Iraqi security forces ‘not ready’
Bomb blasts Baghdad as report says US-trained forces unable to enforce security.
“The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) have not yet developed as fast as the coalition planned and … are not yet ready to take full responsibility for their country’s security,” the report said.
Bipartisan report
Signed by 16 lawmakers from both political parties, the report said the Pentagon must do a better job of informing congress of progress in training but stopped short of making a judgement on whether the US should continue the effort.
At least 40 people were injured by a car bomb at a busy intersection in Baghdad [Reuters] |
Todd Akin, the panel’s most senior Republican party member, said Washington had no choice but to continue the training programme.
“Unless you basically give up on the whole project, the Iraqi security forces are just plain necessary because of the environment that exists within Iraq,” he said.
The report came after two Republican senators earlier this week called a change of course in Iraq.
Baghdad blast
Thursday’s bombing took place at a busy intersection in Baghdad where minibuses pick up and drop off passengers, Iraqi police said.
Police said the car bomb exploded in the mainly Shia district of Bayaa, an area which has been targeted in several bomb attacks.
Around 40 vehicles were set ablaze by the bomb which went off during the morning rush hour.
“It was a horrible explosion. Many, many people have been killed,” one witness said.
In the town of Salam Pak, 20 beheaded bodies were found on the bank of the Tigris river, police said.
Meanwhile, in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, a roadside bomb killed three British soldiers and wounded another during a foot patrol in the early hours of Thursday, Major David Gell, British military spokesman, said.