Iraqis Fleeing Samarra Say Extremists Control City
A number of families have fled the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad, saying that if the government does not intervene, their city will end up like Kabul during the Taliban era. The fleeing families say that extremists have renamed the city "the Islamic Emirate of Samarra, which is one of the emirates of the Islamic State of Iraq, declared by Al-Qaeda in the Land of Two Rivers last year.
He pointed out that these groups "began arriving in Samarra specifically a year and a half ago. Most of their leaders hold Arab citizenships, including Syrians, Algerians, Egyptians, and Yemenis, along with some Iraqi tribesmen who assist them and offer them facilities.
Muhannad said that large areas of the farms around Samarra have been transformed into camps like those of Al-Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan. Arab fighters, who were trained in Afghanistan many years ago, supervise the new camps in Samarra. Other interlocutress agreed with Muhannad that the city of Samarra "is becoming like the Afghan cities of Qandahar and Kabul in the era of Taliban."
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As the US focuses its forces on Baghdad the insurgents as usual go elsewhere and set up training camps and bases. But, of course this is just one city amoung many that the Islamic State in Iraq is moving its forces into from Baghdad to avoid the "Surge".
This is the very possible future of the Western part of Iraq by the way. If Baghdad decends into choas and bloodletting the Islamic State of Iraq will continue to expand and consolidate its power. In essence Western Iraq is slowly becoming before our very eyes pre-911 Afghanistan.
The only force strong enough to present any real threat to the Islamic State are the tribes and they are battling it out right now as we speak. The suicide attack that killed 40 Sunnis in a mosque in Western Iraq yesterday after the Imam criticised insurgents was simply a symptom of this growing battle.