Iraq Reopens 600 Main Streets, Lifts 281 Security Checkpoints in Baghdad

An aerial view of central Baghdad. Reuters file photo
An aerial view of central Baghdad. Reuters file photo
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Iraq Reopens 600 Main Streets, Lifts 281 Security Checkpoints in Baghdad

An aerial view of central Baghdad. Reuters file photo
An aerial view of central Baghdad. Reuters file photo

Remarkable improvement in life conditions has been recorded in Baghdad as a result of local authorities renovating and reopening streets.

At least 600 main streets and exits in Baghdad and its surrounding neighborhoods have been reopened, Director of Baghdad Operations Command Media Office Brigadier General Qasim Atiya told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Thousands of concrete blocks that were suffocating the capital were also lifted, he said.

“In recent months, we have removed 281 control and security checkpoints in Baghdad and 50 percent of the remaining security points are being removed," said Atiya.

The official added increased intelligence and incremental success in upholding security will play a major part in keeping the capital safe.

"The alternatives are to work on a major intelligence effort, and we have made progress in this regard, and military operations we have carried out in the Baghdad belt have made a big difference in security," said Atiya.

On erecting a fence and security gates, an announcement made earlier by the Command to secure the capital, Atiya pointed out that “construction is underway in this direction, and we have benefited from the concrete blocks that were lifted from the streets in securing vital intersections.”

Atiya revealed that the removed blocks ”will be reused to set up a security fence around Baghdad to prevent terrorists from accessing the Iraqi capital and posing a threat to its residents.”

Baghdad Mayoralty Spokesman Hakim Abdul-Zahra estimated the number of unregulated housing units in the capital by about 250,000.

He made note of extensive infringements against water networks, public sidewalks and public property.

“For five months we have been tackling transgressions in most areas of Baghdad. So far we have raised over 5,000 cases,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

He pointed out that “violations come under different categories, such as encroaching on main and subsidiary water pipes.”

“We have already removed 282 violations against the capital’s water networks located in Sadr City,” he noted.

Mentioning another type of violations, Abdul-Zahra said that the Mayoralty is also pursuing street vendors operating unlicensed kiosks on sidewalks, and building housing units constructed on public property.

Among the difficult challenges facing taskforce members are the violent threats by trespassers, reaching the point of “death threats” at times, and tribal condemnation.

Despite the arms threat, the taskforce is determined to carry operations through and clean up Baghdad’s streets, said Abdul-Zahra.



Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
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Lebanon Security Source Says Hezbollah Official Targeted in Beirut Strike

Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
Civil defense members work as Lebanese army soldiers stand guard at the site of an Israeli strike in Beirut's Basta neighbourhood, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, Lebanon November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

A Lebanese security source said the target of a deadly Israeli airstrike on central Beirut early Saturday was a senior Hezbollah official, adding it was unclear whether he was killed.

"The Israeli strike on Basta targeted a leading Hezbollah figure," the security official told AFP without naming the figure, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The early morning airstrike has killed at least 15 people and injured 63, according to authorities, and had brought down an eight-storey building nearby, in the second such attack on the working-class neighbourhood of Basta in as many months.

"The strike was so strong it felt like the building was about to fall on our heads," said Samir, 60, who lives with his family in a building facing the one that was hit.

"It felt like they had targeted my house," he said, asking to be identified by only his first name because of security concerns.

There had been no evacuation warning issued by the Israeli military for the Basta area.

After the strike, Samir fled his home in the middle of the night with his wife and two children, aged 14 and just three.

On Saturday morning, dumbstruck residents watched as an excavator cleared the wreckage of the razed building and rescue efforts continued, with nearby buildings also damaged in the attack, AFP journalists reported.

The densely packed district has welcomed people displaced from traditional Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon's east, south and southern Beirut, after Israel intensified its air campaign on September 23, later sending in ground troops.

"We saw two dead people on the ground... The children started crying and their mother cried even more," Samir told AFP, reporting minor damage to his home.

Since last Sunday, four deadly Israeli strikes have hit central Beirut, including one that killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.

Residents across the city and its outskirts awoke at 0400 (0200 GMT) on Saturday to loud explosions and the smell of gunpowder in the air.

"It was the first time I've woken up screaming in terror," said Salah, a 35-year-old father of two who lives in the same street as the building that was targeted.

"Words can't express the fear that gripped me," he said.

Saturday's strikes were the second time the Basta district had been targeted since war broke out, after deadly twin strikes early in October hit the area and the Nweiri neighbourhood.

Last month's attacks killed 22 people and had targeted Hezbollah security chief Wafiq Safa, who made it out alive, a source close to the group told AFP.

Salah said his wife and children had been in the northern city of Tripoli, about 70 kilometres away (45 miles), but that he had to stay in the capital because of work.

His family had been due to return this weekend because their school reopens on Monday, but now he has decided against it following the attack.

"I miss them. Every day they ask me: 'Dad, when are we coming home?'" he said.

Lebanon's health ministry says that more than 3,650 people have been killed since October 2023, after Hezbollah initiated exchanges of fire with Israel in solidarity with its Iran-backed ally Hamas over the Gaza war.

However, most of the deaths in Lebanon have been since September this year.

Despite the trauma caused by Saturday's strike, Samir said he and his family had no choice but to return home.

"Where else would I go?" he asked.

"All my relatives and siblings have been displaced from Beirut's southern suburbs and from the south."