The Long War Journal: The Baghdad Kidnapping

Written by Bill Roggio on November 14, 2006 7:05 PM to The Long War Journal

Available online at: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2006/11/the_baghdad_kidnappi.php

Kidnapping at Ministry of Higher Education in Baghdad; Raid against Sadr's Mahdi Army; multiple Ramadi IED cells targeted

A group of insurgents have conducted a daring daylight kidnapping in the heart of Baghdad. A large group of men in police uniforms, with a reported 30 vehicles, raided the Ministry of Higher Education in Baghdad's Karrada district. Initial reports indicated up to 150 employees were abducted, however subsequent reports indicate the number is about 70.

Iraqi forces have surrounded several locations in Baghdad, where the kidnappers are believed to have retreated. They are in the Shia districts. Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports "a majority of the more than 100 kidnapped Iraqi government workers had been released or rescued." Five senior members of the Baghdad police force have been arrested, including the police chief of the Karrada district. Shia militias and corrupt members of the Baghdad police force are strongly suspected of conducting the kidnappings.

The abductions at the education ministry occur as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is considering reshuffling the Cabinet. The ministers of Oil, Health, Justice, Housing and Reconstruction, Transportation and Culture are expected to lose their portfolios. Muqtada al-Sadr, the Iranian backed cleric and leader of the Mahdi Army, currently holds the ministries of Health, Housing and Reconstruction, Transportation.

Yesterday, CENTCOM Commander General John Abizaid met with Prime Minister Maliki, and demanded the Shiite militias be disarmed. This follows calls from General Casey and Ambassador Khalilzad just prior to the U.S. midterm elections for the Mahdi Army to disband. Last night, U.S. and Iraqi forces raided the offices of Sadr's lieutenants Baghdad's Shula district. Six were said to be killed in the raids.

U.S. forces also struck at bombmakers in Ramadi. A doctor at a hospital in Ramadi claims 30 civilians were killed, however al Qaeda has been known to intimidate hospital workers in Anbar province to inflate casualty results. The U.S. states 11 insurgent IED emplanters were killed in three separate strikes.

Baghdad and Ramadi remain the focal points of the insurgency. Baghdad is a mish-mash of Sunni insurgents, al Qaeda and Shiite militias battling it out with suicide bombs, IED attacks and death squads. Ramadi remains a haven for al Qaeda, as the Iraqi government failed to approve the clearing of the city during last year's offensive in Anbar prior to the national election.