PM Vows Revenge as Iraq’s Tuesday Toll Rises to 65

Still No Claims of Responsibility for High Profile Attack

by Jason Ditz, March 31, 2011

The death toll from a Tuesday hostage-taking and siege in Tikrit continued to rise into Thursday, and now stands at 65 dead and over 100 wounded, making it amongst the most high profile incidents in the past year.

The incident has spawned a new round of soul-searching from security analysts in Iraq, who wondered how, after so many escalations of security measures in the past, the attackers were able to easily launch such an attack.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, as he is wont to do, pledged revenge for the attack. Maliki says that an investigation committee would track down the “terrorist murderers” behind the strike and ensure their punishment.

Incredibly, however, despite the massive death toll none of the major militant factions in Iraq have claimed credit for the strike. Officials have said they assume al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) is responsible, but there is no evidence for this so far.

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