IRAQ: At least 34 people are killed in bomb attacks in Christian areas of Baghdad, some by a car bomb near a church after a Christmas service

Record ID: 354076

  • Title: IRAQ: At least 34 people are killed in bomb attacks in Christian areas of Baghdad, some by a car bomb near a church after a Christmas service
  • Date: 25th December 2013
  • Summary: BAGHDAD, IRAQ (DECEMBER 25, 2013) (REUTERS) IRAQI POLICEMAN WITH RIFLE STANDING AT BLAST SCENE WHERE BOMB ATTACK TARGETED PEOPLE IN MARKET MORE OF BLAST SCENE VARIOUS OF DAMAGED VEGETABLE STALLS PEOPLE AT SCENE VEGETABLES SCATTERED ON GROUND DAMAGED STALL CLOSED SHOPS AND SHREDS OF BROKEN GLASS ON GROUND SHARDS OF BROKEN GLASS BLOODSTAINS ON GROUND AND VEGETABLES SCATTERED
  • Embargoed: 9th January 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime,Religion,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVA902OMBR7AWS82D2GRAB16461E
  • Story Text: At least 34 people died in bomb attacks in Christian areas of Baghdad on Wednesday (December 25), some by a car bomb that exploded near a church after a Christmas service, police and medics said.
    A bomb in a parked car went off while worshippers were leaving a church in the Doura district of southern Baghdad after finishing prayers, police sources said. Most of the victims were Christians, they said.
    Two bombs also went off in a crowded market in a separate, mostly Christian area in Doura, killing another six people and wounding 14, police and medics said.
    No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.
    Violence in Iraq has risen to its worst levels in more than five years as hardline Sunni militants linked to al Qaeda step up attacks on the Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and anyone seen as supporting it. Many thousands have been killed in attacks this year.
    The minority Christian community has been a target of attacks by al Qaeda militants in the past, including a 2010 attack on a church that killed dozens of people.
    Christmas Eve overlapped this year not only with the Shi'ite holy day of Arbain, but also with a major army offensive in desert areas of the Sunni-dominated western Anbar province aimed at flushing out al Qaeda militants.
    A series of car bombs, shootings and suicide attacks killed scores of Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims the week leading to Arbain.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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