Security alert in Talafar over attack concerns

NINEWA / IraqiNews.com: Security authorities in Talafar announced a security alert in the western Ninewa district over concerns on possible attacks targeting houses of worship and banks, a local police source said. “Security agencies in Talafar, (60 km) northwest of Mosul city, announced a security alert in the district after receiving intelligence tip-offs on plans that armed groups might wage operations targeting Shiite mosques and places of gatherings over Ashuraa celebrations,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. Thousands of Shiite Muslims from all over Iraq and neighboring countries would head for the shrine of Imam al-Hussein Ibn Ali in the holy Shiite city of Karbala for the Ashuraa, or the 10th of Muharram on the Muslim Hegira calendar. Ashuraa commemorates the slaughter of Imam al-Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, and his family and companions in the battle of Taf in Karbala in the Hegira year 61 (680 in the Gregorian calendar). “Iraqi forces slapped a tight cordon around the al-Rafidain and agricultural banks in Talafar, which are possible targets for attacks according to the received tip-offs,” the source added. He warned that armed groups might use new methods in their assaults like booby-trapping cell phones and dye packs to target civilians. A civilian man was killed and three others wounded on Tuesday after an improvised explosive device planted inside a computer went off north of Talafar, prompting the local council to rebuke security agencies and request the deployment of explosive detection equipment and the enhancement of intelligence efforts. Mosul, the capital city of the unrest-stricken multi-ethnic province of Ninewa, lies 405 km north of Baghdad. AmR (S) 33