Iraq on Tuesday marked the first anniversary since the military coalition led by U.S. forces transferred sovereignty to the Iraqi provisional government. During this period, a free election was held in January and a transitional government headed by Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari made its debut in April with the goal of establishing a full-fledged, democratic and independent government by the end of this year.
The situation in Iraq, however, is far from stable. On the anniversary itself, an Iraqi Shiite deputy leader, Dhari Ali al-Fayadh, his son and three bodyguards were killed in a bomb blast in Baghdad. The day before at least 10 people reportedly died and about 30 others were wounded. More than 1,000 people, mostly Iraqis, have been killed -- mainly in suicide bombings -- since the new government was installed in April.
Since the establishment of the transitional government, attacks and acts of terrorism by armed insurgents have been intensifying. Clean-up operations by U.S. and other coalition forces have failed to reduce the violence. It is believed that the armed insurgents intend to fan religious and ethnic conflicts with the aim of starting a civil war.