Baghdad, January 12: Iraqi security forces have declared a state of curfew across major neighborhoods of Baghdad amid reports of probable bombing attacks there.
Security forces are carrying out a massive search operation across Baghdad as part of large-scale lockdowns in the Iraqi capital.
The Iraqi government declined to comment about whether explosives had been found, citing an ongoing investigation.
The measure has heightened concerns about security breaches in Baghdad. The city witnesses violence-related incidents on nearly a daily basis since the US-led invasion in March, 2003.
Iraqi security officials warn that militants will probably continue high-profile attacks in an attempt to destabilize the Iraqi government in advance of the March 7 parliamentary elections.
In late December, the Iraqi national security adviser, Safa Hussein, said the terrorist al-Qaeda network poses a threat to the country’s stability and especially security in advance of the parliamentary elections.
In an interview with AFP, Hussein said the network had fallen under the influence of diehard elements of the ousted Baath party, who were using it to try to undermine the credibility of the Baghdad government.
“Recently, during the last six months, there has been a change in al-Qaeda’s strategy,” Hussein said, speaking in his office in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone government and diplomatic compound.
“We think that this change comes also through the influence and effect of them being closer to the Baathists.”
Hussein noted that after the US-led invasion, Baathists joined a range of militant groups, including al-Qaeda, as they offered a more potent force against the occupation troops than the Baath’s own unpopular party apparatus.
—Agencies