Progress in Iraq? US Death Toll in '05 Nears '04 Level
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- Date: Sat, 31 Dec 2005 20:36:49 GMT
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Progress in Iraq? US Death Toll in '05 Nears '04 Level
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
AP via MSNBC - Dec 31, 2005
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10636018/from/RSS/
U.S. death toll in Iraq for '05 nears '04 level
841 soldiers killed this year ? just 5 short of last year's toll
By The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two more U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq as the year wound
down Friday, putting the American military death toll at 841 so far ? just
five short of 2004?s lost lives despite political progress and dogged
efforts to quash the insurgency.
Violence continued on Saturday with gunmen raiding a house near
Iskandariyah, 30 miles south of Baghdad, and killing five members of a Sunni
family, army Col. Hussein Sheyaa said. A roadside bomb also exploded in
Baghdad, killing five policemen, 1st Lt. Nadum Nuaman said.
In addition, five members of the Iraqi Islamic party died when a roadside
bomb exploded near their headquarters in Al-Khalis, 10 miles east of
Baqouba, police said.
In Baghdad, hundreds of cars lined up at gas stations as word spread that
Iraq?s largest oil refinery shut down two weeks ago because of threats of
insurgent attacks. Nearly three years after the U.S.-led invasion, a fuel
crisis again threatens to cripple a country with the world?s third-largest
proven oil reserves.
At least 17 people were killed in shootings, mortar attacks and a suicide
car bombing in Baghdad on Friday. In the most serious incident, police said
nine people were killed in a drive-by shooting ? apparently because they
were drinking alcohol in public. Two Iraqi army captains were also gunned
down in the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, as they drove home.
Sudan shuts embassy to appease kidnappers A senior Sudanese diplomat said
his country closed its embassy in Baghdad in an effort to win the release of
six kidnapped employees ? including one diplomat.
?A statement was issued by the Sudanese government to close the embassy in
Iraq to win the release of our kidnapped citizens,? Charge d?affairs Mohamed
Ahmed Khalil told The Associated Press. He added that the embassy?s 12
employees would leave Monday.
Al-Qaida in Iraq had threatened Thursday to kill five Sudanese on Saturday
unless the country removed its diplomatic mission from Iraq.
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry reported on Dec. 24 that six of its embassy
employees were kidnapped ? including the mission?s second secretary, Abdel
Moneam Mohammad Tom. It was not clear if the al-Qaida statement was
referring to the same group.
The two new deaths of U.S. military personnel were announced Friday by the
American military. A bomb killed one soldier when it struck his vehicle in
Baghdad on Friday, while the second soldier was shot and killed in the
western city of Fallujah.
Their deaths brought the number of U.S. military members killed so far in
2005 to 841, of whom 64 died in December. A total of 846 troops died in 2004
and 485 in 2003. The worst month in 2005 was January with 106 fatalities,
followed by November with 96 and August with 85.
The United States hopes that as more Iraqi police and army forces are
trained, they will slowly take over responsibility for security from
American troops. Much of that expectation hinges on the ability of Iraq?s
ethnic and sectarian groups to form a broad-based government that will have
the legitimacy to deflate the Sunni Arab-led insurgency.
'Gas shortage' In Beiji, some 155 miles north of Baghdad and near Saddam
Hussein?s hometown of Tikrit, the deteriorating security situation led
authorities to shut down Iraq?s largest oil refinery Dec. 18, former oil
minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum told the AP.
Al-Uloum said the facility ?is considered one of the vital refineries in
Iraq? and produces about 2 million gallons of gas a day.
As word of the shutdown spread through the country, abut 1,000 vehicles
waited at one of Baghdad?s biggest gas stations, known as the Jindi
al-Majhoul, or Unknown Soldier station.
Ahmed Khalaf, 33, said he left his home at dawn and was still in line at
noon. He expected to wait a few more hours before getting fuel.
?After the rise in gas prices, now we have a gas shortage,? he said. ?I left
my work early, and I don?t think I will have the opportunity to return to
work today because of this long line. Dark will come soon and I cannot work
at night.?
Ali Moussa, a 51-year-old tanker truck driver, said he and his colleagues
were working in a dangerous situation.
?We demand that the government provide security and protection,? he said.
?The Beiji storage tanks are full and there isn?t any shortage of gas there.
The problem is that drivers are too afraid to go there unless they are
protected.?
Baghdad in particular has been suffering from a shortage of refined fuel,
much of which is already imported because of the country?s diminished
refining capacity. A number of demonstrations have already been held around
Iraq because of a Dec. 19 increase in gas prices.
At the time, the price of imported and super gasoline was raised from about
13 cents a gallon to about 65 cents a gallon.
The oil crisis has already cost one job, that of al-Uloum, the oil minister,
who was given a 30-day vacation last Wednesday and replaced with Deputy
Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi. Al-Uloum had opposed a recent decision to
raise prices for fuel and cooking oil as much as ninefold.
Iraq?s proven oil reserves, estimated at about 110 billion barrels, are the
world?s third largest after Saudi Arabia and Canada. Analysts have predicted
that Iraq?s oil production will average about 1.8 million barrels per day
this year, about 10 percent less than 2004 levels of about 2 million barrels
? and just over half the 1990 level. One reason is frequent insurgent
attacks on pipelines and refineries. © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
© 2005 MSNBC.com
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