RTT news
written by Staff
Monday April 18, 2011
Twin car bomb explosions in the Iraqi capital on Monday killed nine people and injured 25 others.
Victims of the attack near the Green Zone in Baghdad included soldiers, reports said.
The bomb-laden cars were queuing to enter the fortified exclusive zone, which houses diplomatic offices of several countries, when they exploded. The highly sensitive Green Zone was to host an Arab summit next month.
When a U.N. mandate for foreign troops in Iraq expired in 2009, the U.S. handed over security control of the nine square kilometer Green Zone, where the huge new U.S. Embassy complex is situated.
Speaking at a ceremony of Iraqi military taking control of the security of the Green Zone, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki hailed it as "our day of sovereignty and the beginning of the process of retrieving every inch of our nation's soil."
Under the terms of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed between Baghdad and Washington, U.S. troops decamped from the Green Zone more than a year ago.
American troops, who have been supporting Iraqi forces since its invasion of the country in 2003, ended its active combat operations on August 19 last year.
Washington has vowed that it will conform to a full troop withdrawal by the end of 2011, leaving the entire security responsibilities of the country on domestic forces.
Under the military draw-down plans, 50,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq in an "advisory" capacity with their mission to be in supporting and training regular Iraqi forces but not having combat duties.
Despite security gains achieved since last year, many Iraqi provinces still remain volatile.
Washington has vowed that it will conform to a full troop withdrawal by the end of 2011, leaving the entire security responsibilities of the country on domestic forces.
Under the military draw-down plans, 50,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq in an "advisory" capacity with their mission to be in supporting and training regular Iraqi forces but not having combat duties.
Despite security gains achieved since last year, many Iraqi provinces still remain volatile.
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