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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

IRAQ: Security measures stepped up after downing of helicopter

BAGHDAD, 3 November 2003 (IRIN) - Following Sunday's attack in which 15 coalition soldiers were killed and 21 wounded when a helicopter was shot down near Al-Fallujah, west of the Iraqi capital, security has been visibly strengthened in Baghdad. Many of the troops aboard the huge transport helicopter had been on their way out of the country for rest and recreation, according to an AP report.

On the road to Baghdad International Airport, which has seen numerous attacks against troops, US Humvees are parked about every 1,000 metres for about a mile. Around the former Republican Guard palace compound in the city centre, where mostly US administrators and contractors live, security also appears to be tighter.

A coalition forces spokesman declined to say anything about the recent increased security measures. "I really can’t go into details about security measures except to say we constantly evaluate the threat and we’re constantly talking about ways to provide better security for the Iraqis," Maj Dean Thurmond, a coalition forces spokesman, told IRIN in Baghdad.

But a contractor installing new communications equipment in the palace compound said the beefed-up protection helped people rattled by the attack on the Al-Rashid Hotel feel a little safer. "There is so much security around the green zone," Scott Rodakowski, told IRIN. "It makes me feel good."

Security has always been tight around the green zone, as the compound is called by its residents, but was stepped up after a rocket attack on 26 October on the hotel, which killed an American colonel and injured more than 20 other people.

Before the attack, the hotel was filled with US civilians working on reconstruction projects in the country. After it, everyone was moved out of the hotel to other buildings on the compound. Towering concrete walls now surround the compound, which sits on the banks of the Tigris River and is at least two miles square.

Last week's series of bombings - in which at least 34 people were killed, including staff at the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross on 27 October - led to a further downscaling of international aid workers. Most aid agencies had already reduced staff following the August truck bombing at the UN headquarters in Baghdad.

There were some signs of anti-coalition feeling last week in the form of leaflets distributed in Baghdad, warning that last weekend would go down in history as "Iraq resistance day".

According to local residents, rumours about the leaflets had grown to epic proportions. A flyer on 31 October said hotels where aid workers and journalists stayed, schools and all businesses were targets. A leaflet put out last week called on Iraqis to hold a "general strike" on Saturday to "protest against the occupation". Many city residents said they would keep their children at home from school on Monday, quoting the flyer as saying that "Americans will pay for the occupation".

Soldiers at another of former President Saddam Hussein’s palaces, this one close to the airport, pointed out that the entire compound was relatively isolated and surrounded by a 12-ft-high wall. "We have already had mortar attacks," said one soldier who declined to be named. "What else can they do?"

Others took their own security precautions. At a hotel in Baghdad, some television camera crews decided to spend the night with friends in the surrounding neighbourhood rather than take their chances. "We have specific information that these hotels will be targeted," an American cameraman, who also declined to give his name, told IRIN. "This is just for the night - then we’ll be back," he added.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict

This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003