Following the bombing on Sunday, security has been substantially increased throughout Kurdistan. There are road blocks within the city, police are everywhere and today police were doing random identity checks in cafes and hotels. As usual the Kurdish security forces are unfailing polite, and people are pleased to see that they take safety seriously.
As expected there is a backlash against ethnic Arabs with calls to close the border between Kurdistan and Arab Iraq, though that won't happen. There are many Arabs here both permanently and temporarily fleeing the violence in the south and west and many are young and male and the obvious group to come under suspicion.
Along with the attack in Erbil there were three further bombings in Iraq on Sunday afternoon and since Sunday a further 11 attacks. Surely by now Al Qaeda must be running out of suicide bombers?? All the suicide bombers are very young - why don't they recruit amongst the elderly or the terminally ill? Apparently one of the bombers captured on Sunday was reported to said that those organising bombers told him that he wouldn't feel any pain!
A positive aspect is the bombings have galvanised Kurdish nationalism, and the bickering over the election results has all but halted. Kurdish are no strangers to violence and when the cards are down, Kurdish identity throughly trumps political, sectarian and religious divides.
As expected there is a backlash against ethnic Arabs with calls to close the border between Kurdistan and Arab Iraq, though that won't happen. There are many Arabs here both permanently and temporarily fleeing the violence in the south and west and many are young and male and the obvious group to come under suspicion.
Along with the attack in Erbil there were three further bombings in Iraq on Sunday afternoon and since Sunday a further 11 attacks. Surely by now Al Qaeda must be running out of suicide bombers?? All the suicide bombers are very young - why don't they recruit amongst the elderly or the terminally ill? Apparently one of the bombers captured on Sunday was reported to said that those organising bombers told him that he wouldn't feel any pain!
A positive aspect is the bombings have galvanised Kurdish nationalism, and the bickering over the election results has all but halted. Kurdish are no strangers to violence and when the cards are down, Kurdish identity throughly trumps political, sectarian and religious divides.
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