IRAQ: Wave of car bombings kill 60, appear to target Iraqi Shi'ites

Record ID: 353915

  • Title: IRAQ: Wave of car bombings kill 60, appear to target Iraqi Shi'ites
  • Date: 29th July 2013
  • Summary: HURRIYA, IRAQ (JULY 29, 2013) (REUTERS) SMOKE RISING FROM BLAST SCENE AT FAR END OF STREET VARIOUS OF BURNT-OUT AND WRECKED CARS KADHIMIYA, IRAQ (JULY 29, 2013) (REUTERS) PEOPLE NEAR DEMOLISHED SHOP DEMOLISHED SHOPS HEAPS OF BRICKS DEBRIS DEMOLISHED SHOPS CRATER CAUSED BY CAR BOMB ROW OF DEMOLISHED SHOPS MAN EXAMINING DAMAGE TO SHOP DEBRIS AT SCENE KUT, IRAQ (J
  • Embargoed: 13th August 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA2ZYFMDZWTHNN55LA2Y0CJDMWD
  • Story Text: Car bombs ripped through busy streets and markets in Iraq on Monday (July 29), killing at least 60 people in predominantly Shi'ite areas in some of the deadliest violence since Sunni insurgents stepped up attacks this year.
    The 17 blasts, which appeared to be coordinated, were concentrated on towns and cities in Iraq's mainly Shi'ite south, and districts of the capital where Shi'ites live.
    Militant groups including al Qaeda have increased attacks in recent months in an insurgency against the Shi'ite-led government as a civil war in neighbouring Syria heightens sectarian tensions.
    The violence has raised fears of a return to full-blown intercommunal conflict in a country where ethnic Kurds, majority Shi'ites and Sunni Muslims have yet to find a stable way of sharing power.
    Monday's attacks underscore deteriorating security in Iraq, where nearly 4,000 people have been killed since the start of the year, said violence monitoring group Iraq Body Count. In July, more than 810 people were killed in militant attacks.
    Bombings took place across Baghdad, in the districts of Habibiya, Hurriya, Bayaa, Ur, Shurta, Kadhimiya, Risala, Tobchi and Abu Dsheer.
    At least 10 people were killed when two car bombs blew up near a bus station in the city of Kut, 150 km (95 miles) southeast of the capital, police said.

    "We were sitting here when the blast took place at the end of the street near Muhssin's shop. We ran as the blast occurred and the policemen , fire fighters and ambulance arrived to evacuate the causalities meanwhile there was a parked Samand vehicle exploded when the soldiers were inspecting it here," said an unidentified eyewitness.
    Four people were killed in a blast in the town of Mahmoudiya, about 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, and two bombs in Samawa, further south, killed two.
    An assault on Abu Ghraib prison last week raised questions about the ability of Iraq's security services to combat al Qaeda, which has been regrouping and striking with a ferocity not seen in years.
    Insurgents have been recruiting from the country's Sunni minority, which increasingly resents Shi'ite domination since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, in 2003.
    The Syrian conflict has drawn Shi'ites and Sunnis from Iraq and beyond into battle against each other.
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