Members of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) prepare before going out on a patrol in the town of Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad. Reuters
Iraq Chases Baghdad Sleeper Cells As 'Zero Hour' Looms Over Capital -- Reuters
(Reuters) - Iraqi insurgents are preparing for an assault on Baghdad, with sleeper cells planted inside the capital to rise up at "Zero Hour" and aid fighters pushing in from the outskirts, according to senior Iraqi and U.S. security officials.
Sunni fighters have seized wide swathes of the north and west of the country in a three week lightning advance and say they are bearing down on the capital, a city of 7 million people still scarred by the intense street fighting between its Sunni and Shi'ite neighbourhoods during U.S. occupation.
The government says it is rounding up members of sleeper cells to help safeguard the capital, and Shi'ite paramilitary groups say they are helping the authorities. Some Sunni residents say the crackdown is being used to intimidate them.
Iraqis speak of a "Zero Hour" as the moment a previously-prepared attack plan would start to unfold.
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Update: Iraq Crisis: Sleeper Cells Prepare 'Zero Hour' Baghdad Uprising to Co-ordinate with Sunni Attack -- IBTimes
My Comment: The tension in Baghdad must be through the roof.
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