Iraq’s Shiite-led government now has another thing to worry about: A ’Zero Hour’ attack from inside the capital, which would be perpetrated by sleeper cells.
“There are so many sleeper cells in Baghdad,” a high-level security official told Reuters on Thursday. “They will seize an area and won’t let anyone take it back… In western Baghdad, they are ready and prepared.”
The officer told the news agency that there are roughly 1,500 sleeper cell members inside Baghdad and another 1,000 just outside the capital.
“We are ready. It can come any minute,” an alleged member of one such sleeper cell told Reuters. “We will have some surprises,” he added. The news agency said that any time a stranger approached during its interview with the man he would hide his face with a baseball cap and stop talking.
One member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) contacted Reuters from Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, and said that the terrorist army fully plans to take the capital.
“We will receive orders about Zero Hour,” ISIL member Abu Sa’da told the news service Thursday.
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The Obama administration plans to have a U.S. presence in Iraq of roughly 1,000 troops and advisers to protect its embassy in Baghdad. Those individuals will have Apache attack helicopters at their disposal.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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