The truck bomb that exploded on Aug. 17 at dock No. 17 of the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr located on the Arabian Gulf surprised Iraqi political and security circles. Although the human losses were limited, the operation constituted a serious and exceptional breach of Iraqi security, and suggested that al-Qaeda seeks to cut off Iraq’s only economic gateway to the sea.
The governor of Basra, Majid al-Nasrawi, who belongs to the Basra First coalition and managed to seize the headship of Basra’s provincial council from the State of Law Coalition after the April 20 elections, told Al-Monitor that "his city is paying the price for the political differences in the country." He added that "the security information [available] indicates that vital installations in Basra, a key strategic area for import and export in Iraq, are under threat of being targeted."
