BAGHDAD, Iraq – Insurgents and Islamic militants with fresh battle gains stopped just north of Baghdad; residents of the Iraqi capital reported near-deserted streets and braced for attacks or a siege, as the shaky military reassured citizens that “Baghdad is 100 percent secure.”
An army of Sunni Islamic militants has joined up with loyalists of Saddam Hussein’s ousted regime and military, capturing Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul and others with lightning speed last week, and heading toward Baghdad with the stated aim of ridding the country of the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The beleaguered military, which has nearly collapsed after fleeing, and failing to put up a fight for Mosul and other militant gains, has thrown a security belt around Baghdad. The country’s top religious Shiite authorities have called for volunteers to fight the insurgents.
“The security situation is confused, with the army and police forces spread everywhere and the streets almost empty of pedestrians and cars,” said Samer al-Janabi, a 25-year-old from Abu Ghraib in western Baghdad.
“People here are scared their neighborhoods will turn into battle zones between security forces and the militants,” he said, adding that the lockdown on the capital, plus fears of what will happen, has residents stocking up on food and essentials, and prices risen by 10 percent for many goods.
The insurgent juggernaut moving toward Baghdad from the northwest is reportedly an axis of al-Qaeda groups, together with ex-Saddam loyalists and military officers. There are fears they may hook up with the al-Qaeda splinter group, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which is believed to have forces in and around the capital.
Janabi said that clashes between the Iraqi army and ISIS militants take place on a near-daily basis, even before the new crisis. Now, with the fighting threatening to widen, residents fear getting caught in the crossfire, or being forcefully drafted to fight alongside the Islamists.
The embattled Maliki, who is opposed by the country’s large minority Sunnis and Kurds -- and even some of his fellow Shiite groups -- has placed Iraq on high alert but failed to get the quorum in parliament to declare an emergency.
The insurgents, meanwhile, have made gains in the Sunni provinces of Nineveh, Salahaddin, Anbar and Diyala.
According to a security expert, the military fears the presence of ISIS sleeping cells inside the capital.
“The ISIS may activate sleeper cells in an attempt to confuse the security situation in the capital,” said the expert, who did not wish to identified.
In Karbala, Iraq’s holiest city for Shiites around the world, a spokesman for the religious authorities warned Friday that the aim of the insurgents was to capture all of Iraq, especially Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf.
He said that all Iraqis were targets, not just one group or sect, and called for the country’s ever-bickering Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds to close ranks against the approaching enemy.
Muhammad Ali, 35, said that anxiety over the militants nearing the capital had forced him to send his family away to southern Iraq, with only him staying to guard the family home and property.
The insurgents have halted their advance about 100 kilometers north of the capital, or about a two-hour drive.
“Baghdad is restless these days; low-income shopkeepers have closed their shops,” said Ali, noting fears of inflation or fuel shortages.
“The movement in the capital is limited. There are a few cars on nearly deserted streets, mainly of volunteers who want to join the security services against the terrorists.”
But as Baghdad trembled, a military that has left weapons intact and largely deserted en masse before the insurgent onslaught, gave reassurances that the capital is secure.
Baghdad is “100 percent secure,” Brigadier General Saad Maan, a spokesman for the Baghdad Operational Command, said at a news conference. He said that military leaders “are not worried for the capital,” and that security forces have made recent gains in areas south and west of Baghdad.
"Baghdad is at its best in terms of security preparedness, and proactive operations have been implemented,” the commander reassured.
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