role in this.”
“ISIS has become broken and defeated,” said Shahab Ahmed, 29, who works in a grocery store. “I don’t think ISIS will be able to carry out attacks if they lose Mosul, because the security forces are fully ready to deal with any