IRAQ: Car bombings kills at least forty

Record ID: 352422

  • Title: IRAQ: Car bombings kills at least forty
  • Date: 12th December 2007
  • Summary: SHOES IN BLOOD ON THE GROUND
  • Embargoed: 27th December 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVAT55FTO2HUYHPGJUTAH2HGGMO
  • Story Text: Forty people were killed and more than 125 wounded when three car bombs exploded in quick succession in the Shi'ite city of Amara in southern Iraq on Wednesday, police said.
    One witness in Amara, 365 km (230 miles) southeast of Baghdad, said the bomb in the parking lot exploded first, followed soon after by the one at the market.
    The bombings were among the deadliest in Iraq in months and came as tensions are running high across oil-producing southern Iraq, where rival Shi'ite factions are struggling for influence as Britain reduces its forces in the region.
    One police official in Amara said 40 people had been killed in the blasts, which all happened along the same street in the capital of Maysan province. A health official said 39 were killed and more than 125 wounded Most people were killed in the second and third blasts, police said.
    Many onlookers had gathered after the first blast in a parking lot and were killed or wounded when the subsequent car bombs exploded.
    One witness blamed the American saying, "The car was left here and a plane which was flying up here (points) detonated it by a remote control. It (the attack) was done by the Americans they want to enter Amara and they want to take car bombs as an excuse . Americans are behind it. Amara is safe and secure."
    Officials said an unknown number of suspects had been detained.
    The government in Baghdad issued a statement condemning the bombings and calling them a "desperate attempt" to draw attention away from recent security gains across Iraq.
    Largely Shi'ite southern Iraq including Maysan has escaped much of the sectarian violence that has plagued Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, and car bomb attacks are rare.
    But southern Iraq is witnessing a turf war between rival Shi'ite groups, including supporters of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army militia, and its chief rival the powerful Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.
    Britain is expected to hand control of security next week to Iraqi forces in Basra. That will end Britain's security responsibility of the four southern provinces it once controlled, including Maysan, which was handed back in April.
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