45 killed as suicide bombing targets Iraqi security militia

Two suicide bombings killed 48 people in Iraq yesterday, including dozens from a government-backed, anti-al-Qaeda militia lining up to collect their pay.

The bombings were the deadliest in a series of attacks across the country yesterday aimed at the Sons of Iraq, Sunni Muslim groups also known as Awakening Councils that work with government forces to fight al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The attacks highlighted the stiff challenges the country faces as the US scales back its forces in Iraq, leaving their Iraqi counterparts in charge of security.

The first attack yesterday morning — the worst against Iraq's security forces this year — killed at least 45 people and wounded more than 40. It occurred at a checkpoint near a military base where the Awakening Council members had lined up to collect their pay in the mostly Sunni district of Radwaniya, south-west of Baghdad.

"There were more than 150 people sitting on the ground when the explosion took place. I ran, thinking that I was a dead man," said Uday Khamis, 24, who was sitting outside the Mahmoudiyah hospital where many of the wounded were taken. A military official at the base said the explosion was the work of one suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest.

Some of the injured complained about the lack of protection from the Iraqi military when they would go to collect their pay. Mr Khamis said the men used to be searched, but this time they were allowed to line up without any checks being conducted.

In the second attack, a suspected militant stormed a local Awakening Council headquarters in the far western town of Qaim, near the Syrian border, and opened fire on those inside.

The fighters returned fire, wounding the attacker, who then blew himself up as they gathered around him, killing three and wounding six others.

While violence has dropped dramatically over the past two years in Iraq, security forces remain a favourite target for insurgents bent on destabilising the country and its Shia-led government.

The Awakening Councils have played a key role in reducing violence in Iraq since they first turned against their former al-Qaeda allies in late 2006.

But their future role in the Shiite-majority country is contentious. The United States used to pay the monthly salaries of about 200 for the nearly 100,000-strong militias.

Last year, the Iraqi government took over paying the militia members' salaries and agreed to absorb up to 20 per cent of the fighters into its security forces, with others getting government jobs.

Some militia members, however, have complained about late pay and many say they have been given menial jobs. Mr Khamis said they were to receive two months worth of salary yesterday.

A member of the provincial council in Anbar province, where the Sons of Iraq were first organised, said that the lack of good government jobs has made the anti-al-Qaeda militia members less eager to fight the insurgents.

"These heroes are no longer willing to fight al-Qaeda because they have not received what they deserved," he said.