EVEN by Iraq’s volatile standards, Sunday’s truck bombing targeting a market in Baghdad was massive. Various news sources are quoting different death tolls, from 165 to over 200. The scale of the atrocity can be judged by the fact that Iraqi officials have said it will take a number of days to recover the bodies.The militant Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the slaughter, which occurred in the capital’s Karrada area, packed with families busy shopping for Eid.While violence in Syria, and more recently Turkey, has grabbed the headlines, the fact is that Iraq has been experiencing a wave of mass-casualty militant attacks.A rough tally of acts of terrorism in various Iraqi cities since January shows that hundreds have been mowed down — in cafes; in markets; during religious events etc.
The Iraqi government may have wrested Fallujah from the clutches of IS, but clearly, the militant outfit remains a lethal threat to the safety of this shattered country’s population.
Thirteen years since the American invasion toppled strongman Saddam Hussein, Iraq remains a broken state, torn apart by sectarian and ethnic differences, suffering from inept governance, and preyed upon by militant gangs such as IS.While the liberation of Fallujah was a breakthrough, significant ground remains to be covered until the country is cleansed of the menace of terrorism. Of course, freeing the city of Mosul — still under the militants’ control — remains a major goal.But in the longer term, the defeat of IS requires coordinated action in Syria and Iraq, the two states that have suffered the most because of the militant group.For this to happen, the civil war in Syria needs to be wound down, which means the external backers of the government and the rebels, respectively, must make greater efforts to convince their Syrian clients to cease fire and head for the negotiating table.Treating the IS problem in Syria and Iraq separately will not deliver effective results.This is effectively one theatre and, unless coordinated action is taken, once driven out of one country, the militants can sneak across the border and easily find refuge and regroup.A greater effort is required to dismantle IS’s infrastructure, including its finances. For the security of the region and beyond, local and foreign actors must work with the governments in Damascus and Baghdad on a joint counterterrorism strategy to uproot IS and rebuild this devastated region. www.dawn.com/news/1269080/baghdad-massacre
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