IRAQ: At least 14 people are killed after a car bomb exploded in a street lined with shops in the Iraqi city of Samarra

Record ID: 277996

  • Title: IRAQ: At least 14 people are killed after a car bomb exploded in a street lined with shops in the Iraqi city of Samarra
  • Date: 12th October 2013
  • Summary: SAMARRA, IRAQ (OCTOBER 12, 2013) (REUTERS) ( PART WITH AUDIO) PEOPLE ON PICK-UP TRUCK OUTSIDE HOSPITAL PEOPLE LOADING WOUNDED ON STRETCHER ONTO VEHICLE
  • Embargoed: 27th October 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVADCZHMEANESMSAYXH1R7APCYHO
  • Story Text: A car bomb exploded in a street lined with shops in the Iraqi city of Samarra on Saturday (October 12), killing at least 14 people, police and medics said.
    There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, but Sunni Islamist and other insurgents, including al Qaeda have been regaining ground this year, reversing a decline in sectarian bloodshed that reached a peak in 2006-7.
    More than 6,000 people have been killed in acts of violence across the country so far this year, as Iraq's sectarian balance comes under acute strain from the civil war in neighbouring Syria.

    "It is a criminal act, which we all denounce it. Neither God nor Mohammed (the Prophet) approve such act that targeted children , women and men who were shopping for Eid. Such act can not be approved. Enough is enough. We leave politics to you, (Prime Minister Nuri) al-Maliki's group and others. Politics will not benefit us and can not serve us. Enough. People's shops and cars were burnt and this cannot be accepted any more," said one unidentified resident.
    A further 31 people were wounded in the blast in the predominantly Sunni Muslim city's al-Shurta district.
    Having been forced underground in 2007, Sunni Islamist al Qaeda is now staging a comeback, invigorated by war in Syria and growing resentment of the Shi'ite-led government that came to power in Iraq following the U.S.-led invasion.
    Samarra has been a focal point for Sunnis who began taking to the streets last December in protests against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whom they accuse of marginalising their minority sect since Saddam Hussein's overthrow.
    A raid by government security forces on a Sunni protest camp in April touched off a backlash by militants that is still ongoing.
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