14 Iraqi Shi’ites Killed at Militant ‘Roadblock’

Islamists Were Checking IDs of Tanker Drivers

14 Shi’ite tanker drivers were killed today 100 miles north of the Iraqi capital city of Baghdad, when an Islamist militant faction set up a roadback near Sulaiman Pek, checking the IDs to passing drivers and killing Shi’ites en route to Kirkuk.

As the civil war in Syria continues to worsen, al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) and other Sunni Islamist factions have sought to restart the sectarian fighting in Iraq. They’ve been successful, as death tolls over the past few months are at a multi-year high.

High profile attacks have been rising yet again during the holy month of Ramadan, with Shi’ite militias launching attacks on Sunnis and vice versa. An Iraqi civil war may well have already started.

Or, in the view of the UN envoy to Iraq, the war has “merged” with the Syrian war. Whichever the case, attacks like the one today show dangerous Iraq is, and how even simply jobs like truck driving can put one into a life-or-death situation.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.